Shanti Panchal (born 1951) is an Indian-British artist. [1]
Shanti Panchal was born in Mesar, a village in Gujarat, and studied at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in Bombay. [2] He took part in several exhibitions in India, [1] before moving to the United Kingdom in 1978, [3] the recipient of a British Council Scholarship to study at the Byam Shaw School of Art. Since that time he has lived in London. [2]
The India High Commission invited Panchal to restore damaged murals. He also took part in several group exhibitions before becoming involved in the black art movement in the mid-1980s. In 1984 the Greater London Council held an Anti-Racist year, and commissioned four murals in sites linked to black and Asian British populations. Panchal and the young artist Dushka Ahman were provided with a permanent mural site, but local community consultations rejected their initial proposals as too radical. [1] [4]
Panchal has been artist-in-residence at the British Museum, the Harris Museum in Preston and the Winsor & Newton Art Factory in London. [2]
In 2015, Shanti Panchal won the third biennial self-portrait prize. [5]
In 2016 Panchal criticised the artist Anish Kapoor for claiming a monopoly on the artistic use of the material Vantablack. [6] [7]
In August 2020 Panchal and Rachel Dickson co-curated 'Midnight's Family: 70 Years of Indian Artists in Britain', a virtual exhibition at the Ben Uri Gallery & Museum. [8]
Panchal is an Honorary Member of the Royal Society of British Artists. [2]