Exhibition highlights Satyajit Ray’s visual artistry; gives rare peek into his book jacket designs

As an ode to the legacy of filmmaker Satyajit Ray whose centenary year is being celebrated through various works, a new exhibition features digital reprints of book jackets, illustrated and designed by the master filmmaker. The exhibition 'Ray between the Covers' focuses solely on Ray as a book jacket designer – an area where he has received very little serious attention, particularly away from Bengal. (Source: PR Handout)

Beginning with his early work for Signet Press, the exhibition includes book jackets that he prepared for his own fiction and non-fiction work. It includes 60 plus covers with a variety of form and technique. (Source: PR Handout)

Some examples are calligraphic covers; word play with titles; buoyant and cheerful covers for children’s fiction, among others. (Source: PR Handout)

The exhibition, on till March 1, 2022 at the Art Gallery, Kamaladevi Complex, India International Center, New Delhi from 11 am to 7 pm, is part of the year-long celebrations marking the centenary year of Ray who was also a writer, illustrator and music composer. (Source: PR Handout)

Well before he made his name as a filmmaker, he designed book covers, film posters, illustrated children’s books and had a mastery over calligraphy and typography creating numerous new fonts in Bengali and four Roman fonts, receiving an award for designing the typeface for Ray Roman; Amar Kotha (Source: PR Handout)

The press statement notes that Ray’s artistic work reflects a sophisticated experimentation with various artistic styles and traditions, both local and foreign, without compromising on aesthetic or authenticity. Throughout his career, sketching, graphic design and calligraphy merged seamlessly with his filmmaking; Gangtoke Gandogol. (Source: PR Handout)

With an impressive portfolio of 5,500 book covers, posters, advertisement layouts and film titles and innumerable illustrations for Bengali fiction, both his own and others, Ray at every stage transformed the archetypal understanding of book jacket designs and emerged as a designer without borders, states the press note. (Source: PR Handout)

Hukkahua (Source: PR Handout)

Professor Shanku (Source: PR Handout)