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Amar Singh (art dealer)

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Amar Singh
Born
Kanwar Amar Jit Singh

(1989-06-14) 14 June 1989 (age 35)
London, England, UK
EducationSt John's Beaumont School
Charterhouse School
Licensed Victuallers' School
Known forArt and NFT dealer, women's rights and LGBTQ+ activist, and film producer

Kanwar Amar Jit Singh (born 14 June 1989) is a British art and non-fungible token (NFT) dealer, women's rights and LGBTQ+ activist, and film producer.[1][2] Singh is a member of the erstwhile Kapurthala royal family through his direct lineage to Raja Nihal Singh.[3][4][5][6]

In addition to art dealing, Singh later included NFTs (digital art) into his dealing.[7] Throughout his career, Singh has emphasised underrepresented female, LGBTQ+ and minority artists.[3]

Education

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Singh was educated at St John's Beaumont School, Charterhouse School.[8]

Career

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On 20 January 2017, Singh opened the Amar Gallery in London located close to the Central Saint Martins campus in North London.[6][9] The gallery's inaugural exhibition was 'LINKS', by Howard Tangye, an artist who was the fashion illustration tutor and former head of womenswear at Central Saint Martins.[9][10][11][6] The physical gallery space located between King's Cross and Islington, was closed in April 2019. In the two years the gallery space was open to the public, the Amar Gallery exhibited the work of female artists and feminists including the Guerrilla Girls, Helen Frankenthaler & Grace Hartigan[4][12][9][13] The Amar Gallery also mounted LGBT+ exhibitions including 'LINKS' by Tangye and 'Section 377', an online exhibition about the road to legalise homosexuality in India.[1] After the closure of the physical Amar Gallery space featuring traditional art, Singh moved to virtual art and NFTs.[14][15][16][7] In June 2021, Singh partnered with Givenchy and VeVe to raise $128,000 for LGBT+ youth movement Le MAG Jeunes LGBT+, by collaborating with artists Rewind Collective and selling the first NFT created for a beauty brand.[17][18][19]

In 2019, Singh had stated his next venture, set to open October 2019, was Curated Golden Square, described as a "$100 million, 30,000 square foot apartment hotel".[20][12] In a 2021 follow up interview with Vanity Fair, Singh claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was the reason the venture did not move forward.[3]

In March 2021, SABO Art and Amar Singh Gallery launched an art exhibition to celebrate women and Women's History Month in Lagos, Nigeria.[21]

In 2021[3][22] Singh pledged to donate $5 million worth of art by female, LGBTQ and minority artists to museums worldwide.[23] To date Singh or his gallery have donated works of art to museums including LACMA,[24][25][26] Harvard,[27][28] National Portait Gallery, London,[29][30] the Crocker Museum,[31] the Studio Museum,[32] Stedelijk Museum.[33] and the New Orleans Museum of Art.[34] Works of art have also been donated in Singh's honour or courtesy of Singh's gallery to the Whitney Museum,[35] ICA Miami.[36] and Smithsonian.[37] In 2022, he also pledged to donate $1 million to international women's rights non-profit Vital Voices,[38] where he was a member of the solidarity council,[39] until October 2023.[40]

Singh reopened his London gallery in June 2024 with a solo exhibition of works by Dora Maar, Picasso's muse and lover.[41] Singh told the Guardian of Dora Maar: “She influenced Picasso to paint Guernica – he had never entered political painting before.”[42]

Activism

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Since 2020, Singh has been working with Manvendra Singh Gohil, Ankita Surabhi, and human rights lawyer Ravi Kant who worked on the honor killing case Shakti Vahini vs Union of India (2018), on an Indian Supreme Court case to nationally and comprehensively make conversion therapy illegal in India.[43][44][45] At present, the precedent set by Madras High Court's S Sushma v. Commissioner of Police (2021), prohibited conversion therapy in India, forced the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to provide 'shelter homes' for LGBTQ protection, and suggested that the government create education programs 'to sensitize police and prison authorities, district and state legal service authorities, health professionals, educational institutions, and most importantly, parents of LGBTQIA+ members'.[46] However, the only protection against conversion therapy is limited to the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, prohibiting medical discrimination against patients on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, limiting liability to state and mental health professionals, but not prohibiting the community or parents from enacting conversion therapy on members of LGBTQIA+ members.[46]

In July 2019, Singh spoke at the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute's Annual Future Leaders Conference, held at the Russell Senate Office Building, about women's rights and how communities are impacted through art and culture.[3][47]

Singh has been critical of a lack of LGBT rights in Brunei, branding the country's laws punishing homosexuality with death by stoning as 'disgraceful'.[3][12]

Personal life

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Through his father, Singh is a great-great-great-great-grandson of Raja Nihal Singh of Kapurthala.[8][48]

A 2017 Los Angeles Blade article reported that Indian politician Vishvjit Singh was Singh's uncle;[2] Vishvjit instead was Singh's first cousin once removed.[8] Although as stated in The Hindu newspaper it is customary in India to refer to elder relatives or elders in general as Uncle and Aunt.[49]

In 2018, The Independent claimed that Singh, who is heterosexual, was "driven out of India" at the age of 20, after he spoke out in support of gay rights.[50]

References

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  1. ^ a b Bullock, Andrew (10 August 2020). "Amar Singh: "I don't know why we have to fight so hard for equal rights!"". Gay Times. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b Ocamb, Karen (30 November 2017). "Indian Royal Amar Singh on a mission for equality". Los Angeles Blade. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Bullock, Andrew (9 February 2021). "The Art of Amar Singh's Activism". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  4. ^ a b Hawgood, Alex (3 October 2017). "The Indian Prince Who Supports Gay Rights and the Arts (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  5. ^ Jeremy Kinser (17 March 2019). "Is This Star-Studded LACMA Party the Art World's American Idol?". Town & Country. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Chaundy, Bob (25 January 2017). "Howard Tangye - Amar Gallery". HuffPost. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Billion Dollar Boom: NFT Rainmakers". Vanity Fair. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d "Kapurthala". sikh heritage. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  9. ^ a b c updated, Elly Parsons last (23 January 2017). "Fine lines: Howard Tangye inaugurates Amar Gallery with his revealing sketches". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  10. ^ Woodcock, Victoria (12 September 2021). "The hidden figures of Howard Tangye". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Howard Tangye: Links | Howard Tangye". howardtangye.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  12. ^ a b c Bullock, Andrew (19 June 2019). "Amar Singh's Curated Quest for Equality". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  13. ^ Baker, Sam (29 June 2019). "The (Male) Art Entrepreneur Exhibiting Female Artists". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  14. ^ "I Am Not A Goddess... Unless I Say I Am". www.saboartadvisory.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.[dead link]
  15. ^ "Missing In Action - Online Exhibition". Guerrilla Girls. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Exhibitions". Amar Singh Gallery. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Givenchy Beauty - Official site | Fragrance, make-up and skincare".
  18. ^ Weil, Jennifer (22 June 2021). "Givenchy Parfums Creates NFT Artwork to Profit LGBTQ Cause".
  19. ^ "The Rise and Rise of NFT Artworks". Vanity Fair. 27 July 2021.
  20. ^ Baker, Sam (29 June 2019). "The (Male) Art Entrepreneur Exhibiting Female Artists". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  21. ^ Ekow Barnes. "The Culture List: Four Exciting Art Installations Celebrating Womanhood". Ebony. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  22. ^ Gerlis, Melanie (4 February 2021). "A tale of Churchill, Roosevelt — and Angelina Jolie". Financial Times.
  23. ^ Ramani, Reshma (25 November 2022). "NFT Art Pioneer's Ambitious Push for Change". Esquire. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Serenade (Lessons of the Hour) | LACMA Collections". collections.lacma.org. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  25. ^ "Crowned Solitudes | LACMA Collections". collections.lacma.org. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  26. ^ "The Signing | LACMA Collections". collections.lacma.org. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  27. ^ Cascone, Sarah (28 January 2021). "A Painting of Amanda Gorman, the Young Poet Who Performed at Joe Biden's Inauguration, Is Now Part of Harvard's Collection". Artnet News. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  28. ^ "Open Wide the Freedom Gates". coopergallery.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  29. ^ "Richard Nicoll - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  30. ^ "Richard Nicoll - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  31. ^ "Hopes Springing High at the Crocker". Crocker Art Museum. 19 January 2018. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  32. ^ "Mosie Romney". Studio Museum in Harlem. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  33. ^ ""Green Lace" (2022) by Angela Heisch acquired by the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam". GRIMM. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  34. ^ "Free Huey". New Orleans Museum of Art. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  35. ^ "Rick Lowe | Project Row Houses: If Artists Are Creative Why Can't They Create Solutions". whitney.org. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  36. ^ "Contending with Contingency IX". Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  37. ^ Institution, Smithsonian. "Constellations II SE". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  38. ^ "REMEMBER US XXI (NFT ARTWORK) EXHIBIT, POWERED BY AMAR SINGH". Vital Voices. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  39. ^ "Amar Singh". Vital Voices. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  40. ^ "Vital Voices Solidarity Council". Vital Voices. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  41. ^ Article, Adam Schrader ShareShare This (28 May 2024). "A New Show Reframes the Legacy of Surrealist Photographer Dora Maar". Artnet News. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  42. ^ Ferguson, Donna (16 June 2024). "Rare photographs by Dora Maar cast Picasso's tormented muse in a new light". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  43. ^ Bullock, Andrew. "Royal Rebels: Amar Singh and Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  44. ^ "SHAKTI VAHINI v. UNION OF INDIA [(2018) 7 SCC 192], (Honour killing is a crime, making a person to marry other than his own choice is violation of Article 21) - Legal Vidhiya". 7 April 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  45. ^ "Will file a petition urging the Supreme Court to declare conversion therapy as illegal in India: Manvendra Singh Gohil". The Times of India. 12 August 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  46. ^ a b "India's High Court Bans Conversion Therapy: A Much Needed Law". www.jurist.org. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  47. ^ "CHLI Conference Connects Future Leaders to the Real World". Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  48. ^ Sternlicht, Alexandra (13 May 2021). "Why This 31-Year-Old Gallerist Is Partnering With Christie's To Auction NFTs". Forbes.
  49. ^ "'Hello Uncle! Hello Aunty!'". The Hindu. 8 November 2014. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  50. ^ Oppenheim, Maya (10 February 2018). "India's only openly gay prince is turning his pink palace into a centre for vulnerable LGBT+ people". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
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