Calm in the intricacy

The fierce frame of fantasy manifesting multiple aspects of daily life reflect in ‘The Afterlife of Silence: Still Lifes of Jogen Chowdhury’ by Anuradha Ghosh. Aesthetics delicately amalgamating with Jogenda’s visual vocabulary and anthropomorphic shapes, the book stands as a continuum of his endemic embeddedness. It takes a close look at the essentials of the European tradition of still life painting and argues that Jogen Chowdhury’s works, while sharing certain common concerns of the tradition also differ significantly from it, and are firmly rooted in his indigenous situatedness.

A conceptual basis of life in the placidity of stillness is probed throughout the dimensions of this book. Specific sections contextualise the chronological refinement of his work. With images and paintings as a treat to the eyes and food for the soul, along with intensive conversations between the author and the artist prevalent throughout the background, the unparalleled intricacy of the artist’s horizon is reflected vividly. — Sandeep Joshi