Shrey Purohit is an outdoor painter born in Mumbai, India. Shrey graduated in 2020 from California College of the Arts with a Bachelors in Fine Art. He has been operating @InglesideGallery since 2021, curating artworks from artists all over the Bay Area and creating a space for the community to enjoy, appreciate and purchase art.
“Kim Pabilonia and Claire Lau, two artists painting in Potrero Hill, encouraged me to pursue being a landscape painter, as it was not a dead art form. I've been painting since the age of 15, initially as an escape from the grueling work of being a graphic designer in Mumbai, I didn't know the significance of urban landscapes and why I was drawn to documenting them. After years of practicing painting, when the pandemic started it finally hit me why. I felt immense comfort in documenting things that stayed relatively permanent in contrast to my day-to-day life which could be so chaotic and impermanent. The reality though is that even the city never stops changing, making change the only constant. So documenting the changing city, with its buildings and roads is a way for me to make sense of time and space.”
“Showcasing artists from all ages, mediums and backgrounds and featuring musicians, poets at live events and receptions, Ingleside Gallery captured the spectrum of human communal joyful experiences. Opening May 11, 2022, the show ‘Visions for the Future’ will showcase 20 artists sharing their bold imagination and warnings for humanity.”
Part 2
Shrey is currently focused on the genre of Modern American Realism, forming a series of acrylic and oil paintings inspired by the modern world and the art scene. The paintings inspired by the Van Gogh Exhibit in downtown San Francisco are a gem in the series. Van Gogh Exhibit No.1 was finished in May 2021 and won the Plein Air Salon for Best Under 30 Painting in June 2021. Van Gogh Exhibit No.2 finished in May 2022, is a larger version.
“In this painting, I was exploring how people love to love Van Gogh, his works sell at millions of dollars, hundreds of years after he died, starving and homeless if not for the support of his brother Theo. From those millionaires and billionaires, how many choose to support the human struggle and suffering right outside the Van Gogh Exhibit. Continuing in the legacy of Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, painted in April 1942, Eighty years ago! Hopper was inspired by seeing Van Gogh’s Night Cafe, in NYC in early 1942. Vincent painted this in 1888.”
In 2022, Shrey had work at Ingleside Gallery, Farley's Coffee in Potrero Hill & in Supervisor Myrna Melgar’s office in City Hall.
“I'm grateful for the opportunity to curate AAPI artists for the month of May. As an immigrant of Indian origin, growing up I never saw many artists who look like me in the International art scene. Now as a 24 year old, I am so lucky to have this opportunity to highlight artists I'm inspired by. To be adopted and accepted into the SF art scene–I am very grateful.”
Feature Published: March 12, 2021
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