Jayasri Burman

Jayasri Burman (born October 21, 1960, in Kolkata) is a contemporary painter and sculptor from India. She is based in New Delhi, India. She studied at the Kala Bhavan in Shantiniketan from 1977 to 1979, and at the Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata, where she completed a Master of Arts in Painting. She took a Graphic Art Workshop conducted by Paul Lingren and a formal course on Print making in Paris from Monsieur Ceizerzi. She is a member of an extended family of eminent artists: her husband is painter and sculptor Paresh Maity, painter and sculptor uncle Sakti Burman and son, photographer Rid Burman.

Mediums and Themes

Her primary painting mediums are watercolours, ink, charcoal and acrylic on canvas. Most often centring on nature, gods and goddesses, her original depictions combine folk, myth and mythology to tell stories of deities who braved adversities.

Exhibitions
Select Solo Exhibitions

2023

Dhārā, Art Musings, Mumbai Painted mostly in a monochromatic palette, “Dhārā” at Art Musings Gallery, Mumbai, is an ode to motherhood, nature and the experience of being a woman. It featured a poetry reading by cultural theorist and poet Ranjit Hoskote.

2021River of Faith, Art Exposure, Bikaner House, New Delhi

Strongly influenced by spiritual beliefs and sacred texts, Burman expresses her creativity with poetic lyricism that is part fairytale and part organic. The Ganga river has had an indelible impact on her and she has painted the river in myriad forms with allegorical elements like swan, flowers, vines, fish and more. The recent devastation and destruction of the waters of the river as an aftermath of the pandemic greatly stirred her and ultimately culminated in River of Faith.

The genesis of being in this exhibition must begin with the 4 sculptures that traverse generations of legends stories and mythical renderings.

River of Faith, Art Exposure, Kolkata

River of Faith, a tribute to the Ganges which is the life force of India, connecting its inhabitants across space and time. In her imagination, the Ganga assumes many forms, embodying both fantasy and reality, fertility and ferocity, origin and annihilation, hope and despair. Her unique stylisation creates a visual language that allows for exciting new modes of perception.

The spatial arrangement of this Jahnavi that runs into 36' in two diptychs coincides with constructivist ideas and theoretical discussions on the expressive power of monochromatic moods and moorings created with dense charcoal in thicker passionate contours of controlled compositional spaces. From the beginning of her days of pedagogy Jayasri has believed that colours and lines have independent symbolic meanings, and they presented a spiritual flow of imagery: Contours create space, development, and mood, whereas flowing filled lines represent time, extension, and deep thought.

The genesis of being in this exhibition must begin with the 4 sculptures that traverse generations of legends stories and mythical renderings.

2020

Shakti - Nine Forms of Divinity, on-line show, Gallery Art Exposure, Kolkata

2018

Born of Fire: A Tale for our Times, AICON Gallery, New York In Draupadi, artist Jayasri Burman sees a feminist icon who should be remembered for her keen political skills, self-determination, and relatability. Simultaneously monumental and detailed, the Draupadi works reimagine the visual history of the Mahabharata without forgetting the traditions that birthed them. Pulling from a vast coffer of Hindu mythos, Burman reimagines traditional depictions of female goddesses by imbuing them with bright color and energy.

2017

Art Now 2017, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, organised by Art Alive Gallery

2016

Art Now, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, organised by Art Alive Gallery

2015

Antaryatra - A Journey Within, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Gallery Sanskriti, Kolkata

2014

Lila, Jehangir Art Gallery, Art Musings, Mumbai

Gazing Into The Myth, Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore Jayasri has admitted that she always found folk art inspiring. She is able to see and discover vital and organic links between mythical icons and their folk expressions. This discovery, in turn, goes into making some of her works to be what they are – visual sites where the classical and the folk merge to create a lively sense of the contemporary. It is not a contemporaneity all by itself; lonely and isolated, though moments of loneliness and isolation could also be discerned. It is an inclusive contemporaneity which is continuous with the past. To revert to the reigning metaphor, it is a flowing contemporaneity, which cuts across barriers of time.

Though Jayasri may not like to claim any links to the current feminism, her art has a powerful presence of women in it. There is femininity with strength, lyricism with vitality, rootedness in iconography and symbolism with dynamism and energy. They may be sad, lonely once in a while. But in all circumstances they are a strong presence. The aura around them is created through the carefully crafted details which give them locations and, perhaps, their inevitable names. 2010 Fables and Folklore, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

Fables and Folklore, Art Musings, Mumbai

2009

A Mythical Universe, Art Alive Gallery, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2006

Sacred Feminine, Art Musings Gallery, Mumbai

2005

Arts India Gallery, Palo Alto, San Francisco

2003

Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

Art Musings, Mumbai

Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi

2001

Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi

1998

Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore

1996

Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

1993

Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1992

Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

1987

Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

1986

Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

Select Group Exhibitions

2023


 * Times of India's Art of India, Snowball Studios, Mumbai

2021


 * Traditions in Transition, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * Kala Sutra 2021 - Continuity and Conceptions, Sanchit Art Gallery, New Delhi
 * The Drawing Show Part II, Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore
 * Art Toronto, Gallery Sumukha, Toronto
 * Lock.Unlock, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi
 * Differently Together, Gallerie Nvya, Taj Palace, New Delhi
 * Amble without Preamble, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi
 * Realm –II, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi

2020


 * India Art Fair, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
 * India Art Fair, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * An Ode to Ganesha - The Lord of Good Beginnings, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * Objets d’Art - Finding Beauty in the Everyday, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * Nostalgia, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi

2019


 * The 20th, Jehangir Art Gallery, Art Musings, Mumbai
 * If on A Winter’s Night A Traveller, Art Musings, Mumbai
 * India Art Fair, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
 * India Art Fair, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * ART NOW ’19, fourth edition, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
 * My Nanak - Celebrating 550 years of Guru Nanak’s Birthday, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi
 * Ananda, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi
 * Memories and Mindscapes, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi
 * Tales of Yore, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi

2018


 * Confluence - Monsoon Show, Art Musings, Mumbai
 * India Art Fair, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
 * ART NOW ’18, third edition, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
 * Kala Sutra 2018, Sanchit Art Gallery, Singapore
 * Art Stage Singapore, Sanchit Art Gallery, Singapore
 * Palo Alto 2018 - Spring exhibition, AICON Gallery, New York
 * Palo Alto 2018 - Fall exhibition, AICON Gallery, New York

2017


 * Art Stage Singapore, Sanchit Art Gallery, Singapore
 * ART NOW ’17, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
 * Palo Alto, AICON Gallery, New York
 * India Art Fair, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi

2016


 * India Art Fair, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2015


 * The Ecstasy of Art, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
 * Kala Sutra, Sanchit Art Gallery, Hong Kong
 * CUT to SIZE, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi

2014


 * India Art Fair, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * Kala Sutra Roots and Fruits in New Age Aesthetics, Art House, Sanchit Art Gallery, Singapore

2013


 * Feminine Divine, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * India Art Fair, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
 * India Art Fair, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi

2012


 * India Art Fair, Art Musings, New Delhi
 * India Art Fair, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * Imagery and Imagination in Indian Contemporary Art, Sanchit Art Gallery, New Delhi
 * Annual group show, Chawla Art Gallery, New Delhi

2011


 * TRANSAVANTGARDE In contemporary Indian Art, Sanchit Art Gallery, New Delhi
 * Annual group show, Chawla Art Gallery, New Delhi
 * Roots Routes, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * Creative Contours, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * India Art Summit, Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi
 * India Art Summit, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2009


 * India Art Summit Think Small, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
 * India Art Summit, Art Musings, New Delhi

2008


 * The Journey, curated by Kalpana Shah, New York Academy of Art

2007


 * Tao Art Gallery & International Institute of Fine Arts (IIFA), the House of Lords, London
 * Indiart Tokyo imprints, Dayawati Foundation, Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan

2006


 * An Indian Summer, Cork Street Gallery, Art Alive Gallery, London
 * LASALLEA-IIFA, Sculpture Square Gallery, Singapore

2005


 * Bridges - Exploring New Paradigms, Art Alive Gallery, Delhi

2003


 * Annual Exhibition, Art Musings Gallery, Mumbai
 * Brahma to Bapu, CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata
 * Gallery 27, Cork Street, London

2002


 * The Family – 3, with Sakti Burman & Maya Burman, Apparao Galleries
 * Bengal Art, CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata

2001


 * Bollywood show, Selfridges, London
 * Modi Foundation, London

2000


 * Emerging Trends, CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata

1998


 * The Best of Bengal from Independence to the Present, Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

1997


 * Panchadashi, Gallery La Mere, Kolkata

1995


 * Urban Signals Shifting Images - II, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Mumbai

1994


 * Paintings and Sculptures by Eminent Contemporary Artists, Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

1992


 * Life-Long, Emerald Isle, Kolkata

1991


 * A Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
 * The Baijis, Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

1990


 * Annual Exhibition of Graphics, Paintings and Sculptures, Gallery BF-14, Kolkata
 * 1989
 * Kolkata through the Eyes of Painters, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata
 * Young Faces in Contemporary Eminent Artists of Bengal, Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

1988


 * Five Women Artists, 300 years of Kolkata

1987


 * International Triennial, Intergraphic, Germany

1986


 * Bharat Bhavan Biennale, Bhopal
 * National Exhibition, Lalit Kala Akademi, Kolkata

1984


 * National Exhibition with Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1983  


 * Three Person Exhibition in Paris
 * AIFACS, New Delhi

Awards and honours
Burman has been recognized throughout her career:


 * 1983 Outstanding Merit for Tempera in the Annual Exhibition, College of Visual Arts
 * An award by the College of Visual Arts in Tempera for Outstanding Merit in the Annual Exhibition in 1979
 * National Academy Award for her painting Jeley (The Fisherman) in 1984
 * Certificate of Merit from the All India Youth Art Exhibition in 1987
 * In 2007, a commemorative stamp was released on Women’s Day by the Government of India on which the artworks of Jayasri Burman were printed.
 * Indian Federation Chamber of Commerce Award in 2008
 * In 2016, she was awarded by the Government of West Bengal for making the best Durga Puja Idol for Behala Notun Dal, a cultural association in Kolkata, West Bengal.
 * ICON of Indian Art Award by Verve Magazine in 2017
 * Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Award at the 20th Beti FLO GR8 Awards in 2018
 * 'She Award' given by The Telegraph in 2021
 * She was invited at the President’s House as an Artist-in-Residence

She has played an active role in "Ananya Festival," a week-long celebration by the Ministry of Women and Child Development for International Women's Day during 5–9 March 2007. These stamps have been designed by Burman and released by the Honourable Vice President of India.