Jayasri Burman Wiki, Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Jayasri Burman is a contemporary Indian artist known for her unique watercolour paintings and bronze sculptures. She takes inspiration from Indian mythology and Bangali traditions for her work. In her paintings, Indian deities, worshipping of the goddesses, and ‘mother’ holds a prominent position, which evidently reflects Indianness in her work. She portrays Indian women as divine beings. Through her artworks, she gives a message of nurturing ‘mother’ and ‘Mother Earth.’

Wiki/Biography

Jayasri was born in 1960 (age 62 years; as of 2022) in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Being born into a family of artists, she was introduced to the works of Rabindranath Tagore by her father in her childhood. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the Kala Bhawana Institute of Fine Arts in Shantiniketan. Later, she pursued a Master of Arts in painting at the Government College of Art and Crafts in Calcutta. In 1984, she went to Paris, where she learnt print-making under the guidance of Monsieur Ceizerzi and did a graphic art workshop with Paul Lingren.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 6″

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Husband & Children

She married twice. According to Jayasri Burman, her first marriage lasted for 17 years. Later, she got married to Paresh Maity, a renowned artist. The couple has a son named Rid Burman, who is a photographer. In an interview, Burman recalled the hardships that she faced after marriage and losing her baby.

Jayasri Burman with her husband (right) and son

Artwork

The artworks of Jayasri Burman are mainly a fusion of myths and reality that she draws from various sources such as works of Rabindranath Tagore, drama, and Hindu Texts like Ramayana and Mahabharta. She is known for incorporating Indian folk elements and retaining refreshing candour and reflective honesty in her artwork. Without losing the natural allure, the intricate patterns of her canvas incorporate the folk art techniques like Kalighat and Patachitra paintings. She mainly uses watercolours and frequently uses red, blue, and radiant saffron colours in her paintings. She believes that colours and lines have their autonomous symbolic meanings.

Series

River of Faith

Jayasri Burman is highly influenced by the Ganges River. In childhood, she used to visit the banks of the River Ganga with her father for Luxmi Puja. In an interview, she talked about how she used to observe and enjoys the visuals of the river bank. She said,

I wanted to locate the source of all this power,” she added, “As a child, these things greatly impact you. Ganga became an indelible part of how I saw the world.” ^[1]Architectural Digest

Her solo show ‘River of Faith’ in Bikaner House was a tribute to the River Ganga. In an interview, while talking about the COVID-19 pandemic and the idea of her Ganga series, she said,

These were people who died of Covid-19 but since there was no space for cremation, their bodies were thrown into the river. Personally speaking, it was very heartbreaking for me to see Maa Ganga being turned into an open burial ground.” ^[2]Open

Some of her famous artworks from the series “River of Faith” are ‘Ambika,’ ‘Jahnvi I,’ ‘Jahnvi III,’ and ‘Adhisree.’

Painting ‘Ambika’ by Jayasri Burman

The bronze statue ‘Jahnvi I’ by Jayasri Burman

The fibreglass statue ‘Jahnvi III’ by Jayasri Burman

The painting ‘Jahnvi III’ by Jayasri Burman

Painting ‘Adhisree’ by Jayasri Burman

Born of Fire

The art series “Born of Fire” includes the paintings of Draupadi, a prominent character from the Indian epic Mahabharata, who was born from a yajna (fire sacrifice) organized by King Drupada of Panchala. Burman is fascinated by the bravery, sacrifice, and courage of Draupadi and created an art series as a tribute to her. Remarking the art series, Burman said,

Draupadi is the truest champion of justice and fair play, she stands for women rights and humanity.” She added, “Draupadi is our symbol of hope and fortitude and (I believe) she must remain in the midst of our lives as an icon woman we can all draw inspiration from. She belongs to us!” ^[3]Jayasri Burman

The series is divided into two parts, one includes colourful paintings and another sketch. Some paintings in this series include ‘Draupadi and the five Pandavas,’ ‘Draupadi and the Game of Dice,’ ‘Born of Fire,’ and ‘Ratna Kuntala.’

Primordial Power

The installation by Jayasri Burman is based on the popular practice in India of dedicating votive churnis to their gods or goddesses. It is often seen in Indian temples and mosques that people tie votive churnis and offer garlands on trees and stones in order to get their wishes fulfilled. Burman believes that every votive piece reflects the story of the person’s faith by whom it is offered. The use of votive churnis in her installation depicts this innate belief of the people. In addition, she has extravagantly used the faces of tigers in her artwork, which is a divine vehicle in Hinduism and reflects the intangible power that destroys evil and builds vigour of hope. While talking about this artwork, Burman stated,

The tiger finds its roots in my birthplace, Bengal, which prides in harbouring the Royal Bengal Tiger. It will bot be wrong to mention that they are reminiscent off the panel where they are “prancing, proud and unafraid” in Adrienne Rich’s Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’, Basking in their feminine fires.” ^[4]Jayasri Burman

Jayasri Burman posing with her installation ‘Primordial Power’

Selected Group Exhibitions

1984

• Three Person Exhibition, Paris

1989

• Young Faces in Contemporary Indian Art, Birla Academy of Art and Culture,
  Kolkata

1990

• Kolkata through the Eyes of Painters, Birla Academy of Art and Culture,
  Kolkata

1991

• A Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1996

• Urban Signals, Shifting Images-­‐II, Birla Academy of Art and Culture,
  Mumbai

1997

• Panchadashi, Gallery La Mere, Kolkata

1999

• Emerging Trends, Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2012

• Synergy, Small is Beautiful, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

• Art Toronto: Focus Asia, Gallery Sumukha at Toronto, Canada

• An Alternative Perspective, Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

• The Living Walls: Where Gallery walls become Artist’s Canvas, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

• Women: Sacred and the Temporal, Shrishti Art Gallery, Hyderabad

2013

• Equilibrium, Beyond the Canvas, Small is Beautiful, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

• When High and Low Meet, Art Alive Gallery, curated by Rupika Chawla,
  New Delhi

• Art Stage Singapore, Sumukha Art Gallery, Singapore

2013-14

• Kalasutra I & II, Sanchit Art Gallery, Singapore

2014

• St Moritz Art Masters 2014, Switzerland, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

• Infinite, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2015

• The Ecstasy of Art, Tao’s 15th Anniversary Show

2016

• Art Now 2016, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai organized by Art Alive Gallery

2017

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

2018

• Viswaroopa – The Form of Universe, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata

2011-2018

• Indian Art Fair, New Delhi

Awards, Honours, Achievements

• In 1979, Jayasri Burman was awarded by the College of Visual Arts in Tempera for Outstanding Merit in the Annual Exhibition.

• In 1984, she won the National Academy Award for her painting Jeley (The Fisherman).

• In 1985, she received the ‘Padma Shri award’ from the Government of India at 25.

• She received the 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.

• In 2008, she received the ‘Indian Federation Chamber of Commerce Award.’

• In 2016, she was awarded by the Government of West Bengal for making the best Durga Puja Idol for Behala Nutun Dal, a cultural association in Kolkata, West Bengal.

• In 2017, she was feted with the ‘ICON of Indian Art Award by Verve Magazine.

• In 2018, she received the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Award at the 20th Beti FLO GR8 Awards.

• In 2021, The Telegraph awarded her the She Award. After receiving the award, she said,
  

  Works of artistes like Meera Mukherjee, Arpita Singh and Amrita Sher-Gil inspire me. I was brought up looking at their paintings and this award is really a big inspiration for me. I want to thank IIHM and The Telegraph for the She Award. Also, I am very grateful and thankful to the jury who has given me this award and honoured me for my journey as an artiste. ^[5]The Telegraph

Facts/Trivia