Biren De

'The love of the perfect circle, of the twinkling star, the cart-wheeling movement, the hum of powerful engines, the rays from a diamond, energy breaking through a pod, the corona of the sun, and much else. The work [of Biren De] stimulates a host of such associations in one's mind, the pulsating primal force at the roots of the world. It mimics, and conveys the feeling of the majesty of the phenomenal creation, and which raises in turn the feeling of awe in one and which still in turn induces a state akin to worship.'

- Keshav Malik, 'Outstanding works of Biren De', The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 11 November 1971 

Biren De is best known for his ‘Neo-tantric’ themed paintings that attempt to merge Hindu and Buddhist practices with modernist principles. An absorbing composition that radiates energy from within, January from 1978 is testament to the power of De’s visual language.

It was during a trip to New York in 1958 that De was exposed to Abstract Expressionism which sparked his interest in abstraction. Upon his return to India, his association with Ajit Mookerjee began his fascination with Tantric iconography. 'De’s familiarity with Mookerjee’s collection of Tantric art contributed a great deal to the development of his new abstraction in the 1960s. Even before the publication of Mookerjee’s Tantra Art in 1966, De exhibited his new iconography in a solo show at the Kumar Gallery, Delhi, in 1964' (S. Bean, ‘Biren De’, Midnight to the Boom: Painting in India after Independence, Thames and Hudson, London, 2013, p. 82).

De’s work has been shown at a number of prestigious exhibitions and venues including the Salon de Mai, Paris (1951); Sao Paulo Art Biennial (1961); Venice Biennale (1962); Ten Contemporary Indian Painters, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (1965); Contemporary Indian Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London (1982); Neo-Tantra: Contemporary Indian Painting Inspired by Tradition, University of California, Los Angeles (1985). His works have been acquired by distinguished institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, the Berlin State Museum, the National Gallery, Prague, amongst others.