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Uday Deb

Uday Deb

1978 - Present

Uday Deb, one of the most promising artists among the current generation of cartoonists, was born in Kolkata. Uday, who spent a good part of his childhood in Jhargram, always wanted to be an artist. He became a graduate of Government College of Arts and Crafts (2004) and won a gold medal at the post-graduate course in Print Making from Rabindra Bharati University in (2006). While at college, his caricatures of Vidyasagar and Rammohan Roy were selected for display at the Boston Museum of Arts, USA. After a few freelance assignments, Uday joined The Telegraph as a senior illustrator in 2006. Here he was enriched by the proximity to his renowned colleagues. In 2010, Uday joined the DNA, Mumbai, as the chief illustrator. Eventually, he returned to his native city where he joined The Times Group of Publications. 

Uday’s unsparing brush makes visual comments on the state of current affairs in the pages of The Bengal flagship of Times Group, Ei Samay. The fast-changing political scenario, the fascist tendencies of the ruling class, and the trials of the common man have attracted Uday’s acerbic wit. When he drew caricatures of the six successive RBI governors in Times of India, the then RBI governor Raghuram Rajan archived the original artwork at the RBI headquarters in Mumbai. Humor Ink Studio, founded by Uday, creates caricatures of prominent personalities through wooden dolls and produces merchandise. An enthusiastic member of Cartoon Dol, a Kolkata-based cartoonists’ collective, Uday has played an instrumental role in organizing exhibitions and a variety of other activities to make cartoons popular in Bengal. Uday Deb’s Chapter (2019) is an artist’s take on life and a plethora of creative challenges he regularly faces. Uday and his wife Mrinmoyee created Ten Bedtime Stories (2019), a beautifully illustrated English translation of Upendrakishore Ray Chaudhuri’s famous Tuntunir Boi (Tales from Bengal Folklore ).