Jai Chuhan
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
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 COLLECTIONS
Arts Council Collection (UK); Victoria Gallery and Museum, Liverpool; Oldham Art Gallery; Tameside Museums and Art Galleries; Cartwright Hall, Bradford; Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; Grosvenor Museum, Chester; The Women's Art Collection, Cambridge; Usher Gallery, Lincoln; Government Art Collection (UK); Kiran Nadar Museum, New Delhi; Tate Gallery.
SELECTED FORTHCOMING
2026 Fellow Travellers, Tabari, Dubai. Curated by Omar Kholeif.
2026 Dreamwork: Ancestors Echo in the House of Tomorrow, Museum of Contemporary Art Helga Alvear, Caceres, Spain, tour to CA2M Museum, Madrid; commences Nov 2026. Curated by Omar Kholeif.
2027 Many Stories: Figurative Painting by South Asian British Women Artists, Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, Jan-April 2027; Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, London, spring-summer 2027; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, autumn 2027. Contributing 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. Accompanying 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 Jai Chuhan: Dancer, solo exhibition, Harbour House, Kingsbridge. Curated by Amy Dickson and Elaine Sinclair.
2024 Jai Chuhan: Paintings, Champ Lacombe gallery, Biarritz, France. Curated by Lucy Chadwick and Donald Ryan.
2023 Jai Chuhan, Paris Internationale art fair, presented by Champ Lacombe gallery, France. Curated by Lucy Chadwick and Donald Ryan.
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 Triennial 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 arts centre, 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 Women on the Edge of Time, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi. Curated by Linsey Young. Accompanying text on paintings by Jai Chuhan by Deborah Smith titled A Moment in Time: In conversation Jai Chuhan and Deborah Smith, May-Aug 2026.
2026 Handpicked: Painting Flowers, Kettle's Yard, Cambridge.
2026 Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London.
2026 India Art Fair, New Delhi, with Vadehra Art Gallery.
2026 Air Force 2026, Lo Brutto Stahl Gallery, Basel. Curated by Pablo Stahl and Vincent Lo Brutto.
2025 Frieze London, with Vadehra Art Gallery, London. Curated by Roshini Vadehra.
2025 Art Basel Paris, with The Approach gallery, Paris, 24-26 Oct. Curated by Jake Miller and Emma Robertson.
2025 Repose, William Hine, London. Curated by William Hine.
2025 Art Mumbai, with Vadehra gallery, Mumbai, 13-16 Nov. Curated by Anish Gawande.
2025 Summer, group exhibition, Frestonian Gallery, London, 18 Jun - 9 Aug 2025. Curated by Matt Price.
2025 Art Basel, with The Approach gallery, Basel, 19-22 June, following Jai Chuhan, solo exhibition at The Approach Gallery, London 2025. Curated by Jake Miller and Emma Robertson.
2025 Air Force 2025, Lo Brutto Stahl Gallery, Basel, 16-22 June. 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.
2024 David and Yuko Juda Art Foundation Grant for 2024 exhibition, Annely Juda gallery, London, Sept 2024. Nominated by Peter Doig for exhibition he curated.
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; Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham; Millennium Gallery, Sheffield; Dundee Contemporary Arts. Curated by Hettie Judah.
2024 Standing Ground, Thameside Gallery, London, with artists including Frank Bowling. Curated by Raksha Patel and Trevor Burgess.
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, Australia; Kwantlen Polytechnic, Canada.
2010 Modern Painters: Contemporary Art from the Collection, Grosvenor Museum, Chester.
2009 Figure and Identity, Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport.
2008 Characters: The People Behind the Portraits, Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, for Liverpool Capital of Culture.
2004 See What You Can Do, group exhibition, Wetterling Teo Gallery, Singapore.
2002 Simpatico, Shanghai University, China.
2001 Vernisage, Gallery 20/60 Vision, Antwerp, Belgium.
2000 Synergy, Orebro Castle, Sweden.
1999-2001 Heroes, Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry. Tour: Kings Lynn Arts Centre.
1999-2001 Lines of Desire: International Drawing Exhibition, Oldham Art Gallery, co-curated by J Chuhan. Tour: Bluecoat, Liverpool; Wrexham Arts Centre; Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance; The City Gallery, Leicester; Pitzhanger, London.
1999-2001 An Intimate Mosaic, Senate House, University of Liverpool.
1998 Inside Out: works from the Arts Council Collection, East London University Art Gallery.
1997 Independent Space, Harris Museum, Preston.
1997 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.
1996 Inclusion/Exclusion, Keele University Gallery.
1995 Indian Winter, Kapil Jariwala Gallery, London.
1993-94 Transition of Riches, Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery. Tour: Southampton City Art Gallery; The Smith Art Gallery & Museum, Stirling.
1993-94 Reclaiming the Madonna, Usher Gallery, Lincoln. Tour: Oriel Gallery, Mostyn; Museum of Women's Art, London; St David's Hall, Cardiff; Christchurch Museum, Ipswich; Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
1993 Cadences of the Heart, Mead Gallery, Warwick University.
1993 Taking Flight, The City Gallery, Leicester. Tour: Gill Gallery, London.
1992 Art for Sale, Whiteleys store, London, organised by The Guardian newspaper.
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.
1990 In Focus, Horizon Gallery, London.
1989 North West Frontiers, Cornerhouse, Manchester.
1988-89 Through Imagination, Ikon Gallery Touring, Birmingham.
1988 Athena Art Awards, Barbican Centre, London.
1988 Numaish Lalit Kala, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2025 A Brief History of South Asian Art in Twentieth-century Britain, by Alina Khakoo, Tate Publishing, due Sept 2025.
2025 The Anomie Review of Contemporary British Painting 3. Published by Anomie.
2023 Jai Chuhan: Small Paintings monograph, published by Hurtwood.
