LONDON.- Play occupies a sacred and imaginative space in the poems and songs that shaped Jatinder Singh Durhailay during his training in Indian classical music. From ballads of fearless warriors moving rhythmically across the battlefield, to the exuberant colour-play of Holi, and the tender, devotional intimacy between Radha and Krishna, play emerges as a vehicle for storytelling, transformation, and connection. Carried through the melodic structures of raga and the intricate cycles of taal, these traditions unite colour, line, and sound into a single expressive language.
In this new body of work, myth and lived experience merge. Durhailay draws from a wide constellation of influences — Mughal miniature painting, Japanese minimalism, Bruce Lee’s philosophy of movement and discipline, time spent in India, and the women within his family and community — to reflect on his own experience of navigating multiple cultural worlds. His paintings become sites where inherited histories and contemporary identity coexist, not in tension, but in dialogue.
Raised in East London, amid punk subcultures, rebellious graffiti, and fluid expressions of dress and gender, Durhailay’s upbringing was equally grounded in Sikh teachings and the resonant rhythms of prayer. At home, there was no fence separating his garden from that of his Jain neighbours — an open, shared space emblematic of cultural proximity and mutual respect. “We’d watch episodes of the Mahabharata and Ramayana together on borrowed VHS tapes,” he recalls. “Those stories stayed with me, shaping my fascination with characters and heroes.”
There is a quiet wisdom that runs through Durhailay’s work. Rather than staging a clash between tradition and the contemporary, he allows them to gently intertwine. Colour becomes the binding force — the element through which emotion, memory, and meaning are distilled. It is here, within the intimacy and precision of his miniature works, that this synthesis finds its most refined expression.
Jatinder Singh Durhailay’s (b. 1988, London) artistic practice includes both drawing and painting in which he uses naturally derived pigments. Blending myths and contemporary culture, Durhailay’s portrayal of the Sikh community and culture are humorous, heroic and deeply poignant. Re-imagining the rich history of Indian Mughal miniature painting, he paints intricate portraits against detailed backgrounds, moving fluidly between traditional imagery and an ever-changing complex present.
What drew Jatinder Singh Durhailay to Mughal miniatures and inspired him to teach himself to work and reinvent this longstanding tradition were visits to the Victoria and Albert Museum as a child. Here he saw the representation of Sikh Indian culture reflected in real, recognisable faces.
Jatinder Singh Durhailay received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the Arts, London in 2011. His work has been exhibited at The Anant Art Gallery, Delhi The Artist Room, London, Loww Gallery, Tokyo, as well as the National Army Museum and the Brunei Gallery, London, amongst others. His works are in both public and private collections, including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Art and Photography, Bangalore.
Durhailay is trained in Indian Classical Music, performing and practicing Kirtan as well as playing rare instruments including the Dilruba and Taus. He is part of the musical duo Petit Oiseau and has performed at Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Leighton House, London, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, Atelier Fluss, Tokyo, and at the National Gallery, London.
