Hardev Chauhan

Hardev Chauhan (b. 1995, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India) completed his Diploma in Applied Art from Sheth CN College Of Fine Art, Ahmedabad, 2020 and studied Printmaking from the Graphic Department at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, 2022. His works have been exhibited in various solo and group shows across India including at ICAC Art Gallery, Ahmedabad, 2020, Ahmedabad Ni Gufa, Ahmedabad, 2021, Apparao Gallery, Chennai, 2021, Shrishti Art Gallery, 2021, The Lodhi, New Delhi, 2022, and Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2022.

Additionally, he is the recipient of Gujarat Lalit Kala Award in Painting (Artist’s Category), 2020, Gujarat Lalit Kala Award in Painting, 2018, Gujarat Kala Pratishthan Award in Painting, 2017, and Kala Ravi Trust Award in Painting, 2017.

Hardev’s relationship with the subject of his paintings can be traced back to his childhood experiences, watching his farmer father toil in the fields. Fascinated by the organisation, methodology and patterns of farming, a series of artworks was created. Retaining this child-like curiosity in his craft , Hardev’s bipartite experience in the fields and as a tailor informed his practice of drawing and painting. In his work, he likes to experiment with space, composition, opacity and transparency of watercolour.

Hardev has juxtaposed themes from his expertise as a tailor with his agrarian roots in this series of works, resulting in a delicate interplay between the two. He embraces his two interests and blends them to create this distinctive, nuanced, and precise visual language using elements like thread, buttons, and needles along with cotton flowers, vines, and botanicals.

Hardev lives and works in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.