Signed, Lower Right: Devraj Dakoji is a survey of five decades of art making, featuring a multitude of prints that chart the creative journey of a ‘Master Printer’. Inspired by the concept of pranamu, the life-force of the world—Dakoji has transformed the medium of printmaking with mythic spiritualism and technical expertise. His works are a landscape of earthy and vibrant hues where promethean boulders, primordial figures, and amorphous forms are unified by the unbridled passion of an artist channeling the energies of the cosmos.
Dakoji’s journey has been extensive, from M.S. University, Baroda—studying under Jyoti Bhatt, N.B. Joglekar, and K.G. Subramanyan—to the Chelsea School of Art, where he produced his crucial ‘Stone’ series of prints. In 1985, hearing the familiar call of a peacock in San Diego, Dakoji embraced pranamu, embedding the interconnectedness of life in his work. At the Tamarind Institute in 1992, he began his training as a ‘Master Printer’, subsequently joining the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop and engaging in collaborative printmaking with artists such as M.F. Husain and Michi Itami; later, Dakoji opened Atelier 2221 in Garhi, allowing for collaborative printmaking in the city.
Signed, Lower Right is this spandana, the pulsation of life, that has today made Dakoji a prometheus unbound, constantly pushing the boundaries of printmaking with a life force that has been felt across an entire generation of artists that collaborated with him: Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, V.S. Gaitonde, Manu Parekh, Madhvi Parekh, Himmat Shah, and many more.