Kishore Pratim Biswas

“What I remember that the last time I went for sketch the steam locomotives at Bandel Locomotives Workshop (West Bengal, India) but I was sad to heard that the steam locomotives were obsoleted in India. Those ware disassembled and dispatch for the museum and others for scrap. The year was 1992, after that I didn’t sketch any engine on scribble book, even I didn’t finish my series of “NOSTALGIA OF INDIAN STEAM LOCOMOTIVES”…. Yes I had a lot of scribble book on steam locomotives with the locomotives worker like; firemen, divers and rail worker. And that is my nostalgia on Steam locomotives” says Kishore Pratim Biswas…

The old memories of 70’s Indian Steam Locomotives kept in Kishore’s sketch books. Which is coming out a series of canvas “NOSTALGIA OF INDIAN STEAM LOCOMOTIVES”. Last 25 years he was working on this series and early of 2014 he was starting to exhibit those. Kishore had couple of successful solo show in Mumbai, Delhi and Dubai.

“For years, I woke up at midnight and started painting impromptu. I still find that very gratifying.” – Meet Kishore Pratim Biswas, India’s upcoming independent contemporary artist.

Kishore’s more than 25-year journey in modern contemporary art movement has not only strengthened his unconventional thought process, but architected his painting style too.

Born in Kolkata, 43 year-old Kishore was passionate about art since childhood. After graduating in Fine Arts from Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata, 1996. Kishore spent some struggling years in his hometown and then moved to Mumbai in 2009.

Biswas says “Creating painting keeps me emotional. I get the nostalgic from what my old memories, with related to contemporary arts, movies, musics, trends, culture and communities. I used to create series with found content from nostalgia, sketch books, old known place and old people. My painting is mostly about a old feeling, a old ambiance, that I want to convey. You can call it a FORM OF A NOSTALGIA, as I find that these themes from the 70’s and 80’s are still up-to-date.”

Kishore used to draw so many portrait of workers in Indian locomotives… the sketch book says “when I sketched any character I wanted to be act like them… I tried to enter more of the character… still I habit to paint like this…

Kishore organized his solo exhibition in Kolkata in 1996. In 1997, he displayed his work of art at several group shows around the country. Even though Kishore has a long way to go, his paintings are slowly making their way into the homes of collectors of modern Indian art. 

It's a solo show of Kishore Pratim Biswas at Lalit Laka Akademy, Delhi from 26th Dec 2014 to 1st Jan 2015.

Kishore was born in a place where he had a opportunity to watch the STEAM LOCOMOTIVES. Throughout the day the steam locomotives were running in front of him with the whistling and steaming. For him it's a big nostalgia.

The ambiance was like that the locomotives had a giant appearance of the black body with the white steam around him. It was a dramatic visual experience which was making crazy to Kishore. Which was encouraging to kishore bring down the memory on canvas. Kishore used to go to the locomotive workshop day after day to study that from a close view. He seriously had fallen in love to the  steam locomotives. He did watercolor and oil sketch mostly in sepia tone.

In the locomotive workshop the firemen and drivers were to be good friend of Kishore. They always came to him to take a look their picture on the sketch book. Few of them were also sitting with him for making their own portrait. Kishore remembered that, all time their looked very black and dark because of the dust of coal. Their faces always had a interesting sprite of life, which always inspired him to draw their portrait. They never had any complain about their hard life. He loved to sketch them, study their faces with pen and ink, charcoal, soft pastel and pencil. They wore always in a particular dress of dark blue with a cap. Kishore tried to catch their emotions in the character. Watching their lifestyles, listening their stories... still today Kishore is working on their life with the locomotives...

That is how the "Nostalgia of steam locomotives" came.

One of the youngest India’s significant expressionist independent artist, KISHORE PRATIM BISWAS is a journey of around 15 years of modern contemporary Art movement. He opted for an unconventional idea, concept and style in his painting. Born in Kolkata in the state of West Bengal in 1972, he was fond of art since childhood. He did his graduation in Fine Art from Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata in 1996. After that he started painting in a different way of expressionism. In 2009 he moved in Maharastra, and permanently setup a studio in Mumbai.

The talented artist started off by primarily painting in watercolors. However, he gradually switched to painting Acrylic on canvas. His art practice stands on a solid intellectual platform and his works reflect a unique streak, where in color is of great importance, and form happens to be only incidental. He also applies use of the texture in the canvas as well as experimental method to finish his paintings. On the other hand, Kishore chose to experiment with an array of mediums like acrylic, oil, watercolor, mix media, charcoal & soft pastels.

Kishore, has been for a long time known to be a junior artist of Sunil Das, Bikash Bhattacharya, Prakash Karmar, Jogen chowdhury, Ganash Halui, Chitrabhanu majumdar, Biman Das, Niranjan Pradhan and other.

He had his solo exhibition in Kolkata in 1996, and a year later at the various group shows around the India. He is not as like renowned contemporary artist in India, still a fact now acknowledged by the market, many collectors of modern Indian art now slowly collect his works.