Artists Directory >Alphonso Doss
"I relate Christ to my very personal life. Anyone who sees my paintings will understand them and the sentiments will vibrate from them. I leave these patches of the white canvas without touching them up with white paint so that the canvas can speak, unhindered and unmasked, for itself. I have always thought of Christ as a person of Eastern origin. He was a Jew, an Asian. I have invariably conceived Jesus as a bronze figure that comes naturally to me and then I add in the other colours - maroon, orange, deep orange, yellow, even black - to suit my compositions. Christ has stood out as a suffering symbol of pain for centuries. I feel an artist must be totally aware of the goings on around him, if he decides to communicate through his work. I love communication on one hand, but on the other must retreat into my own world to communicate. Every time I actually approach a canvas, I am face to face with a paradox. I must paint at one go."
Chronology
Born: Bangalore, 1939
Art Education
Graduate Government College of Arts and Crafts, 1962
Government of India National Scholarship, 1963 - 1965
Recipient of Cultural Doctorate in Art Education from World University, Arizon, USA.
Exhibitions
Commonwealth Exhibition, 1965
Contemporary Indian Painting Exhibition in Cuba and Mexico, 1984
Asian Art Biennial in Dakha, Bangladesh, 1986
South Zone Cultural Centre Exhibition in Madras, 1984
Paul Lingren Memorial Exhibition, USIS Madras, 1989
Nehru Centenary Exhibition, New Delhi, 1989
The Bombay Art Society Centenary Exihibition in Bombay, 1989
All India Drawing Exhibition in Chandigarh, 1991
Third Biennial of Visual Arts in Seychelles, 1992
Indian Artists Exhibition at National Museum, Singapore, 1994
Participated in group show organised by Joshua Fine Arts Gallery Kualalumpur.
Camps
Tamil University Artists' Camp, Thanjavur, 1984
South Zone Cultural Centre Camp, Thanjavur, 1987
International Artists' Camp at Calcutta organised by Max Mueller Bhavan, 1990
International Print-making Workshop at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, 1995
All India Artist's Camp, Hyderabad, 1995.
Awards and Honours
Recipient of International Cultural Centre Award, New Delhi, 1968
Kalidasa Exhibition Gold Medal in Bhopal; State Lalit Kala Akademi Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, 1969
Recipient of National Akademi Award, New Delhi, 1988
One Man shows held in India
Sarala Art Centre, Madras; Venkatappa Art Gallery, Government Museum, Bangalore, 1981
Contemporary Art Gallery, Ahmedabad, 1983
Krithika Art Gallery, Bangalore, 1985
Adyar Park Hotel Art Gallery, Madras; Raffig Art Gallery, Madurai, 1989
Gems Gallery, Madras; Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay, 1990
KCP Art Complex - Art Gallery, Bangalore, 1991
Kasturi Sreenivasan Gallery, Coimbatore, 1992
Saga Art Gallery, Madras, 1996
One Man shows held abroad
Burgezzal Zwijndrecht Holland, 1980
Rosa Speer Laren, Holland, 1982
Doshisha University Kyoto, Japan, 1983
Treasure Room Gallery New York during the Festival of India Programme, USA, 1985
BF Larsen Gallery BYU, USA and Ricks College, Idaho USA.,1986
Brimhall, Brigham Young University, USA, 1998
Teaching Assignments
Visiting Professor at Brigham Young University, USA
Eastern Menonite University, USA.
Trivandrum College of Fine Arts, Kerala,
College of Fine Arts, Bangalore
Principal, Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai, 1992 - 1997
Collections
National Art of Modern Art, New Delhi
Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
Contemporary Art Gallery, Government Museum, Chennai
Tamil Nadu Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu,
Karnataka State Lalit Kala Akademi
National Museum, Singapore
Asian Christian Art Association, Japan and many other private and public collections in India and abroad.
Memberships
Doctoral Member, World University AZ, USA
Executive Member, Asian Christian Art Association, Japan
International Society for Education through Art USA.
