Born in 1946, Midnapore, West Bengal, Ashok completed his Bachelors of Fine Arts from the College of Art, New Delhi.
Ashok is a Rajasthan based artist whose series on the 'Clown' has won him much praise. He began his career with the 'Fantasy' series in which he tried to express and give form to the dreams and visions of his youth. He then went on to work with the ever popular Ganesh, the elephant headed god, and later also executed a series on Krishna, inspired by a visit to Nathdwara, in which he honours the blue skinned deity.
He says, "Changes in forms and themes remain a part of the process, but the underlying note or mood in all my works is the feel for everything Indian."
Today, an older and more experienced Hazra understands the limitations and the possibilities of his field. He sticks to no particular school of thought or style and is inspired by the mood and surroundings as per the moment. Hazra loves to experiment with various surfaces, media and textures, enjoying the freedom and space it allows him.
"As I paint, my mind races ahead but the basic elements of composition, colour, texture and space are always foremost in my mind. However, no particular style can be attributed to my paintings. I have experimented with many mediums like pencil, water colors, oils, water-proof inks and acrylics."
Hazra is one of the few artists to have taken on the difficult and time-consuming task of painting with watercolors on canvas. In fact, in his series on Krishna, Hazra has incorporated the use of many different media, thus imparting a strong individuality to his works.
He had many solo and group shows and also participated in many art camps: Gallerie Ganesh, New Delhi; Wanganui Collegiate School, New Zealand; Sanskriti Arts gallery, Kolkata; Jaipur Art Summit 2013; Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts, New Delhi; All India exhibition at Jaipur Art summit at Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur.
Ashok has won numerous awards. A few of those are: Rajasthan Lalit Kala Akademi, Senior artist honoured in Kala Mela; IFAICS Award; Bharat Jyoti award, New Delhi.
His works are collections of AIFACS, NCERT, RPSC, Jawahar Kala Kendra, Embassy of Finland, Agro Nixt Contemporary Art Museum, Covasna Romania; ARKS Gallery London and many private art collectors in India.
