The Dance, 2018 - Oil on canvas, white cotton rosary, framed
Full Description:
A rare large-size and early work by Jatinder Singh Dhurhailay.
During a personal correspondence with Runjeet Singh, the artist says:
“The painting is inspired by the saki (story) of the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469-1539) meeting Kalyug – a personification of ‘kali yuga’ (the age of Kali, or darkness). In the saki, Guru Nanak was meditating at dawn after bathing and washing his hair. While he was sitting in quiet contemplation, Kalyug appeared to him, holding a human phallus in one hand and a human tongue in the other. He attempted to distract the Guru from his transcendent reflection, and when he discovered he wasn’t able to, he paid obeisance and saw that the Guru was the true giver of enlightenment. However his submission was based on one condition; that he would continue to control mankind with the phallus (lust) and the tongue (falsehood)”.
Durhailay further comments: “The Guru’s appearance is based upon Sikh saintly traditions I witnessed in India. I was instructed to wash my hair and bathe in the morning before meditation. The palm trees are inspired by the jungles and forests of India where I was happiest. The overall theme of the painting is that of the guru – he who brings light where there is darkness – it is a play of light and dark”.
Artist Bio
Jatinder Singh Durhailay is an Oxfordshire based painter & musician. He was born in 1988 in London, United Kingdom and in 2011 received a Bachelor of Arts from University Arts London. He has been working as a painter ever since. His artistic practice spans painting and drawing, with a special interest in the usage of naturally derived pigments, as well as Indian classical music.
Blending myths and contemporary culture, Durhailay’s portrayal of the Sikh community and culture is humorous, heroic and poignant. He paints intricate and observant portraits and sceneries in the style of Indian Mughal miniature painting, spanning painterly subjects from environmentalism to Bruce Lee and moving fluidly between traditional tropes and an ever- changing complex present.
Jatinder Singh Durhailay’s work has been shown nationally and internationally, at The Artist Room, London (2023), HOME, London (2022), Nidi Gallery, Tokyo (2019), Tender Books, London (2016), National Army Museum - Chelsea, London (2013), Brunei Gallery, London (2014), and Gallery Ivory and Black, London (2012), amongst others.
Among the museums that have acquired his works are the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada, as well as the Museum of Art and Photography in Bangalore, India.
Durhailay is trained in Indian Classical Music, performing and practising Kirtan as well as playing (among others) the rare Instruments that are the Dilruba and Taus. He is part of the musical duo Petit Oiseau and has performed at Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2022 & 2019), Leighton House, London (2022), MK Gallery, Milton Keynes (2018), Atelier Fluss, Tokyo (2018), and at the National Gallery, London (2017).
Provenance
Private collection of Runjeet Singh, bought directly from the artist.
In sanatan Indic belief systems Kalyug is the fourth and worst of the four yugas (world ages). It is believed to be the present age, which is full of conflict and sin. Kalyug began 5,125 years ago and has 426,875 years left as of 2024 CE. Kalyug will end in the year 428,899 CE. See Joscelyn Godwin, 2011, Atlantis and the Cycles of Time: Prophecies, Traditions, and Occult Revelations. Inner Traditions, pp. 300–301.