Amit Ambalal (B.1943

Amit Ambalal (B.1943) Born in 1943, Ahmedabad, Amit Ambalal was a businessman, until he became a full-time painter in 1979. So taken in was he by his passion of becoming a renowned painter - his childhood dream - that he sold off his family owned business in 1977 to pursue this passion. His work can basically be divided into two categories. One has a contemporary approach to tradition via the popular religious traditions. And the other is the historical RajasthaniNathdwara devotional paintings he has been creating for the last 14 years now. Part of his work also revolves around human drama. His portraits of India are simple and a direct means of him coming to terms with the horror he sees around him. He findsflaws in human behavior and makes them a part of his great pictorial scheme on canvas. Be it historical or contemporary, his work is paired with the critical, irreverent humorist creating a satirical representation of the everyday and the divine, filled with eccentric human and animal protagonists. A large part of his work is in watercolors and this explains his fondness for the medium. He is known to work with pure colors and let them mingle on the paper rather than his color palette. Ambalal's first solo exhibition was in Ahmedabad in 1980. Since then he has had several shows around India, and in several group exhibitions abroad.