Qrystal Partners presents Small Paintings an exhibition by the Manchester, United Kingdom based artist Jai Chuhan. This inaugural project at 7 Newington Causeway in London has been organized by Donald Ryan and Supriya Lele.

The works on view in Small Paintings express the artist’s insistence on the motif as a catalyst for painterly invention. Chuhan has described her painting practice to be one that is prompted by her questions about how to create a visual equivalence to her feelings. By engaging a limited formal vocabulary based on figure, interior, and landscape, Chuhan, explores the broad expressive potential of representational imagery. A melancholic, instinctive sense beckons in each of the canvases as the painter becomes the painting with mind and body. Though these works are professedly portraits, these paintings test the limits of representational legibility and create a phycological spatial dynamic.

Chuhan was born in India and emigrated to London with her family in the late 1960s. She attended and graduated from the Slade School of Art at University College London in the 1970s. It is during this time that she encountered the paintings of Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, and many others. Chuhan, who is an astute art historian, directly engages with the histories of painting without a sense of cynicism. Rather, she confidently stakes her claim on the medium and brings her vital perspective to the table. A perspective that refuses bravado and probes ideas of empathy, or lack thereof. Making a proposal for how paint and colour can be employed to access notions of intimacy in order to feel connected with art.

Jai Chuhan (Jagjit Chuhan) is an Indian-born British artist and studied at UCL Slade School of Fine Art. She lives and works in Manchester, United Kingdom. Major solo exhibitions have been presented at Gallery Oldham (2018) and Victoria Gallery & Museum, Liverpool (2013). Her work has had a significant presence in the international survey shows HOME and People’s History Museum for Asia Triennial, Manchester (2018 & 2011) and the Liverpool Biennial (2014). She has been included in exhibitions throughout the United Kingdom including Tate Liverpool; Barbican, London; Ikon, Birmingham; Arnolfini, Bristol; Bluecoat, Liverpool; Laing Gallery, Newcastle; Tramway, Glasgow; Orchard Gallery, Derry; Birmingham City Museum; Southampton City Art Gallery; The Smith Art Gallery & Museum, Stirling; Aberystwyth Arts Centre; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance; Watermans Arts Centre, London; New Hall, University of Cambridge; Commonwealth Institute, London; Horizon Gallery, London; Pitshanger Manor Gallery, London; The Lowry, Salford. Chuhan was a lecturer and a professor at Liverpool School of Art and Design, at Liverpool John Moores University.

Qrystal Partners is a collaborative project space that presents exhibitions, projects, and research. It is located at 7 Newington Causeway, London, SE1 6ED