Jai Zharotia (b. 1945)
Aranyavas Artist Camp, Ranakpur, 2013
Jai Zharotia was born in 1945 in New Delhi and graduated with a Diploma in Fine Arts from the Delhi College of Art. He has forayed into painting, print making and sculptures as well, but his interests lies with children’s educational projects. He worked on educational projects for children before becoming a lecturer at the Delhi College of Art in 1974. He also writes poetry in Hindi.
His ability to demonstrate and teach a variety of art techniques have made him an affable teacher who was popular among his students. In his works, a series of icons that are drawn from the physical world, which, when interpreted by him, change almost magically represent a world that exists only in the furthest reaches of his imagination. His works features, clowns, jugglers and puppeteers that reveal his empathy for the tragicomic figures.
Zharotia has won many awards like the Priyadarshini Award, for outstanding Services, Achievements and Contribution, Senior Fellow in The field of Visual Arts, A life-time contribution to Fine Arts award, National Award by the Lalit Kala Akademi, Award for Silk Screen Printing by Sahitya Kala Parishad, etc. He lives and works in New Delhi.