BEGINNINGS
He was born in Calcutta, West Bengal.
His father Prahlad Karmokar was a great name in pre-independence Indian art.
Prokash grew up in a studio atmosphere.His father died when he was only 13 years of age.
He had experienced the devastation of World War II, the great Bengal famine of 1943, and witnessed the holocaust of communal riots that culminated in the partition of India.
1961 Founder Member of Society of Contemporary Artist, Calcutta.
He was also the Founder Member of Calcutta Painters group.
1969 Secretary, Calcutta Art Fair, Calcutta.
1971 Vice-President, Prayag Kala Samity, Allahabad.
Lives and works in Howrah.
EDUCATION
1950-57 His artistic apprenticeship was first with Dilip Das Gupta in his studio. 1953 Studied at the Govt. College of Art and Craft, Calcutta.1964-65 Worked in Nirode Mazumdar?s studio, Calcutta.1953 Govt. College of Art & Crafts, Calcutta.
EXHIBITIONS
1949 Drawings, Gallerie 88, Calcutta.1953 Solo exhb. at Gandhara Art Gallery, Calcutta.1954, 55, 57, 60, 63, 64, 67, 69, 99, 74, 77, 83 Solo exhb. in Calcutta.1956,58 Exhb. with Studio Group, Calcutta.1959 First one man show on Pavement (First of its kind in India), Calcutta.1959, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 69, 70 Participated at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.1959,62,64 Exhb. organised by Banga Sanskrit Sammelan, Bombay and Calcutta. 1960 Participated in Mahajati Sadan, Calcutta.1961 Exhb. with the Society of Contemporary Artist, Calcutta.1962, 64, 76 Exhb. at AIFACS, New Delhi.1963, 65, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 85 Exhb. with the Calcutta Painters, Calcutta.1964 Eight Painters from Calcutta, AIFACS Gallery, New Delhi.1968 Solo exhb. in Paris.1968 Solo show in Switzerland, West Germany, Holland.1969, 71 Solo exhb. in New Delhi.1969 Group exhb. in Santiniketan.1970 Exhb. in Switzerland, West Germany, U.K.1971 Invited to participate in Triennale, organised by Lal
COLLECTION
Lalit Kala Akademi, Lucknow, Bangalore and New Delhi. National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.Art Heritage, New Delhi.Birla Academy of Art and Craft, Kolkata.Allahabad Museum, Allahabad.Lucknow Art Museum, Lucknow.Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata.Jane and Kito de Boer, Dubai.Tata Institute of Art, Mumbai.Tata Centre, Jamshedpur.Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal.Hyderabad Museum, Hyderabad.Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi.
AWARDS
1957 Certificate of merit at the Annual National Exhibition, New Delhi.1966 Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.1968 Lalit Kala Akademi, National Award.1968 French Govt. honoured him with fellowship to study art in Paris. 1969-70 Received additional Grant for extensive travel in Western Europe.1970 Rabindra Bharati University Award, Calcutta. 1976 Received special award from Maha Koshla Kala Parishad, Raipur.1976 Award, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta. 1996 Received award, AIFACS, New Delhi.1999 Received Abanindra Puraskar, Calcutta.
STYLE
His paintings are in a way, remembrance of things past. Some of them are very personal, others are recollected from nightmares rather than dreams, and some are from the darkest moments of human history. He is one of the very few artists in India who used everyday disorder as a vehicle to express his feelings with visionary intensity. He also painted landscapes, depicting lush tropical vegetation, hills and valleys, seascapes and mangroves in their wild diversity.
