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New in the City

New in the City, Oil on Canvas, 16" x 24"

Rajesh Naidu is an artist and educator whose practice is rooted in painting as a way of understanding the world and one’s place within it. For him, painting is not an escape from reality but a means of staying with it. The process allows him to slow down, absorb lived experience, and respond to the emotional and social conditions of the present. Each finished work carries the time, attention, and physical labour invested in its making, becoming a quiet record of that engagement.
His relationship with images began early, shaped by motion pictures and comics, which fostered a strong narrative sensibility that continues to inform his work. While his early paintings reflected the influence of artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Bikash Bhattacharjee, and Pablo Picasso, his visual language has gradually evolved into something distinctly personal. Though often not strictly representational, his paintings draw from the psychological depth and storytelling found in the works of Andrew Wyeth, Eric Fischl, and Edward Hopper. The practice of drawing from life, informed by artists such as Alice Neel and Lucian Freud, remains central to his process and to his way of staying connected to people and the world around him.
Rajesh works primarily with traditional mediums including oil paint, acrylics, gouache, and watercolors. His paintings emerge from close observation of people, places, and everyday objects, without adherence to a singular theme. Instead, they reflect an ongoing curiosity and a sustained inquiry into the nature of painting itself.
In a time increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and accelerated production, Rajesh chooses to work in a conventional painterly language that affirms physical presence, skill, and sustained effort. Much of his work addresses experiences of displacement, isolation, and alienation caused by war, epidemics, and man-made disasters, raising questions about progress in the twenty-first century. Working largely in solitude, he recognises this condition as essential to his focus and authenticity.
Rajesh Naidu has exhibited in multiple juried, group, and solo exhibitions. He is currently a faculty member in the School of Arts and Sciences at Ahmedabad University, where he teaches drawing, painting, and courses in the history of visual arts. He has served as Visiting Faculty of Art and Artist-in-Residence at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana, USA, teaching painting, art history, and art appreciation. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from Indiana State University, where he also taught drawing, and a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering from Savitribai Phule Pune University. Before fully committing to art, he worked in the construction industry.    

Curriculum Vitae

JURIED EXHIBITIONS / SHOWS​

  • 134th Annual Art Exhibition of The Bombay Art Society, February 2026, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

  • 108th Annual Art Exhibition of The Art Society of India, February 2026, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

  • Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2025, July 2025, Russell-Cotes Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth, UK​

  • In-Between (Solo Show), March 2024, Urmila Art Gallery, Kanoria Centre for Arts, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

  • View/Mirror, October 2023, Turman Gallery, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Reflection (Solo Show), February 2020, Gaslight Art Colony, Marshall, Illinois, USA

  • Artists Café Salon Exhibition, December 2019, Education Center (Swope Art Museum), Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Get Out! Paint Out! Plein Air Event/Exhibition, September 2019, McKendree University Gallery of Art, Lebanon, Illinois, USA

  • Rose-Hulman Fall Art Exhibit, August 2019, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • 75th Annual Wabash Valley Exhibition, September 2019, Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Nude, December 2018, Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • The Human Condition (MFA Graduate Show), November 2018, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • 74th Annual Wabash Valley Exhibition, September 2018, Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • The Road Show 2018, August 2018, Arts Illiana Gallery, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Student Juried Show 2018, February 2018, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Small Art 2017, November 2017, Arts Illiana Gallery, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • 73rd Annual Wabash Valley Exhibition, September 2017, Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Self Portrait: The Original Selfie, May 2017, Arts Illiana Gallery, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Student Juried Show 2017, February 2017, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Student Juried Show 2016, March 2016, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Art Beat, June 2014, Trois, Pune, India


AWARDS / GRANTS / SCHOLARSHIPS

  • People’s Choice Award, October 2019, Get Out! Paint Out!, McKendree University Gallery of Art

  • 3rd Prize, October 2019, Get Out! Paint Out!, McKendree University Gallery of Art

  • Eileen Prose Award of Recognition, September 2018, 74th Annual Wabash Valley Exhibition, Swope Art Museum

  • Joan and David Zaun Award of Recognition, September 2017, 73rd Annual Wabash Valley Exhibition, Swope Art Museum

  • Elmer J. Porter Scholarship, Spring 2017, Indiana State University

  • Provost’s Merit Award, February 2017, Student Juried Show 2017, Indiana State University


COLLECTIONS

  • Shanti Sadan, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

  • Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Eugene V. Debs Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

  • Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA


PUBLICATIONS / MEDIA / PUBLIC TALK

© 2024 Art Rajesh Naidu

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