B DEVARAJ
Devaraj’s work emphasizes the vulnerability of living with the elemental forces. It is a celebration of life in the romantic sensibility. It is a search to experience life that is vibrant in every blade of grass. His works emphasize the organic relationships between human and plant motifs, infused with the same life force. It is an osmosis of breadth and energy. The dark charcoal drawings are spontaneous and stark, his skillful use of lines have a serious intensity that display his graphic ability.
- Suresh Jayaram
REVIEWS
The Colours Of Darkness
Suresh Jayaram. 2005
The artists of Bengaluru are significant players in the national and international scene. The city is emerging as a center for many of the most contemporary ventures in visual art. The vibrant diversity is not a collective effort but individual stances of artists belonging to the city. Devaraj belongs to a generation of young contemporary Indian artists. The recent recognition of the national award (2004) has positioned him from anonymity to fame.
Devaraj explores the possibilities of representing the human conditions. The iconic figure is representation of human kind with the eternal existential question. His humans are distilled from his own time and space and from watching the human pageant. He assimilates them in elements of nature with animated primordial elements. He focuses on the humanist position and portrays his protagonist being self-absorbed in the subconscious or in situations of conflict of karmic existence. They seem to be devoid of all material desire. Who are they? Self-styled Yogis from a contemporary Kumbmela, sensual and raw physical tribal and traditional cults, or cyber coolies in search of virtual nirvana from the matrix of life and work.
His expressive aesthetic explores their inner landscape, their carry man made mechanical objects or gizmos like new age toys. They seem to emerge from shadows to enact their monologues of measured theatricality, like puppets manipulated by technology. His figures seem to emerge in heroic stances on the zone of conflict- canvas and stand their ground to face contemporary reality. They speak to us in their silences. The artist does not give us answers from the agitated landscape, but seems to represent a journey from uncertainty, from the physical to the phenomenological. Simultaneity of rubbed and graded surfaces and sharper lines which vacillate between recording violent sweeps and soft ripples of atonement.
Some of these drawings take a reverse course registering the presence of feeling persons in nature, the motif of upside-down trees stressing the general osmosis. Devaraj may be slightly sketchy, hasty and vague at times or addicted to designing. Still, his is a very interesting voice.
Organically Carnal
Marta JakirnotwIcz-Karle
Deccan Herald, Monday, September, 29 1997
Devaraj B, who has a large exhibition at the Chitrakala Parishath, makes an impact in a way a young and involved artist should, even if his idiom may not be yet entirely established. In fact, his paintings and drawings appear to witness a stage during which a sensitive, passionate and honest person who is also ambitious, responds to what is significant, to what he knows well and cares for.
The latter means being concerned about reality here and now, but one received through his specific personality and poetic leaning, where self-identification with the outside seems to be equally strong as the transforming urge. Looking at Devaraj's work from the purely formal point of view, one can find there, quite adequately, a minglement of loaded spontaneity which goes together with an impulse to imprint oneself and expose one's soul, body included, with a tendency to stylise in a somewhat decorative tinge, and to imbibe traits of aesthetic languages which are familiar to the artist thanks to their reflecting his own kind of sensitivity.
Devaraj's obsession is an emotive and carnal immersion in landscape, or perhaps rather in the vital forces of the soil and rocks, vegetation and animals. The manner in which he places clearly self-referential figures of mostly nude men among entanglements and spaces of nature, suggests a general and multi-directional permeability between the human and the organic as well as the inert matter which is as alive anyway. Devaraj combines areas as though quietly surging with energy with design-like shapes, since the urban artist no longer can relieve himself of glamourized or digitised version of the primordial.
A Baroda-originated darkly expressionistic mood can be noticed here along with the work of Babu Eshwar Prasad. The human figures come through as roughly open onto the surroundings, fascinated, mystified, slightly pained, intense to the point of becoming dizzy in a slightly awkward way, as they take onto themselves the external. The multitudes of spiralling, as if organic arrows and snakes which could be sperms, add to the feel of sensual concentration as experienced intensely by the man inside himself.
If Barodaesque expressiveness persists now too with occasional traces of Bhupen Khakhar, the spectator is able to guage a growing individuality.
This is visible in the intimate and distance, calm and nervous, crude and tender, mocking and serious charcoals, more these than, in the often very large acrylics. The effect is enhanced by the skilful simultaneity of rubbed and graded surfaces and sharper lines which vacillate between recording violent sweeps and soft ripples of atonement.
Some of these drawings take a reverse course registering the presence of feeling persons in nature, the motif of upside-down trees stressing the general osmosis. Devaraj may be slightly sketchy, hasty and vague at times or addicted to designing. Still, his is a very interesting voice.
B. Devaraj- Transcending All Conventions In Art
Dr. Veena Shekar
Sunday Herald, March, 20, 2005
The developments of the past decades have profoundly changed Indian society. Indian artists have begun working out the new currents of their capital and cultural tools in contradictory ways. Postmodern art in India today favors reflexivity and self-consciousness, fragmentation and discontinuity, ambiguity, simultaneity, and an emphasis on the destructured, dehumanized subject. Bangalore based artist Devaraj is a true protagonist of the order in the sense of traversing through conventional idioms, to go beyond the superficial and the ordinary.
This gifted young artist is last year’s National Lalitakala Academy award winner. Apparently his work ‘Black and White TV’ stood first among 7000 nominations nationwide having proved to be a cut above the rest. His work is a smooth blend of the self and the universal, a conflict between the good and the bad and a compromise therein. ‘BW TV’ is a struggle of the self seeking an effervescent life, free and flowing like a river or like the happy-go-lucky fishes in a pond or like a flag that flutters without a care in the world. Where are we who as children played with the paper toy and got immeasurable happiness? What has become of us? Devaraj erodes himself with these questions and finds answers within the self. The dialogue of the self comes in pairs of figures, the negative and the positive.
Devaraj never paints a pretty picture. His works are rather powerful reflexives that provoke you to look beyond the framework of the visual language. His audacious forms do not allude to any particular definition nor do his colors. He often chooses black and gives it a non-symbolic, undefined effect that is truly convincing.
Life has taught many a lesson for Devaraj. From being a delivery boy to an agent for screen printing toners he has had it all. He arrived from Chennenahalli after finishing school seeking employment to support his family. He began doing odd jobs, working day and night, eating the least money could buy until the screen printing unit Art tech helped him rediscover the artist within himself. Here he learnt about art courses and how one could make a profession out of it. Again in 1988 chance exposed him to Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath and he joined the degree course after saving enough money to pay the fees. The academics molded him as an artist but it was upto him to establish an identity. At this stage of his life, Devaraj came face to face with conflicting issues urging him to ponder deeply into his economic and social background. A display board with an arrow mark used on a one way road perhaps changed the course of his artistic pursuit. “The arrow mark is not just a sign that directs us but is literally the code of belief on which the society stands today” explains Devaraj, “It tells us how we must go, just as someone has codified social life for us.” The arrow mark became a prominent element in all the works of that period just as the colour red displaying his fury and divergence.
Devaraj extracts flashes of incidents from his memorabilia and lays them unintentionally in fragments. Different fragments compose into one large painting; hence, he never attempts to make a statement in any of his works. Mountains, clouds- black and white, leaves, a flag, and an arrow repeatedly make their appearance. His ‘Blue notes’ is yet another yearning for the vanilla sky; the thought process is depicted in the blue strip at the centre. Here he clearly divides the transpired from the experience but the metamorphosis is profound. There is a matured acceptance to the surrounding and the current lifestyle, to the realization that change is not possible overnight but the paper toy and the flag continue to haunt him. His charcoal drawings are as authoritative as his paintings or even more. Lucid expression dominates all his figures, each depicting myriad moods, be it a child, woman or man. The dark lines are forceful and compelling.
Apart from painting, Devaraj is also a muralist and a designer. Photography is his favorite hobby and he searches for the trivial through the lens of his camera to turn it into something spectacular. “We need to attune our minds to look for beauty even in the ordinary, uninteresting and the trivial, we need to focus on the right places” says Devaraj.
From a simple village teenager Devaraj has come a long way, fighting his way through conflicts and undulations but emerging as a self-made and earnest artist by his powerful and thought provoking works.
Moment Intercepted
Giridhar Khasnis
Galley Time & Space, 2009
Devaraj’s paintings lead you through a stark and semi-fictional world of monochromatic shades and hues. The setting is at once haunting and alluring. The whole environment conjures up many things: a sacred space, a lost domain, a quake-hit and ruined paradise. In this brooding and solemn theatre lie solitary figures in regal composure. They have no earthly possessions; no fields to graze and cultivate; no mission to accomplish; no one to protect or be protected from. Yet they betray no fear, emotion or insecurity. They seldom wear clothes; yet they are not naked. It is a stark world of sharp contrasts and glorious contradictions, yet there is a deep connection between the figures and the landscapes they reside in. In such a situation, the artist’s intervention is that of a gentle interceptor whose brushstrokes nurture complex, profound and yet strangely uncomplicated moments of stunning intensity.
The soul searchers
Anjali Sircar
New Indian Express. Thursday September 21 2006 .
As Bangalore is fast emerging as a centre for many of the contemporary ventures in visual art, B Devaraj, a contemporary young artist, is getting his fair share of attention. This is in part due to his recent acquisition of the National Academy Award (out of 15 finalists) for his work Black & White TV, elevating him from anonymity to recognition. Coming from a tiny village called Channehalli near Magadi Road, Devaraj had many lessons to learn on his way up to earning a national award. After finishing school, he joined the Government Science College but failed to get through the exams. So he began doing odd jobs to support the family till he joined a designing and screen printing unit that helped him discover the artist in him. When the opportunity came, he joined the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath for a degree course. The academy moulded him into an artist, yet it was up to him to establish his identity.
With most artists who come from a rural background, there is an element of autobiography in their work, an anguish about the transition from the rural to the urban landscape. Devaraj is no different. While at the Government Science College, he became a student activist and was soon involved in agitations and demonstrations. He discontinued his studies and began working with a political party. ‘‘It was a disaster,’’ he says now. ‘‘Selfish, power-hungry and corrupt minds disturbed my peace of mind and I almost lost faith in the democratic system. I came out of it with great effort, and only when I joined the Arts College, a new world opened up before me and art, music, cinema and literature changed me forever.’’
So the artist traced his own journey, bringing in the remembered landscape of his village and celebrating the organic oneness of the elements of nature with humans. ‘‘I paint mostly human figures – they are simple, rustic and heavy. They are the soul searchers in the matrix of life – they are introverts, shunning materialistic life. They don’t say anything. They are in virtual nirvana. They don’t need any verbal explanations.’’ The artist revels in black and white more than any other colour. In his best works, the viewer perceives an outwardly incongruous yet authentic impression of the human predicament. Surrounded by simple but intriguingly presented symbols, his creations seem to pause in their often theatrical postures and movements, fearful or defiant, restful or rousing.
His charcoal drawings are as authoritative as his paintings and lucid expression dominates all his figures. Flowing streams, passing clouds, leaves and fluttering flags repeatedly figure in his works. But what really illumines the frame is the presence of an essentially lonely, central figure as a silent witness to an abrupt transition. He extracts flashes of incidents from his memorabilia and lays them in fragments on his large canvases, composing them perhaps into one painting. There is a mature acceptance of the life that surrounds him, and of the fact that change is not possible overnight but is a journey through situations of conflict – from the physical to the phenomenological.
Exhibition. 1997
Suresh Jayaram
“We know ourselves to be made from this earth
We know this earthia made from our bodies
For we see ourselves and we are nature
We are nature seeing nature”
-Susan Griffin
Artists have always returned to celebrate the oneness of man and nature. The urban experience converts all landscape into real estate. Land is no longer admired for its beauty but only as a commodity.
The imagery of ‘man and nature’ is central in Devaraj’s canvases and is a recollection of his rural upbringing. It is autobiographical and express the angst of the changing urban reality in transition. His figures of the man-boy are in a journey of discovering the sensuality of his body, the innocence and anxiety of the growing boy into an adult.
His works emphasize the organic relationships between human and plant motifs, infused with the same life force. It is an osmosis of breadth and energy.
The bright pallate creates a pictorial space adopting elements from miniatures. The emotive, expressionistic use of colour recalls Gauguin and Hockney. Texture is reduced to vast expanses of flat, contrasting colours. The surface is activated with expressive brushwork, organic patterns and pulsating motifs – stylized blades of grass, arrowheads and sperms zip across suggesting direction oe the flow of energy.
The elements of nature are his vocabulary, mountains surge to meet the sky, rivers curve amidst forests sweep pregnant clouds. It is a primordial expanse of elemental forces in action. Man in nature – nature in man. The dark charcoal drawings are spontaneous and stark, his skillful use of lines have a serious intensity that display his graphic ability.
The recent works playfully depict spaces that are invaded by man – the artificial landscapes. The figure exits leaving behind traces of human activity. We are left with manicured lawns with flags
Devaraj’s work emphasize the vulnerability of living with the elemental forces. It is a celebration of life in the romantic sensibility. It is a search to experience life that is vibrant in every blade of grass.
ಕತ್ತಲೆಗೆ ಯಾವ ಬಣ್ಣ?
ಬೇಳೂರು ಸುದರ್ಶನ
ಪ್ರಜಾವಾಣಿ, ೧೬ ಜನವರಿ ೨೦೦೫
ಆತ ನಾಲ್ಕು ವರ್ಷ ಕೆಂಪೇಗೌಡ ನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ಟೋನರ್ ಮಾರಿದ. ಆಮೇಲೆ ಚಾಮರಾಜಪೇಟೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಕ್ರೀನ್ ಪ್ರಿಂಟಿಂಗ್ ಸಹಾಯಕನಾಗಿ ದುಡಿದ. ಅದೇ ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿ ಚಳವಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ರಾತ್ರಿ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಕಾಂಪೌಂಡ್ಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ರೆಡ್ ಆಕ್ಸೈಡ್ನಿಂದ ಗೋಡೆಬರಹಗಳನ್ನೂ ಮಾಡಿದ. ಮಧ್ಯರಾತ್ರಿ ಚಾಮರಾಜಪೇಟೆಯ ಮಿತ್ರ ಬೇಕರಿಯಲ್ಲೋ, ಗಾಂಧಿಬಜಾರಿನ ಗಣೇಶ ಬೇಕರಿಯಲ್ಲೋ ಹಾಲು ಬ್ರೆಡ್ ಇಳಿಸಿ, ದಿನಚರಿ ಮುಗಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. ಬೇಜಾರಾದಾಗ ಇದ್ದಬದ್ದ ಚಿಲ್ಲರೆ ಹಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿನೆಮಾ ನೋಡುವ ಚಟವೇ ದಿನಚರಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದ ಗೆಳೆಯರ ಜೊತೆ ಹೊಸ – ಹಳೆ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಶ್ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ನೋಡಲು ನುಗ್ಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ ಇಡ್ಲಿ ವಡೆಯಾದರೂ ಸಾಕು, ಹೇಗೋ ಈ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇದ್ದದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊಟ್ಟೆ ತುಂಬಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು; ರಾತ್ರಿ ಸೀದಾ ಮಾಗಡಿ ರಸ್ತೆಯಲ್ಲಿರೋ ಚನ್ನೇನಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಬಸ್ಸು ಹಿಡಿಯುವುದು.
ಬಿ. ದೇವರಾಜ್ ಸಾಗಿ ಬಂದ ಹಾದಿಗೆ ಅಸಂಖ್ಯ ಬಣ್ಣಗಳಿವೆ. ಬದುಕಿನ ವರ್ಣ-ಛಾಯೆಗಳಿಗೆ, ನೆಳಲು - ಬೆಳಕುಗಳಿಗೆ, ದೇವರಾಜ್ ಪಕ್ಕಾದ ಬಗೆಯೇ ನಮ್ಮ ನಗರದ ಬದುಕಿನ ವೈರುಧ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ವೈವಿಧ್ಯ – ಎರಡಕ್ಕೂ ನಿದರ್ಶನ.
೭೦೦೦ ಕಲಾಕೃತಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಆಯ್ಕೆಯಾದದ್ದೇ ೨೫೦. ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಕಲಾ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿಗೆ ಪಾತ್ರವಾಗಿದ್ದು ವಿವಿಧ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳ (ಪೇಂಟಿಂಗ್, ಗ್ರಾಫಿಕ್ಸ್, ಛಾಯಾಗ್ರಹಣ ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ) ಕೇವಲ ಹದಿನೈದು ಕೃತಿಗಳು. ದೇವರಾಜ್ ಇದೇ ಮೊದಲ ಸಲ ತನ್ನ ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಗೆ ಕಳಿಸಿದ್ದಂತೆ (ಶೀರ್ಷಿಕೆ: ಬ್ಲಾಕ್ ಎಂಡ್ ವೈಟ್ ಟೆಲಿವಿಜನ್).
೧೯೯೩ರಲ್ಲಿ ನನ್ನ `ಸಸಿ' ಕೃತಿಗೆ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಲಲಿತಕಲಾ ಅಕಾಡೆಮಿಯ ಲಿಥೋಗ್ರಾಫ್ ವಿಭಾಗದ ಬಹುಮಾನ ಸಿಕ್ಕದಾಗಲೂ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ ಆಗಿದ್ದು: ಮೊದಲ ಸಲ ಆ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸಿದ್ದೆ.' ದೇವರಾಜ್ಗೆ ಈ ಮೊದಲ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಗಳೇ ಹೀಗೆ ಬಹುಮಾನ ತಂದುಕೊಟ್ಟಿವೆ.
ಇನ್ನೂ ಒಂದು `ಮೊದಲು' ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ: ಈ ಎರಡೂ ಕೃತಿಗಳು ಕಪ್ಪು ಬಣ್ಣದವು. ಲಿಥೋಗ್ರಾಫ್ ಆಗಲೀ, ಪೇಂಟಿಂಗ್ ಆಗಲೀ, ಬಹುಬಣ್ಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಎಲ್ಲ ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆಗಳೂ ಇವೆ. ಆದರೆ ದೇವರಾಜ್ಗೆ ಯಾಕೋ ಕಪ್ಪು ತುಂಬಾ ಪ್ರಿಯ. `ಹಾಗೇನಿಲ್ಲ. ಕೆಲ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ನನ್ನ ಕಲಾಪ್ರದರ್ಶನ ಇದ್ದಾಗ ನೀವು ನೋಡಿದ್ದರೆ ನೀಲಾಕಾಶವೂ ಕೆಂಪು ಕೆಂಪಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ ಕೆಂಪನ್ನೇ ಬಳಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ರೆಡ್ ಆಕ್ಸೈಡ್ನಲ್ಲೇ ವಾಲ್ ರೈಟಿಂಗ್ ಮಾಡ್ತಿದ್ನಲ್ಲ ಹಾಗೆ. ಒಂಥರ ರೆಬೆಲ್ ಮಾನಸಿಕತೆ. ಕ್ರಾಂತಿ ಆಗಿಬಿಡಬೇಕು ಅನ್ನೋ ತಹತಹ. ಈಗ ಒಂದು ಹದಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ ಬಂದ ಕೃತಿಯ ಮುಂದುವರಿಕೆ ಎನ್ನಬಹುದಾದ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಕೃತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇದ್ದ ಹೆಚ್ಚುವರಿ ಬಣ್ಣಗಳನ್ನೂ ತೆಗೆದು ಕೃಷ್ಣವರ್ಣದ ಜೊತೆ ನೀಲಿ, ಹಳದಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಬಳಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ.'
ದೇವರಾಜ್ ಕಳೆದ ಎರಡು ವರ್ಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆದ ಡ್ರಾಯಿಂಗ್ಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದರೆ ಕಪ್ಪು ಬಣ್ಣದ ಮೇಲೆ ಇರೋ ಹಿಡಿತ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಚಾರ್ಕೋಲ್, ಇಂಕ್, ಯಾವುದೇ ಇರಲಿ, ಆಯಾಮಗಳು, ಭಾವಗಳು, – ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟ.
`ನಾವೇನೋ ದಢಕ್ ಅಂತ ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಬಂದು ಕ್ರಾಂತಿ ಮಾತಾಡಬಹುದು. ಆದರೆ ಸಮಾಜದಲ್ಲಿ ಇಷ್ಟೆಲ್ಲ ಘಟಿಸೋದಕ್ಕೆ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಸಮಯ ಹಿಡಿದಿರುತ್ತೆ. ಅದು ಬದಲಾಗಲೂ ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಸಮಯ ಬೇಕು. ಅದಕ್ಕೇ ಬಹುಶಃ ನಾನು ಹೀಗೆ ಬದಲಾಗಿದೀನಿ ಅನ್ಸುತ್ತೆ. ಇಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೂ ನೀವು ಈಗ ಕೇಳಿದ್ರಿಂದ್ಲೇ ನನಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಕೃತಿಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಇಷ್ಟು ಹೇಳಬಹುದು ಅನ್ನುಸ್ತು. ಅದಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಹೋದರೆ ಇವನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಹೀಗೇ ಅಂತ ವ್ಯಾಖ್ಯಾನ ಕೊಡಕ್ಕಾಗಲ್ಲ. ಈ ವರ್ಕ್ ನೋಡಿ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಗೆರೆ ಎಳೆದ ಹಾಗೇ ಅಲ್ಲಲ್ಲಿ ಉಜ್ಜಿ ಒಂದು ಎಫೆಕ್ಟ್ ಕೊಡೋದಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸಿದೇನೆ.'
ಕಲಾವಿದರಿಗೆ ಅಕಡೆಮಿಕ್ ತಿಳಿವಳಿಕೆಯ ಜೊತೆಗೇ ಕೌಶಲ್ಯವೂ ಇರಬೇಕು. ಹಾಗಾದಾಗ ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಬಗೆಯ ಪ್ಯಾಟರ್ನ್ಗಳು ಹೊಳೆಯುತ್ತವೆ ಎನ್ನುವ ದೇವರಾಜ್ಗೆ ಇಂಥದೇ ಕಲಾಪಂಥ ಎಂಬುದಿಲ್ಲ. `ಹಿಂದೇನೋ ಪಿಕಾಸೋನಂಥ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳೇ ಒಂದು ಕಲಾಮಾರ್ಗವಾಗಿ ಬೆಳೆದರು. ಆದರೆ ಈಗ ಅಂಥವರು ಕಡಿಮೆ. ವೈಯಕ್ತಿಕತೆಗೇ (ಇಂಡಿವಿಜುಯಲಿಸಮ್) ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಒತ್ತು. ಪೋಸ್ಟ್ ಮಾಡರ್ನಿಸಮ್ನ ಈ ಎರಡು ದಶಕಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲಾಮಾರ್ಗ ಆಲ್ಮೋಸ್ಟ್ ಪಂಥರಹಿತವಾಗಿದ್ದೇ ಈಗಿನ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆ.'
ದೇವರಾಜ್ ಸಂಗೀತಪ್ರಿಯ. ಹಾಗಂತ ರಾಗಗಳನ್ನು ಗುರುತಿಸೇ ಬಿಡುತ್ತಾರೆ ಎಂದೇನಿಲ್ಲ. ನೂರಾರು ಸಿ.ಡಿ.ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಡು ತುಂಬಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಕಪ್ಪು ಬಿಳುಪು ಛಾಯಾಗ್ರಹಣದಲ್ಲೂ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಆಸಕ್ತಿ. ವೃತ್ತಿಯಾಗಿ ಮ್ಯೂರಲ್ಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈಗ ಶೇಷಾದ್ರಿಪುರಂ ಕಾಲೇಜಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಮ್ಯೂರಲ್ ರಚನೆ ನಡೆದಿದೆ. ತುಮಕೂರಿನ ……. ಕಾಲೇಜಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಮ್ಯೂರಲ್ ಇದೆ. ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ ಪಡೆದ ಅವರ ಕೃತಿಯೇ ಆರಡಿxಆರಡಿ ಪೇಂಟಿಂಗ್!
ಪಿಯುಸಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಫೇಲಾಗಿ ಟೋನರ್ ಮಾರುವುದೇ ಜೀವನದ ಪರಮೋದ್ದೇಶವಾಗುವ ಭಯವನ್ನು ಮೆಟ್ಟಿ ಚಿತ್ರಕಲಾ ಪರಿಷತ್ತಿಗೆ ಸೇರಿದಾಗ ದೇವರಾಜ್ಗೆ ಗೆಳೆಯರು ನೆರವಾದರು, ಹಣ ಜೋಡಿಸಿಕೊಟ್ಟರು ; ರೇಷ್ಮೆ ಬೆಳೆಯುತ್ತಲೇ ಮಗನ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಪುಟ್ಟ ಕನಸುಗಳನ್ನೂ ನೇಯ್ದ ಮನೆಯವರೆಲ್ಲ ಕೊಂಚ ಸಿಟ್ಟಾಗಿದ್ದೂ ಇದೆ. ಈಗ ಎಲ್ಲ ಹೊಳವಾಗಿದೆ. ಫ್ರೀಲಾನ್ಸ್ ಕಲಾವೃತ್ತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ದೇವರಾಜ್ ಈಗ `ಸಸಿ'ಯಲ್ಲ, ವೃಕ್ಷ! ಕಟುನಿರ್ಧಾರಗಳ ಬದುಕಿನಲ್ಲಿ ದೇವರಾಜ್ರ ಏಕಾಂಗಿ ಬದುಕಿಗೆ ಪೂರ್ಣವಿರಾಮ ಹಾಕಿದವರು ಪತ್ನಿ ಬಿಂದು ; ಆಕೆಯೂ ಕಲಾವಿದೆ. ಬದುಕಿನ ಹೊಸ ಮಾಯೆಯಾಗಿ ಮಗ ಸಿದ್ಧಾರ್ಥ!
ಇನ್ನು ವರ್ಷದ ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮ ಯುವ ಕಲಾವಿದ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿಯನ್ನೂ ದೇವರಾಜ್ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದರು ಎಂಬುದೆಲ್ಲ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಕುತೂಹಲವನ್ನು ತಣಿಸಲು ಇರುವ ಒಂದಷ್ಟು ಹೆಚ್ಚುವರಿ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಳಷ್ಟೆ. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಕಂಡ ಅಪರೂಪದ ಕಲಾಜೀವಿ ದೇವರಾಜ್ ಎಂದು ಈಗ ಹೇಳಬಹುದಷ್ಟೆ?
ಮಾತುಕತೆ ಮುಗಿಸುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ವಾರವಷ್ಟೇ ಅಂಗೈ ಅಗಲದ ಚೌಕಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಚಕಚಕನೆ ಮೂಡಿದ ಪೇಂಟಿಂಗ್ಗಳು ಕೈಗೆ ಬಂದವು. ನೀಲಿ ಕಪ್ಪು ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು.
ಬದುಕನ್ನು ಸರಳ ಬಣ್ಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡುವ ದೇವರಾಜ್ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಹಾರ್ಟ್ ಸ್ಪಾಟ್.
ABOUT
Born:
1966, Bengaluru Rural. India
Education:
1988 - 1995. B.F.A. & M.F.A. in Painting, College of Fine Arts, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru
Awards & Recognitions:
2008: Senior Fellowship, HRD Govt of India, New Delhi. 2004: National Award, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi. 2001: ‘Young Artist Award’, H.K. Kejriwal Trust, Bengaluru. 1993: Kejriwal Student Award, Bengaluru. 1993 : All India Exhibition Award, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, Bengaluru. 1992: Karnataka Lalit kala Academy Award. 1988-1992: Deepayan best student Award. Bengaluru
Solo Shows:
2011: The Anonymous. Jehangir Art Gallery. Mumbai. 1997, 2005: Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru.
Selected Group Shows & Participations:
2019: Group Show, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru. Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai. 2018: National Art camp, Karnataka chitrakala parishath, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. 2017: Darbhar Hall Gallery, Kochi, Kerala. Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata. Venkatappa Art Gallery. Bengaluru. 2016. Gallery Time and Space, Bengaluru. 2015: National Art camp, CMR University. Bengaluru. National Art camp, Manipal University. Manipal. Artist camp at Kuppalli Karnataka, Lalitkala Academy. 2014: ‘Small is Big’, Darbhar Hall Kochi. 2012: Sublime Galleria, Bengaluru. India. 2011: Indian Contemporary show, Loveland Museum, USA. 2010: 2004 National Award winners Art Camp, Shimla. : ‘Black is Beautiful’ India Fine Arts, Mumbai. 2009: ‘Open Cage’ Homage to Francis Bacon, Galleria Sara Arakkal, Bengaluru. Moment Intercepted’ Curetted by Giridhar Khasnis. Two-person show, Gallery Time and Space, Bengaluru. “The Root of Everything”, Gallery Mementos, Bengaluru, Curetted by Giridhar Khasnis. “Artist World” CKP, Bengaluru, Curated by Dr. Veena Shekar. 2008: Young Contemporary India. Gallery Kolkata, Kolkata. Furniture on Canvas curetted by Giridhar Khasnis, Bengaluru. Gallery Mementos Opening Show, Bengaluru. 2007: Group Show at 1x1 Art Space, Dubai. The Drawn Dairies, Studio Napean, Mumabi. Emerging India, SA Fine Arts at The Henry Moore Gallery, London. Generation Next, Art Alive Show at Visual Art Gallery, New Delhi. Real 2007 Show, Ravindra Bhavan, New Delhi. Artist camp, IIHR, Jaipur. Artist camp by Samanvai Art Gallery Goa. Feb Group Show, ABS Gallery, Baroda. The Big Draw. Crimson, Bengaluru. The Illuminated Landscape, Gallery Space, Hyderabad. 2006: Artist camp at Pachmahri, Madhyapradesh. Group show in a private art gallery, Austin, Texas. KSTDC & Art Mantram Artist Camp, Mysore. ‘Parivasi Divas’ Show, DAIARA Centre for Arts, Hyderabad. Artist Camp, Dept of Kannada and Culture. Bengaluru. 2005: Tsunami Relief Fund Rising Artist Camp, Bengaluru. The Harmony Show, Mumba. Homege to Hebbar, Samyojita. Bengaluru. ArtReach. Udbhava, Bengaluru. “Essence of India” Leela Galleria & Mahua, Bengaluru. Birla Academy of Art, Kolkota. 2004: Painted Bus for BMTC’s Soujanyamasa. 47th National Exhibition, Lucknow. 2001: All India Artist Camp, Goa. H.K. Kejriwal Young Artist Award Show. 2000: Exhibition of Karnataka artists, Jaipur. 1998: 50 years of Independence Show, Bengaluru. Gallery Marichika Inaugural Show, Kochi. 1997: 'Images' Gallery Inaugural Show, Bengaluru. ‘Tribute to Mother Teresa’. Gallery Samukha, Bengaluru. 1996: Artists Camp and Exhibition, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Artists Camp, Karnataka Lalitkala Academy. 1993 - 1994: All India Fine Arts Exhibitions, Bengaluru. 1991 - 1995: Karnataka Lalitkala Academy Exhibitions
Commissions:
2004: 12'x 30' Mix Media Mural, Seshadripuram Law College, Bengaluru. 2003: 10' x 12' Mural. Republic Hospital, Bengaluru
10'x40' Ceramic Mural. Tumkur Club, Tumkur. 1997: 13.5'x30' mural in Steel, Ceramic & Granite, Christ College Bengaluru, Fiberglass mural, Srinidhi Nursing Home, Chikkamagalur. 1995: 7'x21' wall mural, Hotel Concorde Bengaluru
Collections:
NGMA - New Delhi. Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi. ITPL, Bengaluru. Bharath Petroleum, Mumbai. Brooke Bond India Ltd., Bengaluru. Infosys, Bengaluru. KSCA Stadium, Bengaluru. Biocon India Ltd., Bengaluru. ABS Gallery, Baroda. ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru. India Fine Arts Gallery, Mumbai. Xcyton Diagnostics, Bengaluru. Karnataka Lalitkala Academy. Hotel Concorde, Bengaluru. National Museum, Bengaluru. Garhi Studios, New Delhi
+ Private collections
CONTACT
B Devaraj
372, 1st Floor, 12th Cross
4th 'A' Main, Mahalakshmipuram
Bengaluru - 560086
INDIA
Mobile: +91 9448376750
email: devaraj.b@gmail.com