About Jyoti Bhatt - Limited Edition Serigraphs
Before he became known as a photographer for documenting tribal and folk art, Jyoti Bhatt was an established artist. Mainly, he turned the intaglio process of printmaking into a serious art form in the Indian art space, inspiring several of his contemporaries like Bhupen Khakhar and Gulammohammed Sheikh along the way.
In his art, Bhatt played with the Cubist style and eventually graduated to a vivid, kitschy Pop Art style that depicted elements of Indian life through a series of cultural symbols: the parrot, the peacock, and the lotus, to name a few. But his work was far from heavy or patronizing. In fact, Bhatt employed clever references to Indian pop culture —
“Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge” in “4ever 2gether”—
to present a lighter side of the nationalist ethos. Even the titles in this collection of serigraphs, such as “Villayatea Table” and “Teateallation”, are endearing puns that only go to show his sly sense of humour.