EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop is pleased to feature Devraj Dakoji’s recent lithographs with chine collé and a vintage mezzotint at The Armory Show. With Untitled (1975), a landscape dissolves to an all-over-composition, full of floating figures both animalistic and phantasmagoric reorienting nearly 50 years of Dakoji’s ceaseless series Pranamu, Wheel of Life.
For over three decades, Devraj Dakoji (b. 1944 Hyberabad, India) has taught lithography, etching, and serigraphy at EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. In his capacity as a Master Printer, he has worked with countless artists from throughout the world, including collaborators such as Zarina Hashmi, M.F. Husain, Juan Sanchez, Lenore R.S. Lim, Chakaia Booker and others.
In 1993, after a year-long lithographic training at the Tamarind Institute in Santa Fe, Dakoji was invited by Professor Krishna Reddy to New York University as an artist-in-residence. Shortly thereafter, Prof. Reddy introduced Dakoji to Robert Blackburn, the Founder of the Printmaking Workshop, and landed a position as its lead printer and educator. Blackburn founded The Printmaking Workshop in 1947, where it stands today as the longest continuously run community printshop in the United States.Dakoji remains committed to his practice as a Master Printer and educator, sharing his vast expertise with hundreds of students. He continues to inspire others with his knowledge, creativity and passion for printmaking at EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop and other institutions, and as a vital leader and member in the community.
