EVOKING SINGULARITY
I have a firm belief that universe mystery cannot be solved. Whenever I tried to solve it, I became part of it. I became stranger to myself and witness a singularity that evoked through my artistry and imagination to create a vivid impression of reality. This is my world as images rise and fall as I breathe. They are not bound by physical reality, they are free to move wherever they desire; they dance up and down, here and there, dissolve into each other and sometimes even disappear. My consciousness summons the images, provokes them and gives rise to my own parallel universe. I may be painting a bird, trees, animals, books, mountains or a clown, women; anything, all become part of one. They are all same to me, no disparity, no discrimination, no caste or creed. I fly with the birds and fall down with a leaf from the tree. I get mixed with the water and flow with it. I become air to breathe with myself, I become the senses for self-gratification. So I always paint self-portraits. Everything becomes one to one becomes everything.
As I paint everything comes out from nothing and returns to nothing. I am just evoking my eternal space where images rise, evolve, arouse and then liquefy into another space.
Any images I conceive and recreate is a reflection of myself. Tree as if I am a tree or a floating arrow as if I am floating arrow. Here, I confess that I am completely in love with myself. I am so possessive of this ‘self’ of mine that I kept it with me intact even during my days of struggle. The eternal movement of the cosmic world awakes mysteries and riddles which always baffle me; and sometimes haunt me too. They whisper in my ears and convince me of intrinsic unity of the cosmic events. - Jai Zharotia
THE ENDLESS CHASE
By ROOBINA KARODE
A pensive head enters the frame obliquely as if to witness the opaque operations of the mind/ a drunken brush twirls to cover the space around a Buddha figure with a Bodhi tree on an endless journey in a boat/ an apparition of a lost king stares at us from the empty red chair while his horse stands alone.
This inventory of bizarre and fantastic imagery keeps expanding- composite and canned, ambiguous yet crisply articulated, it endorses the transformative vision that has been central to Jai Zharotia's art practice for over four decades now. While these mixed media works pictorially captures the endless challenge of human life with a poetic economy, they also bring to the fore his preoccupation with figural transfigurations. The figures at once elastic and fossil-like carry an invented anatomy in their boneless limbs and patterned bodies, attenuated at times to shrink onto specter or a silhouette. Within the constraints of an ordinary middle class life, escape from the mundane is only possible in the realms of fantasy and dream. This desire to see and sense beyond the visible and overcome the limits of the objective world lingers in him whether at work or in idle moments.
While the violence and brutality of the world we inhabit is full of disbelief, one is rather inclined to believe in Jai's pictorial signs of premonitions, of silent brooding, of displacement and dislocation. His enduring themes continue to be located in the realm of the everyday, transported to the realm of dream and mystery only to facilitate intense and dramatic encounters. Meanings become fuzzier as Jai confounds reality, spiking the real with the absurd so that an ordinary phenomenon inherits improbable conclusions. The lamp-post takes on a female head staring in the dark, the human head freezes into an inanimate structure, the blossoming leafy branches also metamorphose into a pattern on the dress. Jai is driven by the belief that the same life-spirit pervades all forms and species, hence it is possible to see interfusions between the rock and the human head or the woman's body and a blossoming tree.
Though Jai has remained aloof from making any direct political or social comment, his works do invoke deep existential reflections. The heroes not only perform, they also brood and cry. Life is a precarious slope or a trapeze where risk and fear are constant shadows, reminders of the many traps that are difficult to escape. The colorful clown that stretches on the large canvas seems excited about the feeling of being airborne, free and floating only to be tied to delicate strings that signify invisible bondage, poverty or imperial powers. The many flags- colonial, religious, political that flutter in the fragmented landscapes of his works, carry implied meanings.
There are several details that are eye catching- human bodies interfused with animal parts, branches sprouting in place of arms, enlarged proportions of eyes popping with wonder, animal and birds angularised into a formal geometry. The cubist methodology of dissection and distortion helps to fragment /violate/split the observed form. In case of Jai Zharotia, it also works to add elusiveness to invoke enigmatic associations and symbolic meanings. For instance, the cockerel turned man desires to pierce the head of the man who butchers his species. In many, psychic tensions flair up between the male and female due to aroused erotic interest. At times, miscarried thoughts and partial suggestions allow viewers to connect, decipher or resolve the incomplete riddles.
There have been other fellow travelers, his contemporaries who have chosen to celebrate the realm of the subjective and the surreal in their works. But in Jai what is indeed most remarkable is the expressive use of visual elements, primarily color and line for effective communication. Marc Chagall always said, “All colors are friends of their neighbors and lovers of their opposites.” Jai's colors pitch emotions through delicate nuances as he plays up contraries and harmonies against each other. Choosing a mix of mediums to submerge his dreamy states in blurs and gestures, he equally adapts to paint precise forms creatively patterned and sectioned, flouting the rules of tonal build-ups and illusionist representation words and letters get blown away to defer closure.
While the line drawing sinuously moves to enclose a form/ shape. It also independently stands out against the painted imagery, projecting itself from a darkened nebulous ground. In many of these works, Jai uses a prop/screen or a curtain with irregular/uneven edges that break the monotony of the paper with straight edges. Also in the absence of scientific perspective it helps creating a sense of movement and at times instability about the evanescent view one has suddenly stumbled upon. Here we encounter art that takes us beyond the immediate, subverting the empirical experience to awaken powers dormant in ordinary vision. For instance, the charming devices of metamorphosis and magic empower an incoherent imagery- the human head for instance is hand-picked and held separated from the body, staring back at itself with amazement. The body is shaped into a structure, a passage for others to wander through, the romantic crescent moon and the dim stars appear and disappear to mystify Jai's imagery located in a twilight zone. For him, the joy of being inebriated or drink kicks in while tapping the safe deposits of his unconscious.
The puppeteer/clown juggling multiple masks and identities continues to be his favorite protagonist, who puts the real world on trial in order to go through the motions of masking and unmasking for his survival. Games of manipulation and illusion are not merely performed in the Circus Ring hut are played out skillfully in social and political situations. The mask is shown, worn, torn in different encounters of otherwise unused, it is pinned as an accessory, in one of the most interesting compositions, the clown sits with an open book and an unfinished drawing , surrounded by the geometry of frames in the form of a mat/ carpet, pillow, his paintings and a side table. This is the image that comes closest to the self portrait of the artist and perhaps his blissful isolation/loneliness from the outside world.
The bahurupiya composed of multiple heads cloaked in one body is a recurrent image in these works. Jai indulges in the literal at times, to retain the innocence of the painted image that he so revered in folk traditions. Portraits become a stage, a façade-frame wherein the eyes anchor the swing on which male and female players take turns. Disparate encounters between man and woman, man and beast, man and ghost express the friction of erotic aggression, greed and possession as well as projection of ego and unfulfilled desire. With hope intact, a single tree transmutes into a female from with bulbous breasts and slender trunk, while in another the evacuated female body encounters danger from the lecherous bull with his drooling mouth.
Jai has been an art professor at the College of Art, New Delhi, heading the painting department until his retirement a few years ago, he taught as well as painted in his office/studio space in the college premises that allowed students to take lessons watching him at work. Over the years, he realized the barriers created by endorsing fixed methods and theories on paintings. Thus he adopted and informal approach to teaching that freed his students to experiment and bifurcate their aesthetic interests. While only a slice of his works had been showcased here, Jai has immensely enjoyed mastering various mediums/material be it watercolors, acrylics, ceramics, graphite drawings, that have helped him arrive at a coherent personal language.
Having enjoyed and analyzed his works of the last three decades, I believe Jai is still looking for a world he hasn't quite found. In his art, he has inhabited one where time and space do not walk hand in hand, where day and night do not chase each other, where the sequence of yesterday, today and tomorrow are playfully bypassed for bizarre reunions and superimposed realities. Having spent most of his life in New Delhi, he only carries familial memories of Rajasthan. Located in the fuzzy terrain that lies between the conscious and subconscious stats of being, Jai's art effectively performs acts of wish fulfillment that take charge of his unrealized dreams and desires. What is perhaps the gift of his art is that it subverts our sense of the familiar and allows us to encounter the paradoxical nature of life through an imaginative representation, rendering in color the friction between good and evil, internal and external, escape and surrender.
Born in 1945, New Delhi, India.
EDUCATION
1971 - National Diploma in Fine Arts, New Delhi.
1967 - Diploma in Fine Arts, New Delhi.
1964 - Delhi College of Art & Sharda Ukil School.
HONORS & AWARDS
2004 Priyadarshini Award, for outstanding Services, Achievements & Contribution.
1998 Senior Fellowship in Visual Arts, Ministry of HRD, Government of India.
1996 Award for significant contribution to Indian drawings, The Solids, Chandigarh.
1995 Lifetime Contribution to Fine Arts, Utsav Educational and Cultural Society, New Delhi.
1994 Life Time Achievement award, Muradabad Art Lovers Association, Muradabad. India.
1993 National Award, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1987 Award for Ceramic and Drawing, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi.
1985 For Drawing, All India Drawing Award, Chandigarh.
1984 Award, All India Drawing Exhibition, Chandigarh.
1984 Award for silk screen printing, Takhman, Udaipur.
1983 Award for Silkscreen Printing, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi.
1980,81 Award, All India Graphics Exhibit. Chandigarh.
1980 For Lithographs, All India Graphics, Chandigarh.
1979, 80,85 Award, Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi.
1970 Smithsonian Printmaking Workshop, Smithsonian Institute Washington DC.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016 Shoes, Mischief-Order, Harmony: Art Heritage, New Delhi.
2011 Parallel Universe: Shridharani Art Gallery, New Delhi.
2008 Singing Line: Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi.
2006 ‘Alchemy of Change’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi.
2002 Myths & Mysteries, Art Today, New Delhi.
1999 ‘Mirrors of Mind: Altering the World’, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1998 Kumar Gallery, New Delhi.
1998 The Magic Lantern, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi.
1998 ‘Mirrors of Mind’, The British Council, New Delhi.
1997 ‘Mirrors of Mind’, ARKS Gallery, London.
1997 ‘Mystery’, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi.
1996 ‘Circus of Life’, Vedanta Fine Arts, Chicago, U.S.A.
1995 Art Today, New Delhi.
1995 Paintings & Water Colors, Art Today, New Delhi.
1994 LTG Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1992 ‘Exhibition of Water Colors’, School’s Gallery, Amsterdam.
1992 Painting & Sculpture, Shridharani Art Gallery.
1991 Watercolours, Galerie '88, Calcutta.
1990, 91 ‘Exhibition of Water Colors’, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1990 An Exhibition of painting, Gallery 88, Kolkata.
1989 Water Colors, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1987 Water Colors, Art Heritage, New Delhi.
1986 Ceramic & Graphics, Genesis Art Gallery, Kolkatta.
1986 ‘Exhibition of Ceramics’, Akaar, Chandigarh.
1985 Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkatta.
1984,89 ‘Exhibition of Water Colors’, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1983,87,91 ‘Exhibition of Water Colors’, Art Heritage, New Delhi.
1982 Drawing Show, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.
1978,81 Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1978 Graphic, Kala Mela, New Delhi.
1977 Lecture & Graphic Show at B.H.U., Varanasi.
1975 ‘Exhibition of Drawings and Graphics’, Black Partridge, New Delhi.
1974 ‘Exhibition of Drawings’, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1973 Jai’73, Kunika Chemould Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1972 ‘Exhibition of Paintings’, Kunika Chemould Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1970,82 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.
1970,82 Graphics Show, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Inner voices - outer masks’ Group Show at Gallery Artchill, Amber Fort, and Jaipur.
2015 'Art Walk ' a Mega Art Show, Group Show of 115 artists by Artchill at Juneja Art Gallery, Jaipur.
2014 ‘Contemporary Figuration’ Group Show at Juneja Art Gallery, Jaipur,
2014 'India -The Revealed Mysteries’ Group Show by Artchill in Venice Architecture Biennale curated by Sandro Orlandi. VENICE.
2013 Group Show by Juneja Art Gallery, Jaipur.
2013 'Confluence des Arts’ a group show of 100 artists at Gallery Artchill, Amber Fort, Jaipur.
2010 ‘Contemporary Printmaking in India', presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; and at Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai.
2010 ‘Manifestations IV', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi.
2010 ‘Celebration 2010', Annual Exhibition, Kumar Art Gallery, New Delhi.
2010 'Black is Beautiful', India Fine Art, Mumbai.
2009 'Navarasas', Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata.
2006 'Multiple Encounters' Indo US Print Exhibition, India and US.
2006 'Vasant: The Spring of Spirit' curated by Leena Namjoshi, New Delhi.
2006 'Color of Life' organized by Cancer Patient Aid Association, Mumbai.
2006 ‘Art for Concern’ in Aid of Concern India Foundation, New Delhi.
2006 ‘The Naked Line – Drawings by 12 Artists’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi.
2005 ‘Manifestations III’, organized by Delhi Art Gallery at Nehru Centre, Mumbai and Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
2005 5th Northern Region Art Exhibition, organized by Camlin Art Foundation, New Delhi.
2005 ‘Indo – Korea Contemporary Art Exhibition’, organized by Academy of Visual Media and Montage Gallery, New Delhi.
2004 ‘Nature and Life at Play’, Visual Arts Gallery, New Delhi.
2004 Artist for Children Movement, organized by Udayan Care, AIFACS, New Delhi.
2004 Bridging the Gaps through the Gospel - Contemporary Indian Artist Interpreting the Ministry and Passion of Jesus Christ, Old Goa.
2004 The Harmony Show, Mumbai.
2004 Group Exhibition. of paintings, graphics and sculptures, Indraprastha Art Gallery, New Delhi.
2004 ‘Graphic Exhibition’, Manhattan Graphics Centre, New York.
2003 ‘Korea – India Contemporary Art Exhibition’, KwangHwa Moon Gallery, Korea.
2003 'Daffodils Essence in art’, The Grand, New Delhi.
2003 Opening Exhibition, Shanta Art Gallery, New Delhi.
2003 Annual Exhibition, Birla Academy Art and Culture, Kolkatta.
2002 ‘The Stuff that Dreams are Made of’, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkatta.
2002 Argosy, Marine Beach Club, Dubai.
2002 'Quest for Peace', Secular House, New Delhi.
2002 'Only Connect- the Essence of Life’, Hyatt Regency, New Delhi.
2002 'Myth and Mysteries', Art Today, New Delhi.
2002 A History Mela: The ABC of India, The Art, Book and Cinema, Art Today, New Delhi.
2001 ‘Scapes 2001’, Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong.
2001 ‘Group Exhibition of Artists from the College of Art’, Alliance Francaise, Bangalore.
2001 Artist 2001, Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, New Delhi.
2001 Art for Gujarat, Visual Arts Gallery, New Delhi.
2001 Group Exhbition ,Apparao Gallery, Madras.
2001 Contemporary Indian Art, organized by Art Motif, Visual Arts Gallery, New Delhi.
2001 Guess Who Painted It? Art Today, New Delhi.
2001 The Harmony Show, Mumbai.
2000 ‘The Millennium Masks’, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi.
2000 ‘Till 2000 Tomorrow' Gallery 42, New Delhi.
2000 'Animals of the Earth’, Apparao Gallery, Chennai.
2000 'Till 2000 and Tomorrow’, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
2000 Between the Earth and Sky, Apparao Gallery, Chennai.
2000 Group Exhibition, Alliance Française, Hyderabad.
2000 Contemporary Strokes of Karnataka, organized by Vijaya Fine Arts Society, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
2000 The Harmony Show, Nehru Center, Mumbai.
2000 ‘Present Delhi 2000’, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkatta.
1999 'Kalakaro ki Nazar me' Delhi, Moscow.
1999 ‘Animals of the Earth’, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.
1999 'Mirrors of Mind’, Altering the World, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1999 'Small Formats', Art Today, New Delhi.
1999 ‘Miniature Format’, Sans Tache Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1997 Mirrors of Mind, ARKS Gallery, London.
1997 ‘Graphics by the members of Group 8’, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1997 21 artists Exhibition, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1997 A Tribute to Art, Harmony Show, Mumbai.
1997 22 Contemporaries, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1997 'The End of Silence’, Mirage Gallery of Art, New Delhi.
1997 'The Indian Beast’, Apparao Gallery, New Delhi.
1997 Inaugural Exhibiition, Art Indus Gallery, New Delhi.
1997 Art for Ashraya, Bangalore.
1997 A Tribute to Husain, Aurodhan Gallery, Pondicherry.
1997 All India Art Biennale of Rajasthan, Ravindra Manch, Jaipur.
1997 Tribute to Mother Teresa, Art Indus Gallery, New Delhi.
1997 'The End of Silence’, Mirage Gallery of Art, New Delhi.
1997 Seven Painters, YIF, New Delhi.
1997 ‘Creative Endeavor's in Small Format’, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1997 ‘Colors of Independence’, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi.
1996 ‘Images on Paper’, Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi.
1996 ‘The Pastel’, Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi.
1996 ‘Mini Prints 96’, Gallery Espace, New Delhi.
1996 3rd Biennale of Indian Drawing, Museum of Fine Arts, Punjab.
1996 Opening Exhibition, Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi.
1996 Drawing '96, Gallery Roman Rolland, New Delhi.
1996 Lantern of the East, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1996 Beauty Forever, Shajahan Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1996 6th Biennale of Contemporary Indian Art, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal.
1996 Highlights, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1996 24th Annual Art Exhibition, Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi.
1995 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1995 Contemporary Miniatures, Gallery Leela, Bombay.
1995 Group Exhibition, Gallery Ganesha, New Delhi.
1995 Group show, Taj Art Gallery, Bombay.
1995 3rd International Prints Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal.
1995 Revelation, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1995 A Tribute to Husain, Hyatt Regency, New Delhi.
1995 All India Graphics Exhibition, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1994 ‘Small Format Show’, Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkatta.
1994 Indian Encounters-II, New Delhi.
1994 Group Exhibition, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1993 ‘Contemporary Artists of India’, organized by Galerie Art and Data, Poland.
1993 Opening Exhibition, CIMA Art Gallery, Calcutta.
1993 36th National Exhibition, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1993 Creativity and Stylistic, Anamica Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1993 A Winters' Tale, Gallery Katayun, Kolkatta.
1993 Exhibition of Graphics, Vadhera Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1993 Group show, Miskolci Gallery, Miskolc, Hungary.
1992 Group show, Galerie IM Airport, Hamburg, Germany.
1992 ‘Silver Jubilee Exhibition’, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkatta.
1992 Joint show with Moti Zharotia, Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay.
1992 21th Annual Art Exhibition, Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi.
1991 Exhibition of Watercolours, Art Heritage, New Delhi.
1991 'Changing Images’, organized by Habiart Gallery, New Delhi, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay.
1991 20th Annual Art Exhibition, Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi.
1990 ‘Xal Praxis Foundation Exhibition of Prints’, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1990 Exhibition of Painting, Galerie '88, Calcutta.
1990 Group Exhibition, LTG, New Delhi.
1990 Exhibition of Graphic Prints, Sahitya Kala Parishad and AIFACS, New Delhi.
1990 ‘Ambassador’s Choice’, Contemporary Indian Art from the Collection of Mrs. E. M. School, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi.
1989 ‘Revelation’, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1988,89 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1988 Festival of India, Japan.
1989 Drawing by Delhi Artists, CMC, New Delhi.
1989 Group Exhibition. Gallery Katayun, Calcutta.
1989 19th Annual Art Exhibition, Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi.
1989 Nature and Environment, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1989 61st Annual All India Art Exhibition, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1989 Group Exhibition, Habitat Center, New Delhi.
1989 32nd National Exhibition,Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1988 Group Exhibition, Aurobindo Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1988 Drawing and ceramics, Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay.
1988 Homage to Indira Gandhi, Aurobindo Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1988 10th International Contemporary Art Exhibition, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1988 ‘Exhibition of Drawing and Ceramics’, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1987 Festival of India, USSR.
1987 ‘Exhibition of Drawing and Ceramics’, Art Heritage, New Delhi.
1987 Group Exhibition, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay.
1987 All India Potters Exhibition, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1987 Group Exhibition of drawings, Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi.
1987 Exhibition of Recent Acquisitions, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1987 Drawing '87, All India Exhibition of Drawing, Govt. College of Art, Chandigarh and AIFACS, New Delhi.
1987 59th Annual All India Art Exhibition, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1987 Exhibition of graphics by the members of Group 8, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1986, 87,99,2000 Shridharani Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1986, 89 - Group Exhibition, Galerie Art and Data, Frankfurt, Germany.
1986 Zeitgenossische Indische Malerei, in der Paulshirche, Frankfurt, Germany.
1986 '48 Artists’, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1986 Ceramics and graphics, Genesis Art Gallery, Calcutta.
1986 2nd Asian Art Show, Chandigarh.
1986 6th Triennale India, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1986 Group Exhibition, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1985 ‘Indian Contemporary Painting’, Frankfurt and Poland.
1985 Indian Print Today, Bonn, Germany.
1985 ‘Graphics ‘85’, All India Graphics Art Exhibition, Group 8 and All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi.
1985 Annual Exhibition, Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi.
1985 Indische Druckkunst Heuteeine Ausstllung, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay.
1985 Graphics '85, All India Graphic Art Exhibition, AIFACS and Group 8, New Delhi.
1985 Indian Print Making Today, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay.
1985 2nd Asian Art Exhibition, Fukuoka. Japan.
1985 Graphic Art in India Since 1850, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1984 15th International Art Exhibition, Japan.
1984 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1984, 89 Exhibition of Watercolours, Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay.
1984 9th International Exhibition of Art, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1984 Exhibition of Graphics, Maurya Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1984 Drawing '84, All India Exhibition of Drawing, Chandigarh.
1983 ‘Contemporary Art’, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai.
1983, 87, 91 Exhibition of Watercolours, Art Heritage, New Delhi.
1983 Exhibition of Drawings, Art Heritage, New Delhi.
1983 Drawing 83, Govt. College of Art, Chandigarh.
1983 Graphics '83, 56th All India Graphic Art Exhibition, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1983 Exhibition of drawings, Cymroza Art Gallery, Bombay.
1982 ‘Graphic Exhibition’, Cuba.
1982 Group Exhibition, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.
1982 Group Exhibition, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay.
1982 Drawing '82, Govt. Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh and AIFACS, New Delhi.
1982 Graphics '82, All India Graphic Art Exhb., Chandigarh and AIFACS, New Delhi.
1982 Annual Exhibition, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.
1981 ‘Graphics ‘81’, All India Exhibition of Prints, Cuba.
1981 Painting Exhibition, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1981 All India Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery, Ahmedabad. GOVT
1981 Drawing '81, Govt. Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh.
1980 Group Exhibition, Germany.
1980 ‘Miniature Format Exhibition’, New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
1980 Graphics show, Chandigarh.
1980 ‘Silver Jubilee Exhibition’, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1979 Graphics '79, All India Exhibition of Prints, Chandigarh.
1978 Exhibition of Graphics, Kala Mela, New Delhi.
1978, 86 4th and 6th International Triennale, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.
1978, 84 7th and 9th International Exhibition of Art, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1977 Graphic Exhibition and lecture, Benaras Hindu University, Benaras.
1977, 95 Group Exhibition, Jehangir Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1977 International Show, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1977 Annual Exhibition, Gallery 26.
1976 ‘Graphic ‘75’, Exhibition by Group 8, Delhi Shilpi Chakra, New Delhi.
1976 20 Painters, New Delhi.
1975 Exhibition of drawings and graphics, Black Partridge, New Delhi.
1974 ‘Exhibition by New Group’, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
1973 Jai '73, Kunika Chemould Art Gallery, New Delhi.
1973 Group Exhibition by New Group, New Delhi.
1973 Staff Exhibition, Art and Craft Bal Bhavan, New Delhi.
1970 Contemporary Indian Prints, New Delhi, Madras, Calcutta & Washington D.C.
1971 Seven Painters, United Nation Councils of Indian Youth, New Delhi.
1971 41st Annual Exhibition, AIFACS, New Delhi.
1970 Graphics Exhibition, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.
1969 Annual Exhibition, Delhi Shilpi Chakra, New Delhi.
1969 Joint Exhibition with Gogi, Shilpi Chakra, New Delhi.
1967 ‘Six Painters’, New Delhi.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOPS & ART CAMPS
Jai Zharotia has held numerous workshops in India & Abroad.
COLLECTIONS
His artworks are n hundreds of Private & Govt. collections in India & Abroad.