Important Notice

Hailing from the Gond tribe in Madhya Pradesh, Jangarh Singh Shyam lived in the jungles of Mandla until a chance encounter with the Modern artist Jagdish Swaminathan in the 1980s. Swaminathan took Shyam on as his prot??g??, bringing him to Roopankar Museum in Bhopal, where he learned to transfer his art from walls to paper. Shyam's forms were based on the deities and divinities of the Gond tribe, and the animist culture of worship surrounding... Hailing from the Gond tribe in Madhya Pradesh, Jangarh Singh Shyam lived in the jungles of Mandla until a chance encounter with the Modern artist Jagdish Swaminathan in the 1980s. Swaminathan took Shyam on as his prot??g??, bringing him to Roopankar Museum in Bhopal, where he learned to transfer his art from walls to paper. Shyam's forms were based on the deities and divinities of the Gond tribe, and the animist culture of worship surrounding them. Suspended in space, he rendered them like silhouettes creating the effect of shadow puppets, in swatches of bright colours, featuring dots and hatched lines. The inspiration for using fine dots comes from the Gond tribe.

Shyam worked with several mediums throughout his career, including drawing and silkscreen painting, rediscovering a new style and representation every time. As he achieved fame, Shyam encouraged other artists in his community to paint, giving them access into the mainstream. His house was the studio, where he provided his students with paper, canvas and paint, encouraging them to find their own expression through new mediums. Shyam passed away in Japan in 2001 under tragic circumstances. He was in his early forties. In a short-lived but exceptional career, he left behind a powerful and dynamic legacy which reached for the new while preserving the roots of the Gond artistic tradition.

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