Jatin Das has been in Indian Art Scene since the last four decades, through his paintings & sculptures. He holds a fascination for human body which is evident from his paintings of men & women, captured on various emotions. To the peoples who do not know he is also a poet. He was born in in 1941 in Mayurbhanj. He studied painting at JJ School of Art in Bombay(1957-62). Since he finished his art educated he has been participating in all important national and international art exhibitions, namely the Biennales in Paris (1971), and in Venice (1978) and the Documenta in Kessel (1975).

His constant source of inspiration is from man-woman relationship. He has been involved with various art-institutions in several capacities. He is a teacher at the College of Art, New Delhi and National School of Drama, New Delhi. He is a consultant for handicrafts board & Folk Art Museum, Orissa. Lalit Kala Academy, in 1991 hold a retrospection of his work. He has only 37 exhibitions till date in a career span of 40 years. He believe painting is a very personal experience which can not be shared with others intensely.

Jatin Das is the founder-member of 'The Poetry Society', New Delhi, co-editor of Blunt: Poetry Magazine, Bombay, with R. Parthasarthy and Indrasen M. Jayakar (1964). His Poems by Jatin Das was published by Writers' Workshop, Calcutta, in 1972. His works are in numerous public and private collections in India and abroad.

"The human predicament and human body are my primary concerns, and have been all my life. But this doesn’t mean I have never painted or drawn landscapes, birds and animals. It doesn’t mean that I don’t like them." This is what he says.

On Exhibiting:
For me, painting is one of the most personal things I do. As I said I don’t paint for anyone except myself. There have been many times that I have torn up and thrown away works that I had painted or drawn, but didn’t like. On the other hand exhibiting is a totally different phenomenon. There are different motives and reasons involved with exhibiting works. For me apart from a forum for selling my works, exhibitions provide a time for introspection and retrospection. It’s a time when I get to see all my work together in one place, and question where I am going and what I am doing. I also exhibit for friends to see my works and to find new friends that I can share my experiences as a painter with. Of course all of these people must be rasiks! They are for me Shadharmis and Shahridayis; we share our hearts and religions. Like soul mates do. But I always exhibit only when I have finished the entire body of works that I have been involved with. For the last three years I have been working on oval paintings. But I wont sell or exhibit them until I finish the entire series.

On Recent Projects:
The government has just given me one acre of land in Bhubaneshwar to build a museum. That is where I hope to house all of these paper works once this exhibition is over. Unfortunately, the government has left building costs to me, and I need funding. I have written already to the UNESCO and other bodies, but there hasn’t been much progress so far. Actually I am giving away and donating all my collections. My Pankha (hand fan) collection is currently going up on display at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts. There are more than five thousand fans, and I hope to be ready and open the show in September. I have even given away all my collections of traditional art pieces and handicrafts.

Jatin Das executed murals for Birla Kreeda Kendra, Bombay, in egg-tempera, 1964. Dena Bank, Bombay, in mosaic, 1965, Asia '72, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi, a collage mural on the same occasion, New Delhi in 1972, for the Hodal Tourist Complex, Government of Haryana, in metal in 1974, Tapestry Handloom Commission, New Delhi in 1983. In 1995, he completed his biggest sculpture in steel, a 30 ft. open-air piece, for the Bhilai Steel Plant.

Jatin Das lives and works in New Delhi.

More details can be had from:

http://www.indianartcircle.com/jatindas/jatin.shtml
http://www.the-south-asian.com/April2002/Jatin_Das1.htm
https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no31661.htm
http://www.harmonyindia.org/hportal/VirtualPageView.jsp?page_id=771
http://lists.cs.columbia.edu/pipermail/ornet/2001-August/001829.html