Indian artist Shanti brings watercolours to Killyleagh

Indian artist Shanti brings watercolours to Killyleagh

24 May 2023

AN exhibition of paintings by renewed Indian artist Shanti Panchal has opened at the Katie Lindsay Gallery in Killyleagh.

The exhibition, the artist’s first in Ireland, comprises 17 watercolours of varying sizes.

Panchal was born in 1951 in a small village in India. In 1978, after completing five years of study at the Sir JJ School of Art in Mumbai, where he trained in western art and Indian miniatures, he won a British Council award to study for two years at the Byam Shaw School of Art in the UK. 

His talents were soon acknowledged. In the 1980s he was commissioned by the Greater London Council to make a pro-diversity mural celebrating Asian and Black culture. 

He is a recipient of many prizes including the BP Portrait award in 1991 and the prestigious John Moores Prize in 1989 and 2018.

He was artist-in-residence at the British Museum in 1994 and held solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art Oxford in 1993, Pitzhanger Manor in 2000, Chelmsford Museum in 2007 and more recently with the Ben Uri 2020, to mention only a few. 

Describing his painting technique, he said: “I use watercolour on thick, rough paper; applying many layers; mixing colours directly on the paper, scratching and scraping.“ 

It’s a slow process resulting in textured, velvet-like surfaces. With peerless craftsmanship, he combines the old with the new citing influences from Indian miniaturist painting, Buddhist frescoes and medieval Christian icons; Mark Rothko’s large abstract colour fields and the candied backs of Francis Bacon. 

Each work demonstrates a subtle blending of the poetic forces from two cultures — east and west. He combines different aesthetic values ie the symbolism of Jain miniature paintings with western art styles like abstract expressionism. 

The Katie Lindsay Gallery is situated at Mallory Farm, 40 Shore Road, Killyleagh, and is open from 2-7pm from Thursday to Saturday by appointment. The exhibition will close on Saturday, June 11.