Making a mark in the progression of printmaking

Devraj Dakoji's latest exhibition is a testimony to his life-long contribution to the cause of printmaking

- Trisha Mukherjee

Mediums have often defined artists' careers, but rarely has an artist defined the history of a medium the way Devraj Dakoji has contributed to the progression of printmaking. His engagement with the medium, spanning a career over five decades, is the subject of an ongoing exhibition, titled Signed, Lower Right at Delhi's Gallery Exhibit 320, with over 60 works on display.

Interestingly, printmaking wasn't Dakoji's first calling as an artist. Trained in painting at the College of Fine Arts and Architecture in his hometown in Hyderabad, he worked with watercolours and tempera, until a chance encounter with an exhibition of prints on World War II by German artist Käthe Kollwitz left him spellbound. "She did a lot of interesting work with prints, using woodcut and lithographs, which captured the suffering of the people during the war evocatively. I was moved by the depiction of the tragedy. That inspired my interest in printmaking," says Dakoji, 76, adding that when he tried to enquire about opportunities to explore printmaking, there were none in Hyderabad. He then enrolled in MS University, Baroda, where under the tutelage of masters such as Jyoti Bhatt, N.B. Joglekar, and K.G. Subramanyan, he embarked on his journey as a printmaker.