Jai Chuhan Indian, b. 1955
Jai Chuhan (b. 1955, Punjab, India; lives and works in London) moved to the United Kingdom as a child and trained at the Slade School of Fine Art. Working in oil on canvas and linen, she paints interiors in which female figures find breath, pause and air—rooms built from dense colour and constant negotiation, holding the psychological tension of the burden of representation against the tension of the paint itself. Professor Omar Kholeif describes her paintings as “arrangements in mood”: works that draw on antiquity as readily as on contemporary painting, with motifs that gesture towards Francis Bacon or Peter Doig.
SELECTED AWARDS
2024 Nomination by Peter Doig in David and Yuko Juda Art Foundation Grant exhibition he curated at Annely Juda, London.
2023 Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice award
2020 Winner of the inaugural Manchester Open exhibition bOlder Award, one of five awards in different categories, at HOME arts centre, Manchester
2018 Arts Council England Grants for All Award for solo exhibitions by Jai Chuhan at Gallery Oldham and at HOME, for Asia Triennial Manchester
PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS IN SELECTED PUBLIC ART COLLLECTIONS
Tate; Arts Council Collection; Tate; Victoria Gallery & Museum, Liverpool; Oldham Art Gallery; Tameside Museums and Art Galleries; Leicestershire Schools Collection; Cartwright Hall, Bradford; Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; Grosvenor Museum, Chester; The Women’s Art Collection, University of Cambridge; Usher Gallery, Lincoln; Government Art Collection (UK); Kiran Nadar Museum, New Delhi.
SELECTED CURRENT / FORTHCOMING
2026 Handpicked: Painting Flowers, Kettle's Yard, Cambridge. Curated by Andrew Nairne. Accompanying publication texts by Megan Breckel, Olivia Meehan, Naomin Polonsky.
25 Apr – 6 Sep 2026.
2026 Women on the Edge of Time, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi. Curated by Linsey Young accompanied by a curatorial text by Linsey Young. Also a text on paintings by Jai Chuhan by Deborah Smith titled ‘A Moment in Time: In conversation, Jai Chuhan and Deborah Smith, May – Aug 2026’. 21 Aug – 18 Sep.
2027 Many Stories exhibition of figurative paintings by British South Asian women, Midlands Arts Centre, Jan 2027, tour to Walker Art Gallery (2027). Exhibiting artist and co-curator with Jasmir Creed, Matt Price, Roma Piotrowska.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 Jai Chuhan: Claiming Space, solo exhibition, Lo Brutto Stahl, Paris. Curated by Vincent Lo Brutto and Pablo Stahl. Exhibition text by Omar Kholeif titled Arrangements in Mood: Jai Chuhan, Feeling and Freedom.
2025 Jai Chuhan, solo exhibition, The Approach, London. Curated by Jake Miller and
Emma Robertson.
2025 Dancer, solo exhibition, Harbour House, Kingsbridge, Devon. Curated by Amy Dickson and Elaine Sinclair.
2024 Jai Chuhan: Paintings, Champ Lacombe gallery, Biarritz, France.
2023 Jai Chuhan, Paris Internationale art fair, presented by Champ Lacombe gallery, France.
2023 Small Paintings, Qrystal Partners, London. Curated by Donald Ryan. Jai Chuhan: Small Paintings monograph, with texts by Hannah Marsh and Donald Ryan published by Hurtwood.
2018 Remodel: Painting Studio, HOME, Asia Triennial Manchester
2018 Refuge, Gallery Oldham, Asia Triennia Manchester
2014 Love, Imperial War Museum North, Asia Triennial Manchester
2014 Decanting Desire, St Bride’s Church, Liverpool Biennial
2013 J Chuhan: Recent Paintings, Victoria Gallery & Museum, Liverpool
2011 Memories, People’s History Museum, Asia Triennial Manchester
2007 The Body Inside, New Hall, University of Cambridge
2005 Journeys, Cartwright Hall, Bradford
2004-05 Parampara Portraits, Tameside Museum, Manchester. Tour: Watermans Arts Centre, London
2002 A long way from home... a painter’s journey, The Lowry, Salford
1992 Ragas, Drumcroon, Wigan
1987 J Chuhan – paintings, Commonwealth Institute, London
1987 J Chuhan, Horizon Gallery, London
1985 A Natural Sense, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 Drawing Biennial 2026, Drawing Room, London. Curated by Mary Doyle and Kate Macfarlane.
2026 Air Service Basel 2026, Lo Brutto Stahl, Basel. Curated by Vincent Lo Brutto and Pablo Stahl.
2026 India Art Fair with Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi. Curated by Roshini Vadehra.
2025 Art Mumbai with Vadehra Art Gallery, Mumbai. Curated by Roshini Vadehra and Anish Gawande.
2025 Frieze London with Vadehra Art Gallery, London. Curated by Roshini Vadehra.
2025 Art Basel Paris with The Approach gallery, Paris. Curated by Jake Miller and Emma Robertson.
2025-26 Repose, William Hine, London. Curated by William Hine. Catalogue text by Matthew Holman.
2025-26 Never Say Never Again, The Winchester Gallery, University of Southampton. Curated by John Gillett.
2025 Art Basel with The Approach gallery, Basel, following Jai Chuhan, solo exhibition at The Approach gallery, London 2025. Curated by Jake Miller and Emma Robertson.
2025 Air Service Basel 2025, Lo Brutto Stahl gallery, Basel. Curated by Pablo Stahl and Vincent Lo Brutto.
2025 In our idleness, in our dreams, group show, Niru Ratnam gallery, London.
Curated by Niru Ratnam.
2025 Summer, group exhibition, Frestonian Gallery, London. Curated by Matt Price.
2025 Domestic Flights, Frestonian Gallery, London. Curated by Cara Nahaul.
2025 Auguries of Innocence, Cedric Bardawil Gallery, London. Curated by Cedric Bardawil. Catalogue text by Matthew Holman.
2024 David and Yuko Juda Art Foundation Grant for 2024 exhibition, Annely Juda gallery, London Sep 2024. Curated by Peter Doig.
2024-25 Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood, Hayward Gallery touring show, featuring works by over 60 artists including Jai Chuhan, Tracey Emin, Celia Paul, Paula Rego. Arnolfini, Bristol: Mar – Jun 2024; Midlands Art Centre (MAC), Birmingham: Jun – Sep 2024; Millennium Gallery, Sheffield: Oct 2024 – Jan 2025; Dundee Contemporary Arts: Apr – Jul 2025. Curated by Hettie Judah.
2024 Standing Ground, Thameside Gallery, London, with artists including Frank Bowling.
Curated by Raksha Patel and Trevor Burgess.
2024 BRHD Grand Exhibition, Contemporary Art Centre, Ankara, Turkey, hosted by Birlesmis Ressmlar Ve Heykeltraslar Dernegi (United Painters and Sculptors).
2022-23 An index of being alive, Park View / Paul Soto, Los Angeles, USA.
Curated by Paul Soto.
2022 Where is Home?, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. Tour: Wolverhampton Art Gallery;
Museum of Migration, London; Leicester Museum and Gallery; Midlands Arts Centre
2022 ReContact, Baskent Universitesi, Ankara, Turkey
2021 I-Solated Contact, Art Contact Istanbul Contemporary Art Fair, Turkey
2020 Home and Unhome, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing, China
2020 Liv-ing in Contrast, ArtANKARA Contemporary Art Fair, Ankara, Turkey
2020 Everyone’s an Artist: Manchester Open, HOME, Manchester
2019 She’s Eclectic: Women Artists of the VG&M Collection, Victoria Gallery & Museum, Liverpool
2017 Right Here, Right Now: 21st-Century Art, Grosvenor Museum, Chester
2017 Public View, Bluecoat, Liverpool
2016 Open, Southwark Park Gallery, London
2013 Tate Liverpool is 25, Tate Liverpool
2011 Global Echo: International Artists in Print, Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead. Tour: Brigham Young University, USA; Edith Cowan University, Austrlia; Kwantlen Polytechnic, Canada
2010 Modern Painters: Contemporary Art from the Collection, Grosvenor Museum, Chester
2008 Characters: The People Behind the Portraits, Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, for Liverpool Capital of Culture
2004 See What You Can Do, Wetterling Teo Gallery, Singapore
2002 Simpatico, Shanghai University, China
2001 Vernisage, Gallery 20/60 Vision, Antwerp, Belgium
2000 Synergy, Orebro Castle, Sweden
1998-99 Lines of Desire, Oldham Art Gallery. Tour: Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool; Pitshanger Manor Gallery, London, Wrexham Arts Centre; Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance; The City Gallery, Leicester
1998 Inside Out: works from the Arts Council Collection, East London University Art Gallery
1997 Independent Spaces, Harris Museum, Preston
1996-97 In the Looking Glass: Contemporary Self Portraits by Women Artists, Usher Gallery, Lincoln. Tour: Theatr Clwyd, Mold; Aberystwyth Arts Centre; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield; The City Gallery, Leicester
1995 Indian Winter, Kapil Jariwala Gallery, London
1993-94 Transition of Riches, Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery. Tour: Southampton City Art Gallery; Smith Art Gallery & Museum, Stirling
1993-94 Reclaiming the Madonna, Usher Gallery, Lincoln. Tour: Oriel Gallery, Mostyn; Museum of Womens Art, London; St David’s Hall, Cardiff; Christchurch Museum, Ipswich; Wolverhampton Art Gallery
1991-92 The Circular Dance, Arnolfini, Bristol. Tour: Stoke City Museum and Art Gallery;
The Minories, Colchester
1990-91 The South of the World, Galleria Civica d’Arte Contemporanea, Marsala, Italy, organised by UNESCO. Tour: Palermo civic gallery
1990-91 New North, Tate Liverpool. Tour: Laing Gallery, Newcastle; Tramway, Glasgow; Orchard Gallery, Derry; Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield. Curated by Lewis Biggs. Catalogue text on paintings by Jai Chuhan by Bryan Biggs.
1990 In Focus, Horizon Gallery, London
1988-89 Through Imagination, Ikon Gallery Touring, Birmingham
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2026 Handpicked: Painting Flowers exhibition publication, published by Kettle’s Yard.
2025 A Brief History of South Asian Art in Twentieth-century Britain, by Alina Khakoo, Tate Publishing.
2024 Jai Chuhan: Small Paintings by Kathryn Lloyd features in The Anomie Review of Contemporary British Painting 3. Published by Anomie.
2023 Jai Chuhan: Small Paintings with texts by Donald Ryan and Hannah Marsh.
Published by Hurtwood.
