Devraj Dakoji
Devraj Dakoji with MF Husain, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop
Master printmaker Devraj Dakoji grew up in a family of Ayurvedic practitioners in Hyderabad. He remembers picking herbs for his father every morning before going to school, and this proved to be a lasting influence in his life, making nature a recurring symbol in his art. In the early 90s, Devraj learnt ‘collaborative printmaking’ at the Tamarind Institute in University of New Mexico, after which he went on to create works in tandem with artists, such as V.S. Gaitonde, M.F. Husain, Himmat Shah, Manu Parekh, Madhvi Parekh and Yusuf Arakkal, among others. Devraj had little time to develop his own printmaking practice, which constantly evolved over the decades, reflecting both his mastery and relentless exploration of the medium.
We worked on a publicity campaign for Devraj’s monumental retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in Bangalore, from September 8th to November 5th, 2023.