kaiko moti

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Biography

(Indian, b. 1921 - d. 1989)

Kaiko Moti's philosophy, a philosophy he lived, was Art. More contemplative than descriptive, he endeavored to analyze his sensations before nature in order to better recreate its almost divine essence. The tree is not a tree, the rock is not a rock; it is the spirit which animates the tree, it is latent power in the rock. The same quest underlies each one of Kaiko Moti's works, the quest for that entity which makes the illusory differences of the real vanish.

Born (Kaikobad Motiwalla) in Bombay, India on December 15, 1921, Moti was first educated at the Bombay School of Fine Arts but his talent led him onwards to study at the University College in London (on scholarship) and at the Slade School of Fine Arts, London, where he received a Master's degree in Painting and Sculpture. While still in London he studied under MacWilliam and Reginald Butler.

Eventually moving to Paris in 1950, which he has since made his permanent home, Moti attended the Academie de la Grand Chaumiere, Atelier Zadkine, to pursue his love of sculpture but lack of space soon compelled him to turn his attention to working on copper plates and he studied engraving with William Stanley Hayter at Atelier 17. While working as an apprentice at the Hayter School, Moti innovated the principal of viscosity printing.

Influenced mainly by the Old Masters and, in particular, by Turner, Moti is today recognized by many to be one of the premier engravers in the world. He claimed, however, to have no secret techniques, only to have refined the basic methods, learning from each work he creates.

Since 1953, he has exhibited internationally at the Biennale in Venice, the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, the New York Public Library, the New Delhi Museum of Art, the Basel Art Fair and Art Expo New York.

He is represented in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Paris Musee d'Art Moderne, and the Bibliotheque Nationale and is an honorary member of the Academy of Florence. In 1983 Moti was awarded the gold medal for the Competition d'Art Impressioniste, Musee d'Argenteiul, France.