Self-taught Artist
On a visit, as a child, to the holy pilgrimage centre of Varanasi, Mohan Singh, known as M Singh, born in 1979, was mesmerised by the city and its narrow lanes, its liminal spaces, its shrines and its imposing mansions along the river-front as they rose, one above another, against a glowing sky. The scene imprinted itself on his consciousness and ever since then he has been fascinated by conglomerations of buildings, especially the juxtaposition of their shapes and sizes. Soon, propelled by an inner urge, he began his artistic journey without any formal training in art. In fact, his interest in painting came instinctively, as he has grown up in a region where women routinely adorned the walls of their homes with mythical themes. However, instead of traditional art, he chose to paint landscapes in a semi-realistic style which received appreciative comments.
He was invited to participate in group exhibitions and encouraged by the response, he would hold solo shows. His latest oeuvre in this exhibition is characterized by aesthetic sensibilities that have been nuanced by transient and ephemeral memories from the past and vivified by an imagined present. In the process, buildings become the leitmotif of his works _ be it a cluster of village huts or a vast urban sprawl of an ever expanding town. Featured also, are Mumbai’s sterile concrete housing blocks, colourful slums perched on hillsides or soaring skyscrapers. In these paintings, the remembered merges seamlessly into the imagined. Each work portrays a complex composition with its repeated architectural motifs in variegated hues dramatized by shifts of light and shade to project a particular mood. Without doubt, his paintings are embodiments of a creative process that transform the echoes of kaliedoscopic impressions into a visual equilibrium of line, form and colour. They exemplify a creative process that is both evocative and expressive.
Saryu V. Doshi
Indian scholar and art historian
Exhibitions
2024 Jehangir Art Gallery, (Solo Show), Mumbai
2024 Art & Beyond, (Group Show), Banyan Art Gallery
2023 Singulart, (Online Show), Peris
2019 Artpointe Gallery, (Online Show), Mumbai
2019 Jehangir Art Gallery, (Solo Show), Mumbai
2019 Navya Naveli Art Exhibition, Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2018 Artpointe Gallery, (Group Show), Mumbai
2018 Singapur Art Fare, Art Houz, Singapur
2018 Kala for Vidya, Rotary Club of Bangalore, Bangalore
2018 Maadhyam Art (Nargis Dutt Foundation), Bangalore
2017 Eikowa Art, Bangalore
2016 Art Spice Gallery, New Delhi
2015 My Indian Art Gallery, Kolkata
2015 Lokmangal Foundation, Mumbai
2015 Amfah Art Studio, Mumbai
2014 Gallery g, Bangalore
2013 Indiaartcolletors.com (Online Show)
2012 Renaissance Art Gallerie, Bangalore
2012 Artpointe Gallery, (Group Show), Mumbai
2012 Indiaartcolletors.com (Online Show)
2012 Chitra Kala Parishath, Bangalore (Ananth Arts)
2012 Indiaartcolletors.com (Featured Artist)
2011 Jehangir Art Gallery, (Group Show), Mumbai
2009-2011 Concern India Art Foundation, Mumbai
2009 Indiaartcollectors.com (Artist of Month)
2008-09 The Art Society of India, Mumbai
2009 Bombay Art Society, Mumbai
2007-2010 Artpointe Gallery, (Group Show), Mumbai
2007 Nehru Centre, (Group Show), Mumbai
2007 Bombay Art Society, (Group Show), Mumbai
