Ashok Bhowmick born in 1953 Kanpur India, is a senior renowned artist from India known for his cross-hatching. He graduated from the Kanpur University in 1973. Ashok is multi-talented artist who mastered the art of cross-hatching early in his career and sculpts and writes in additional to his passion of painting. Ashok Bhowmick was responsible for has transforming cross-hatching from a sheer technique to an independent and comprehensive medium.

Be it paper or canvas, small or large, Ashok fills the spaces with his cross hatching rendered with pen and ink. He creates the darker spaces with dense mesh of lines while lighter areas are achieved through controlled arrangements of lines. It is indeed a matter of utmost dedication that has made his paintings so exclusive that it has become his inimitable signature. The art of Ashok Bhowmik’s work is predominantly figurative.

One Man Shows

  • ‘Ashok – 74’, Kanpur, 1974

  • ‘Sun & the Beggar’, Nehru Hall, Azamgarh, 1980

  • ‘Sun & the Beggar’, Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta, 1980

  • ‘Amidst the Darkness’, Senate Hall, Allahabad University, Allahabad, 1983

  • ‘Recent paintings’, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, 1991

  • ‘Ganesha’, Artists’ Centre, Mumbai, 1993

  • ‘Undulations’, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, 1994

  • ‘My city, my childhood’, Academy Of Fine Arts, Calcutta, 1996

  • ‘Manushi & other paintings’, Art Gallery, Mumbai, 1997

  • Works on Paper, Admit One Art Gallery, New York, USA, 1999

  • ‘Recent Works’, Katayun Gallery, Calcutta, 2001

  • Selected Works, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi, 2004

  • ‘Warli in Me and other paintings’, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2004

  • ‘Street children’, Hamail Art Gallery, Lahore, Pakistan, 2005

  • ‘Retrospective 1997-2007’ Kumar Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2007

  • ‘Recent Works’, Museum Art Gallery, 2009 (Organized by Kumar Gallery)

  • ‘Epic on the rock shelters. Organized by Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai 2014

  • ‘Memories of the dark days ‘. Organized by Cinema of Resistance, Jadavpur University. Kolkata, 2014

  • ‘Tribute to Tagore’. Organized by Embassy of India in Japan, Tokyo 2017

  • 'The Layered Lens’, Gallerie Splash, Gurgaon, 2020

  • ‘Voice of the silence’ , Gallery One62, Sydney, Australia, 2021

  • 'Voice of the silence’ , Art One62, Karachi 2022

  • ‘Made in the Shade’, Dhoomimal Gallery 2022

  • Participated in many Group shows in various art centers in India, Pakistan, Dubai, Barcelona, Sydney and New York .

Other Participations

  • Delivered a lecture on 'My Time, My Art' to the students and staff of the department of paintings at the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan, 2005.

  • Delivered a lecture on ‘Paintings of Rabindra Nath Tagore’ at Embassy of India in Japan, Tokyo 2017.

  • Delivered a lecture on ‘Paintings of Rabindra Nath Tagore’ at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan 2017.

  • Delivered a lecture on 'Commercialization and Contemporary Art' at the Department of Paintings at Allahabad University, 2006.

  • Attended the international seminar on 'Gender perspective in Asian Art' at Asian Art Festival in 2006, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

  • Evaluated the merit to select the awardees from the paintings submitted for the All-India Art Exhibition, 2007 and 2016 organized by State Lalit Kala Academy, U.P.

  • Member of Jury for the All-India Art Exhibition, 2007 organized by Kalidasa Academy, Ujjain, M.P.

  • Lecture on “War Paintings” at Indian Institute of Mass Communications New Delhi, 2nd Lucknow Film Festival, Instituto Cervantes (Spanish Cultural Centre) New Delhi and many other cities.

  • Lectures on Art at Satyavati College, Technia College of Arts, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Jamia Miliya Islamia, Delhi, India Institute of Advance studies Shimla and in other cities like Ujjain, Bareilly, Bhilai, Ara, Gorakhpur, Nainital, Lucknow, Kanpur, Azamgarh, Ashok Nagar, Varanasi, New Delhi, Allahabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, Dalhousie, Jabalpur, Guwahati, Gurgaon, Indore, Patna, Kota, Phagwara, Chandigarh, Khajuraho, Shimla, Ghaziabad, Bhopal, Meerut, Hoshangabad, Ranchi, Siwan, Bodhgaya, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Gwalior .

  • Lecture on “Theatre and Painting” at Bhartendu Theatre Academy (BNA) , Lucknow .

  • Lecture on “Paintings of Rabindra Nath Tagore” at Vikram University, Ujjain, Law Bhawan, Chandigarh, Bharatiya Jnanpith, Technia College of Arts, Teen Moorti Bhawan. New Delhi, Indian Institute of Advance Studies Shimla, Press Club Indore, Bharatiya Jnanpith and at the CHAUPAAL. Mumbai and Lovely Professional University, Punjab.

  • Lecture on “Famine and the paintings of Zainul Abedin ‘at Udaipur, New Delhi, Art faculty of Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi.

  • Lecture on “Paintings of Chittaprosad ‘at Delhi, Ashok Nagar, Bhilai, Indore, Patna, Mumbai, Lucknow and Jabalpur, Jaipur, Dalhousie and New Delhi.

  • Lecture on “Meaning of Art “at Government College, Kota, Lady Shree Ram College for Women, Kamala Nehru College, I.P. College and Ambedker University , New Delhi 2015 and Miranda House 2018.

  • Lecture on “Meaning of Art “at Ranchi, organized by MECON and Lalit Kala Academy (Regional Art Centre, Bhubaneswar) and also at Dalhousie in 2015.

  • ‘Art Talk ‘organized by Cobalt Arts at Kamal Nayan Bajaj Art Gallery on ‘Relevance of Rabindra Nath Tagore as a painter’ and ‘In the wonderland of Indian Art’.

  • ‘Truth of Indian Art ‘, a lecture organized by Bhartiya Jnanpith.

  • Delivered a lecture on ‘Women in Indian Paintings’ at Bhopal and Hoshangabad organized by Riyaz Academy and Eklavya Bhopal 2017

  • Delivered Dr. Radha Kamal Mukherjee Memorial lecture on ‘Paintings of Rabindra Nath Tagore’ at Government Arts College, Lucknow. Organized by U.P.State Lalit Kala Academy . 2017

  • Delivered a talk on The Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore at Khajuraho Dance Festival 2017 organised by Department of Culture, Madhya Pradesh.

  • Delivered a lecture on ‘Women in Indian Paintings’ at Lucknow organized by Lalit Kala Academy (Regional Art Centre), Lucknow, 2017

  • Delivered lectures on Painting at Lovely Professional University ay Phagwara, Punjab.

  • Delivered a talk on The Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore at International Art Symposium at Siwan, organised by ‘Parivartan’.

  • Delivered a lecture on ‘Meaning of Art “at Kala Mela organized by Rajasthan Lalit Kala Academy, Jaipur, 2018.

  • Delivered a lecture on ‘Partition and Painting ’at Bihar Museum, Patna. 2018.

  • Delivered a lecture on ‘Art, mind and gender issues ‘at the Bihar State Annual Conference of Indian Psychiatry Association at Patna December 2019.

  • Delivered a lecture on ‘Art, mind and gender issues ‘ at the Annual National Conference of Indian Psychiatry Association at Kolkata , February 2020.

Publications

  • A collection of short stories ‘Aais Paais‘

  • Biography ‘Badal Sircar: Vyakti aur rangmanch’

  • Collection of essays on art ‘Samkaleen Bhartiya kala: Husain ke bahane’

  • A novel, ‘Monalisa hans rahee thee’

  • A novel, ‘Shipra ek nadi ka naam hai ‘

  • Biography, ‘Akaal ki kala aur Zainul Abedin’

  • ‘Zero-line par Gulzar’, A book on Gulzar’s life and works published by HarperCollins India 2015

  • ‘Jeevanpurhaat Junction ‘, a collection of short stories published by Bhartiya Gyanpith 2017.

  • ‘Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore’, a coffee table book published by RNT University, Bhopal

  • Biography ‘Chittaprasad aur unkee chitrakala’

  • Collection of Essays, ‘Bhartiya Chitrakala ka such’

  • ‘Mahamari aur Chitrakala‘

  • ‘Chitrakala, Chitr aur Chitrakar’

Works Under Publication

  • 100 great paintings (in two parts)

  • Life and art of Sadequain

  • Life and art of Amrita Sher-Gill

Others

  • Regularly writing on painting in the children magazines like, ‘Cycle’, ‘Chakmak’,

  • ‘Pluto’, ‘Orbit’, etc.

  • Writing weekly column in Ravirang of Prabhat Khabar, a widely circulated Hindi Daily.

  • Regularly writing articles in almost all the important journals, magazines and periodicals of Arts,

  • literature and Theatre