Jogen Chowdhury (b.1939,Bangladesh) graduated from the Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata (1960) and later pursued a postgraduate degree from the same institution.
His selected solo and group exhibitions include: Drawings and Paintings - Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata (1963); Oil Paintings - Galerie de Haut Pave, Paris (1966); Drawings and Paintings, Alliance Francasie de Madras, Chennai (1968); Ink and Mixed Media Works on Paper - AIFACS (1972) ,Gallery, New Delhi, Inaugurated by Shri V. V. Giri, President of India (1972); Ink and Pastel Works on Paper, Embassy of India, Paris (1976) ; Ink and Pastel Works on Paper - Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi (1981); Watercolour Paintings - Bithi Art Centre, Baroda (1982); Watercolour Paintings - Contemporary Art Gallery, Ahmedabad (1983); Drawings - Sarala Art Centre, Chennai (1990); Drawings with Ink and Pastel on Paper - Nandan Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan (1992); One Hundred Drawings - Seagull Art Foundation, Sukh Sagar, Kolkata (1994); Drawings, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (1994); Drawings, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai (1994-95); Drawings and Paintings - Glenbarra Art Museum,Japan (1996); Drawings - Gallerie Foundation for Indian Artists, Amsterdam (1996); Drawings with Pastel on Paper -Gallerie Foundation for Indian Artists, Art Fair, Amsterdam (1997); Coloured Drawings with Pastel on Paper, Foundation for Indian Artists, Amsterdam (1998); Drawings and Paintings with Ink and Pastel, GallerieMohanjeet, Paris (1998); Paintings with Ink and Pastel on Paper, Fine Art Resource, Berlin (1999); ‘Painted Drawings’ with Ink and Pastel, Gajah Gallery, Singapore (2001); Drawings with Ink and Brush on Paper - Archer Gallery, Ahmedabad (2001); Drawings and Paintings with Ink and Pastel on Paper - Bose-Pacia Modern, New York (2002) ; Small Format shows in Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata and Vadehra Art gallery for releasing of ‘Jogen Chowdhury’- Enigmatic Vision a book by Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan (2005); Drawings & Paintings - CIMA, Kolkata (2006); ‘Abahaman’ Flowing life Drawings & Paintings, Vadehra Art gallery, New Delhi (2007); ‘A Calligraphy of Touch & Gaze’ - Kalakriti Art gallery, ICIA, Mumbai (2008); ‘Drawing & Doodles’ - Ganges Art Gallery, Kolkata (2010); India Art Festival, Mumbai (2012); Retrospective Exhibition - Kala Bhavana,Visva Bharati,Santiniketan; Gallery VEDA,Chennai and Cochin (2013); Exhibition of Photography - Maya Art Space, Kolkata (2014); ‘Jogen Chowdhury Formative to Recent’ : A Retrospective Show, CIMA Kolkata (2014); ‘Jogen Chowdhury Retrospective 1955-2013’ -Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad (2016); ‘Compelling Presence a Retrospective Exhibition’ -National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore (2016); Rhythm in Agony, Drawings of Jogen Chowdhury, Ganges Art Gallery, Kolkata (2017); Exhibition of small format drawings by Jogen Chowdhury, Nandan, Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan (2019); Emami Art (2019); Art Exposure (2021); IAF,New Delhi (2022); Compulsive Act - Art Exposure, Kolkata (2022); Into the Half Light and Shadow Go I - Bikaner House, New Delhi (2023); Into the Half Light and Shadow Go I - Snowball Studios, Mumbai (2023); IAF, New Delhi (2024).
National Exhibition of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (1957); Indian Painters in France - Nongent le Retrou (1965); Art Today – III, Second Triennale India, International Exhibition of Arts, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (1971); International Exhibition Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, Pictorial Space, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (1976); New Contemporaries, Curated by Gulam Mahammed Sheikh Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Fifteenth Sao Paolo Biennale, Brazil (1978); Asian Art Exhibition, Fukuoka, Japan, Indian Painting, National Art Academy, Dubai (1979); Seven Indian Painters, Worpswed, Hannover, Hamburg, Braunschweig and Bayreuth (1980); Oxford Museum of Modern Art, Oxford Contemporary Indian Paintings, Festival of India, Royal Academy of Art, London, Inaugural Exhibition, ‘Vision’, an exhibition of four artists : Somnath Hore, Gasnesh Pyne, Bikash Bhattacharya and Jogen Chowdhury by Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata (1986); Contemporary Indian Artists - Gallerie School, Amsterdam (1993); Contemporary Indian Art - Festival of India, Japan, ‘Olympiad of Art’ Seoul, 25 years of Gallery Chemould – Anniversary Show, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai (1987); Glass Etching, Textile, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai (1994); Kyoto Zoukei Art University, Kyoto (1995); Bangladesh Biennale of International Art, Shilpa Kala Academy, Dhaka, Touched by Bhupen’ Galerie MichandainiStienruecke,Mumbai,Chitrakala Parishad,Bangalore (1997); ‘Search Within’, Pernegg and Salzburg, Austria, and National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi and Mumbai; ‘Crossing Generations: Diverge-Forty years of Gallery Chemould’, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai (2003); ‘Of Memories, Dreams, Reveries’ - Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi; A Celebration of Colours’ - Jamini Roy and Jogen Chowdhury, Vadehra Art Gallery; Festival of Arts - Moscow,‘Chamatkara’, Whitleys Art Gallery, London organized by CIMA Gallery (1996); ‘Aspects of Modern Indian Painting’, Pundole Art Gallery and Saffron Art, Metropolitan Pavilion,Group show by Akriti Art gallery, at India Art Fair, New Delhi (2015); ‘Image and Symbol Painters Perceptions’ – Akriti Art Gallery, Kolkata (2010).
Chowdhury recieved a number of awards include: Best Group of Watercolour Paintings, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, Graphic Arts, Calcutta University Institute Exhibition, Kolkata, Award: Watercolour Painting, Calcutta University Institute, Kolkata (1958). Watercolour Painting, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, Sketching, Calcutta University Institute, Kolkata, Watercolour Painting, Calcutta University Institute, Kolkata, Watercolour Painting, Government Collage of Art and Craft, Kolkata (1959). Award: Oil Painting, Art Exhibition in Sreerampur, West Bengal (1960), Painting, Youth Festival Exhibition, Kolkata (1962), Modern Art, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata (1963), ‘Prix Le Franc de la JeunePeinture’, Paris (1966), Painting, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata. Painting, AIFACS, New Delhi (1972). Painting, AIFACS, New Delhi (1974), Graphic Arts, All India Exhibition of Prints, Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh (1979), Graphic Arts, All India Graphic and Drawing Exhibition (Atul), Ahmedabad (1981),Second Biennale of Havana, Cuba (1986), (Honorable Mention), International Print Biennale, Bhopal (1995) ‘Shiromani Award’ for Art, by Asian Paints, Kolkata (1997),Ganakristi, Kolkata (2000),‘Kalidas Samman’, awarded by the Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal (2001), Hony D.Litt from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata (2007),‘Mitra Mandir’ Award as painter, Kolkata (2010), ‘Life time Achievement Award’ by Mont Blanc in association with Ministry of Culture, Dakshinee and Times of India (2011), ‘Banga Bibhusan’ by Government of West Bengal,‘Celebrating Kolkata’, Kolkata,‘Bharat Nirman Award’ Kolkata (2012),‘Sera Bangali’ – ABP Ananda, Kolkata, ‘Zainul Samanana 2016’, Faculty of Fine Art, Dhaka University, Bangladesh, ‘Lady Ranu Mukherjee Life time Achievement Award’, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata (2016).
Jogen's artwork is permanent collection of major museums and galleries around the world, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata; Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection, USA; Deutsche Bank, Kolkata; Galerie de Haut Pave, Paris, France; Glenbarra Art Museum, Himeji, Japan; Jehangir Nicholson Collection, Mumbai; Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati Santiniketan; Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; Madhavan Nair Foundation, Cochin; Madras State Lalit Kala Akademi,Chennai; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi & Bangalore; Peabody Essex Museum Salem, MA, USA; Punjab State Museum, Chandigarh; Punjab University Museum, Chandigarh; Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi; Roopankar Museum of Fine Arts, Bhopal, Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi; Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; World Bank, New Delhi; Kiran Nadar Museum of Modern Art, New Delhi; Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi; State Bank of India, corporate center, Mumbai; Bengal Foundation, Dhaka; Bengal Museum of Modern Art, Kolkata; Ananda Bazar Patrika, Kolkata; Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum,Ahmedabad; Chitrakala Parishat, Bangalore; Perumal Foundation, Mumbai; Fukiaka Asian Art Museum, Japan.
Jogen Chowdhury lives and works in Kolkata.