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Artist Gurmeet Singh Chitrakaar calls his exhibition in the city,'Identity'.

Artist Gurmeet Singh Chitrakaar calls his exhibition in the city,’Identity’. Images from Amritsar,Benares and Lahore are among others in the collection. A commentary on the Sikh religion,he is displaying his work for the first time at Bliss Art Gallery,Koregaon Park,from March 8 to 14. Close to 25 paintings take one through Singh’s portrayal of the common,hardworking man.

The Amritsar-based artist began working in a studio in Delhi before he took to painting. He later also spent some time in Mumbai. “In Delhi,I had no vision of what to do and what would satisfy me. My mind found the path to film posters and tried variations in making poster designs. I succeeded to some extent,and wanted to do more of it to make ends meet. Perseverance,later,brought me to Mumbai in 1970, he recalls now.

Singh’s paintings have a life-like quality about them. He uses multiple media like oil,poster colours and acrylic for his work. “I have been influenced by renowned artists like Shri Raja Ravi Verma,S Sobha Singhji,S M Pandit and Shri Hari Singhji. They created paintings that act as a reference bank for future generations. As a banner artist,Singh worked with Nav Ketan publicity department for a while in Mumbai. There he learnt under artists like Chandrakant Potdar. “Within a year,I started my own art department by the name of Artview at Tardeo a/c market, he says.

In the last 40 years as an artist,he has displayed his work in several cities around the country. I feel satisfied,when my effort brings a smile on my face. If you dont make paintings to surprise yourself,then you are not committed to it,and you are not doing justice to your art. that is my opinion.

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Amritsar