Image Credit - The Faraway Tree
Burman is a painter and lithographer whose work features vibrant colours and elements of folklore and fantasy. The complexity of Burman's characters, inspired from old European and Indian cultural values, exist in a dream-like vivid and surreal world. Sakti Burman has also created a number of graphics, including a collection of sixteen limited edition lithographs that serve as illustrations for Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali in addition to his oil and watercolour paintings. The artist made and displayed a significant collection of bronze sculpture in 2009 after dabbling with wood carving in the 1970s.
Burman creates works on paper and canvas that resemble frescoes using pointillism and a marbling method that involves mixing oils and acrylics. Burman frequently references many points in time and space in his paintings, giving them a surrealist aspect. His marbling method, which he developed after years of experimenting, is largely responsible for his distinctive body of work. When Burman visited Italy in 1958, he was inspired to incorporate the monumentality and textures of the frescoes by Giotto, Piero de la France, and Simone Martini into his artwork.
Burman was born in Kolkata in 1935. He received his education at the Government College of Arts and Crafts in Kolkata before moving on to Paris to attend the École Nationale des Beaux Arts. In 1954, the artist held his first solo exhibition in Kolkata. Since then, he has held numerous exhibitions in cities all over the world, including Galerie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Piccadilly Gallery in London, Galerie Doucet et Coutureau in Paris, Galleria Nuovo Sagittario in Milan, and Galerie Sagar in Zurich. He splits his time between Delhi and Paris.
'Life is a Theatre', a collection of Sakti Burman's artwork, will be presented by Art Alive Gallery at India Art Fair. The performance includes contemporary pieces by Burman, in which he uses humour to construct a fantastical universe where real life emulates theatre. His diverse background and interests give his paintings a distinctive blend of French and Indian culture, signifying a cultural link between these two different nations.