4th July 1966 Delwada village (Gujarat) a child is born. Parents name him Jitendra. From his very
childhood Jitendra was different. He used to paint on the walls of his village home. His mother, a
humble soul never refrained her son from messing the walls. In fact she encouraged him . At the age
of six Jitendra joined the village school. Fortunately for him the school encouraged all forms of arts.
His uncle who was an artist helped him in developing his interest and skills in art. Seeing the potential
of the Jitendra his elder brother who had by now moved to the city made arrangements and got him
admitted to Art college.
In college he excelled in Lithography and Drawing. Being a Rebel by nature, he constantly
experimented different techniques & art forms. He started painting on large canvases. He used to
burn plywood and try out different ways of creating art. Once a whole lot of his paintings got burnt in
the process.
Later he took Osho’s Sanyas. His Sanyas name was Swami Antar Vartan. His friends call him Vartan.He
then moved to Osho’s Pune Commune. For over a year Vartan worked at the paintings in the Ashram.
A number of exhibitions took place around this time at the Commune. Vartan in between went into a
mental turmoil due to a break up with his associate in the commune. There was a feeling of being
rejected; He had before him two choices, either get drowned in the sorrows of a failed relationship or
do some soul searching. He moved to the nearby mountains which is close to Pune. The name of the
place is “Mystic Village”. Here he lived close to Mother Nature. He hardly spoke around this time. Three
years latter he returned to a normal life. He came out spiritually strong and vibrant. By now he was a
transformed person. He chose to live in the moment.
Vartan dives into his painting, flow’s with it, lives with it, this has been his approach towards his painting.
Vartan’s bold abstraction and free brush strokes epitomize the spontaneity in a grand scale. He
creates on canvas something of himself - after he has given it the power of expressions. It is through
his art he speaks directly to his viewer. The harmony and balance of elements reflected in his painting
evokes great mystery. Vartan’s painting represent the five elements of Nature or the five Tattva’s. The
basic colors that dominate his paintings are Red & Blue representing Fire and Water. Vartan with his
touch creates forms which has taste. You will find the flow of water, the energy of fire and movement
& vibrations of air in his paintings. |
