Atul Dodiya (b.1959)

Born in Mumbai, Atul Dodiya, one of the most sought after contemporary artists today, completed his Bachelor in Fine Arts from the Sir J. J. School of Arts in 1982. He comes from a liberal Kathiawadi family and was brought up on old Guru Dutt (Legendary Indian Film maker) movies and classical music of Kumar Gandharva (Classical Singer).

Atul met his wife Anju --- also an artist --- at the Sir J. J. School of Art where he used to teach after completing his graduation. She was his student.Both work out of what used to be Atul's father's home in Ghatkopar, in Central Mumbai. 

Atul came into prominence in 1999 with his series on Mahatma Gandhi, where the painter sought to reconstruct images from a forgotten biography of the leader. His watercolors led the Mahatma out of the tumultuous pages of history into the gentle sepia-washed terrain of his canvas. Gandhi was given a new lease of life with sensitive brush strokes. A rich burnt sienna reaffirmed the strength and spirit of Gandhi beneath the frail 'minimalist' body. Luminous yellow-whites merged into deep ambers.

His other series that got him international acclaim was the Bombay:labyrinth/laboratory show at the Japan Foundation Asia Center in Tokyo. It included a selection of the artist's paintings on store shutters, and other works created with ready-made objects that, reflect his concern with Indian middle-class aspirations and the impact of globalization on traditions underlying each individual reality, evoking images of closure, disruption and the storm beneath the calm.

Reality affects his sensibilities a lot, and thus his art. Rendered in bold realism and drawing on pop art iconography, Atul's work reveals his attempt to go back to his roots. Like his exhibition on kitsch art, that he held in New Delhi some years ago. 

But the turning point in his work, says Atul, was his trip to the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. When Atul came back, his work had changed. He dropped the earlier photo realistic approach to replace it with a more flexible mode. The result was the 1994 'The Bombay Buccaneer', an oil, acrylic and wood on canvas effort, a take off on the poster for the film 'Baazigaar'.

In 1999, the artist won the Sotheby's Prize for Contemporary Art.  The crowning glory was his works being shown at the Tate Museum, London, in 2000, as part of the exhibition 'Centuries Cities: Art And Culture in Modern Metropolis'. 


He is influenced by work of painters like M.F. Husain and Bhupen Khakkar. Besides having held several solo exhibitions in Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi and Amsterdam, he has participated in many group exhibitions both in India and abroad. Atul Dodiya lives and works in Mumbai.