A brilliant painter whose works are a profound visual interpretation of his observations of the everyday life around him, artist Gieve Patel is also a poet, playwright, and practising physician The human body has been a subject of importance in Gieve Patel’s oeuvre Often conjured with visceral imagery his painterly preoccupation with human anatomy is transferred on his canvases with a sense of dissonance Engaging with the urban landscape and scenes from the street, his works also address the social dilemmas and realities portrayed through subaltern marginalised figures who stand at the bottom of rigid societal hierarchies

Born in 1940 in Mumbai, Gieve Patel studied medicine at Grant Medical College He is from a generation of artists who emerged in the mid-60s and brought a fresh perspective to Indian art instead of solely focusing on the Paris School that was in vogue at the time In 1966, his first exhibition was held in Mumbai He also published his first collection of poems in the same year In a career spanning over five decades, Gieve Patel has showcased his works in several notable exhibitions  

Since the 90s, the artist has also explored the central image of water wells in his works A space and metaphor for self-contemplation, these paintings devoid of the self or any subject, are executed with a play on light and structure through the reflections of sky and foliage in the wells The technique culminates into a picture puzzle with a large central circle through which the observer gazes below and above at once