Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh | |
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 Mohammed Sheikh in 2008 | |
| Born | (1937-02-16)16 February 1937 (age 88) Surendranagar, Gujarat, British India |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Baroda Group[1] |
| Spouse | Nilima Sheikh |
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Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh (born 16 February 1937) is a painter, poet andart critic fromGujarat, India. He was awarded thePadma Shri in 1983 andPadmabhushan in 2014 for his contribution in field of art.[2]
Sheikh was born on 16 February 1937 inSurendranagar (now inSaurashtra region of Gujarat, India). Hematriculated in 1955. He completed B.A. in Fine Art in 1959 and M.A. in 1961 fromFaculty of Fine Arts,Maharaja Sayajirao University ofBaroda. He received ARCA fromRoyal College of Art, London in 1966.[3][4][5][6]
In 1960, he joined as a professor of Fine Arts in the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda. His teaching positions have included teaching art history in the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda (1960–63 and 1967–81,) and as Professor of Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda (1982–1993). He has been a Visiting Artist at theArt Institute of Chicago in 1987 and 2002, and a Writer/Artist in Residence at Civitella Ranieri Center, Umbertide, Italy (1998), at theUniversity of Pennsylvania (2002), and at Montalvo, California (2005).[citation needed]
Sheikh has been a major figure in the world of Indian art for more than four decades. He has participated in major exhibitions all over the world and his works are displayed in private and public collections including theNational Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi,Victoria and Albert Museum in London and thePeabody Essex Museum in Salem, USA. Ghulam has been active not merely as an artist but also as a teacher and writer.[citation needed]
His collection ofGujarati surrealistic poems,Athwa (1974) won him considerable critical acclaim. He has also written a prose series,Gher Jatan and edited special issues ofKshitij as well asVishwamanav andSayujya magazines.American Chitrakala (1964) is his translated work.[3]
"Sheikh's art is by its nature," writes Chaitanya Sambrani, "one that takes on task of narrating, and therefore, recreating the world. There is a close tie-in between this narrative and an act of mapping the world, which gives to the speaking subject the possibility of addressing the world as his/her own". Recently Sheikh had been working on the Mappa Mundi series where he defines new horizons and ponders over to locate himself in. Sheikh construes these personal universes enthused from the miniature shrines where he urges the audience to exercise the freedom to build up their Mappa Mundi.[7] Sheikh’s practice transcends linear histories, drawing from personal memory, cultural heritage, and global influences.[8] Sheikh’s style is fundamentally narrative. He uses both traditional and contemporary formats—such as Kaavads, accordion books, and digital collages—to weave multi-layered stories. His storytelling is influenced by oral traditions, literature, poetry (e.g., Kabir), and historical memory, often blending the personal with the political. His work moves across gouaches, oil paintings, prints, and digital art, showing a comfort with both tactile and technological tools. His paintings often fuse Persian, Mughal, Indian miniature, and modernist aesthetics, pointing to his syncretic vision of culture. Works likeSpeechless City andCity for Sale show a critical engagement with urban transformation, political unrest, and violence. These are often rendered in densely composed cityscapes, loaded with allegorical figures, architectural fragments, and satirical commentary. In digital works likeTalisman: Taweez andMappamundi, Sheikh uses maps as metaphors, questioning colonial borders, memory, and geopolitical power. His visual style here blends digital layering with historical referencing, creating palimpsests of place and time. Ghulam Sheikh’s painting style is narrative-driven, hybrid in media, politically conscious, and anchored in cultural syncretism and visual storytelling. He bridges miniature painting, modernist experimentation, and digital expression, making him a uniquely expansive voice in contemporary Indian art.
Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh lives with his artist-wifeNilima inVadodara, India.
2017, 'Nirkhe te Nazar', a collection of writings on visual arts in Gujarati, Samvad Prakashan, Vadodara & Khsitij Sansodhan Prakashan Kendra, Mumbai.
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