Pritam Kanjilal
Kanjilal Sweets, the much-anticipated second solo exhibition by acclaimed artist Pritam Kanjilal, concluded after a successful week-long run at the 4th Gallery of Jehangir Art Gallery. This marked the artist's debut solo at Jehangir, and a poignant milestone in his artistic journey - one that began years ago with the dream of showcasing his work at this iconic venue.
Held from April 7 to 13, the exhibition attracted a steady stream of art lovers, collectors, critics, and fellow creatives, all captivated by the show's raw emotional depth, nuanced symbolism, and evolving visual language.
Reflecting on the show, Pritam Kanjilal shared, "Life, like art, is a constant process-unpredictable, layered, and intensely personal. With this show, I ventured into transformation using a visual language that embraces contrast and change. As a sweet maker carefully prepares each morsel, I too created every piece with equal fervour, allowing imagination to flow freely across changing mediums and forms. âKanjilal Sweets' is more than a series; it's an impression of life's complexity, asking the viewer to seek beauty in the unexpected and meaning in the contradictions."
The exhibition served as a poetic metaphor for life itself - unpredictable, diverse, and delicately crafted. Each artwork, whether rendered in watercolour, pen & ink, acrylic, or mixed media, embodied a unique facet of transformation. From the intimate joys of fatherhood to the global turbulence of wars and pandemics, Pritam Kanjilal's pieces channelled personal and collective experience with quiet intensity and lyrical form.
With its collage-like compositions, vibrant contrasts, and subtle visual metaphors, the collection invited viewers to pause and reflect - to find silence in noise, softness in disruption, and sweetness in the everyday. The exhibition was widely praised for its conceptual depth, understated humour, and refined visual sensibility. Viewers and critics lauded the artist's ability to balance formal elegance with intimate storytelling, crafting a body of work that felt both deeply personal and universally resonant.
Pritam Kanjilal's return to Jehangir Art Gallery - eight years after first inquiring about a solo exhibition in 2017 - emerged as a deeply personal and introspective moment, marking not just a professional milestone, but a full-circle realization of an artist's journey.
Born in Kolkata in 1980, Pritam Kanjilal is a graduate of Rabindra Bharati University and has exhibited widely at India's premier art institutions, including Lalit Kala Akademi, AIFACS, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, and the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata. Outside of the gallery, he works as a drawing instructor at Manbhum Mukavadhir Vidyapith, a school for hearing-impaired children - a testament to his enduring belief in the transformative and inclusive power of art.
Following earlier solo and group exhibitions across Kolkata, New Delhi, Shimla, Amritsar, and Hyderabad, this milestone showing at Jehangir has established Pritam Kanjilal as a distinctive and empathetic voice in India's contemporary art landscape.
As a step towards zero carbon emission awareness campaign, the exhibition inauguration was conducted through a virtual lighting of the lamp, whereby Mrs. K.G. Menon, Secretary of Jehangir Art Gallery, along with staff and art enthusiasts were invited by the artist to freely colour a flame drawing on paper. Continuing with the sustainable approach, the exhibition catalogue was accessible through a QR code instead of a traditional paper-printed one. The show is dedicated to Pritam Kanjilal's schoolteachers and mentors over the years.
As visitors stepped out of the gallery, many described the experience as a visual and emotional aftertaste - something lingering, reflective, and deeply human. True to its name, Kanjilal Sweets was a celebration of life's evolving flavours, seen through the eyes of a keen observer, compassionate teacher, and fearless creator.
