Born in Jharkand in 1973, painter Raju Patel produces powerful expressions of his experience of disability. He received his diploma (2000) and post-diploma (2002) in painting from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda. In the time since then he has explored his experience of India’s social, cultural, and physical landscape as a disabled artist. He has held two solo exhibitions: “Stand By Me” at Knots Art Space in Baroda (2016) and “Renitent Bodies” at Asia Culture Center, South Korea (2017). He also participated in over 50 group exhibitions, including the 58th National Exhibition of Art in Bangalore, and several workshops and camps across the country. He was awarded a merit scholarship by his university; a 2009-2010 Junior Fellowship by the HRD, Ministry of Culture, Government of India; and the 2010 Navdeep Pratishthan Award for painting. He continues to paint and participate in the thriving art world in Baroda and beyond.

Patel’s paintings delve into themes that he faces in his daily life: (dis)ability, social exclusion, the body as vehicle, and interactions with physical environments. Though his collection of work contains diverse motifs, his core subjects include locomotor impairment and symbols of mobility: shoes, feet, athletics, and communication tools. The watercolors are often muted yet layered and rich, displaying a unique mastery of the medium. While his paintings sometimes tend toward the smaller size, he uses the space carefully to create thoughtful and nuanced statements on the place of disability in our world.