d

Gurcharan Singh

  /    /  Gurcharan Singh

Acrylic on canvas
66 x 54 inches

Little Rider
Acrylic on Canvas
36 x 24 inches

Acrylic on canvas
36 inches diameter

Acrylic on canvas
36 inches diameter

Gurcharan Singh

Born in 1949 in Patiala, India, Gurcharan Singh is an acclaimed Indian painter, known for his figurative paintings. He studied at Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chandigarh. His signature paintings are based on people from a financially compromising class, specifically focusing on underprivileged and exploited women. The Red Light in Black and White and Les Miserables are two of his notable works. His works have been displayed at various solo shows and group exhibitions in India and abroad.

The Red Light in Black and White is one of his earliest paintings. These works consist of a plethora of colours, ranging from red to green to shocking pinks, present in abundance. Yet Singh saw nothing but a deep, dark abyss down which men and women were sliding, with reckless abandon. A journey into a colorful hell; one from which he emerged to paint furiously, translating his sorrow and despair into images that haunt the mind.

Another of his works, Les Miserables was an outcome of a night’s sojourn in a cheap bar room, consuming even cheaper liquor. Sitting there hour after hour, watching the influx of humanity, Singh pondered the lives of whores and pimps. The bestiality, the cruelty, the hand-to-mouth existence all jumbled together into a kaleidoscope of shifting colors and patterns. As the darkness deepened, it seemed to Singh that this sordid world didn’t differ a great deal from the world that he knew. If there was more poverty there was also a greater honesty, and at least the hypocrisy that cloaked niggardly actions was mercifully absent.

As a painter he conveyed all of his observations, from emotions to attitudes and behaviours of the prostitutes and pimps, the hard-as-nails whore, no longer a victim, the licentious men and a host of others, creating a panorama of people that was colorful, vibrant, lusty with life, onto his canvas.

“I love observing people and use it to interpret emotions which people never see. Their habits which they try to hide from society; how do their hands react while talking to others..I keenly watch people’s behavior and attitude to things and reflect it in my works. I show people from my window what they themselves don’t see.” Gurcharan explains.

While his subjects always remained the underprivileged and exploited women, with time, he explored the relationships between various elements that make up this world. Most noteworthy is his practice of juxtaposing animals with prostitutes, a recurrent theme, that dominates his paintings. Using them as symbols to expose the primitivity in humans, he explores the links between animal and human nature.

In 1976 he received the National Award and in 1991 received the Padma Shri from the Government of India, New Delhi.

artnsoul-new-logo

Mon – Sat: 10:00 – 19:30
Sun: 11:00 – 16:00

11, Madhuli, Shivsagar Estate,
Worli Mumbai-400018
022-24965798 / 24930522
galleryartnsoul@gmail.com