Chano Devi (1938-2010)

Chano Devi 1999 acrylic and cow dung on paper 71x56 cm

In the district of Madhubani (North of India in the Bihar State at the border of Nepal), formerly the kingdom of Mithila, is an ancient tradition of painting, the Mithila painting. Predominantly female, the practice is passed on from mother to daughter. Each caste has its own codes of representation. The upper castes have been encouraged by emissaries of the Indian government to transcribe their ritual and ephemeral art on a durable medium such as paper in the 40’s. In the 70’s, appear for the first time works on paper made by women belonging to lower castes. Between 1972 and 1978, Erika Moser, a German anthropologist, visited several times the district of Madhubani to study and film the Dusadh crafts and rituals, better known in the Western countries under the name of “untouchable”. Moser encouraged the Dusadh women to paint also on paper in order to generate additional income for their daily activities. Unfamiliar with the meaning of complex graphics used by the Kayastha and Brahmins, the Dusadh women began to be inspired from their own traditions. They then developed three styles and techniques of their own. The first was initiated by Chano Devi and inspired from tattoos. This style is ever since known as Godhana (Godna meaning tattoo). These paintings, while largely composed of lines, concentric circles and filled with patterns inspired by the flora and fauna, were carried out using a bamboo pen and black ink. This style was adopted by a large number of Dusadh women and evolved over time to include the use of plant designed color schemes based on flowers, leaves, barks, fruits ... The themes of the paintings have also been developed to include scenes from their daily lives and ritual practice. The gods of their own caste can be found alongside representations of spirits from animistic beliefs. In this series of works on paper made in 1999, Chano Devi distinguishes herself by a unique freedom of expression. Leaving a style codified by a local demand, too commercial in every way, she returns to the freedom that I have once glimpsed on the picture of a workshop conducted in the presence of Sonia Gandhi. In this series, she does not hesitate to constantly change its genre. From abstract patterns made by using simple pieces of cloth rolled into a ball and used as buffers to figurative subjects defined by a principle of double lines, of characters reduced to geometric original shapes to an imaginary dreamy bestiary, each work expresses a rare and unusual talent.

Chano Devi 1999 acrylique et bouse de vache sur papier 71x56 cm