After nearly four decades of infusing life into lifeless objects, the renowned artist and sculptor Shiv Singh breathed his last on Friday. He was a painter and designer, but primarily a sculptor. With Shiv’s death, Chandigarh has lost another artist within a fortnight after its ‘rockstar’ Nek Chand. Nek Chand died on June 12.Known for his signature black attire, 68-year-old Shiv was suffering from cancer but died due to heart failure in Panchkula, said a family member. “I am the black man, not the black sheep,” was Singh’s common saying about his dress code which was all black.Born in Hoshiarpur in 1938, he studied at the Punjab College of Arts, first in Shimla and then in Chandigarh from 1958 to 1963.
He also taught art at Kapurthala Sainik School from 1963 to 1968. He retired as professor of arts in 1996 from Government Home Science College, Chandigarh.Expressing sorrow over his demise, Punjab Cultural Affairs Minister Sohan Singh Thandal said that Shiv Singh was one of the greatest artists, sculptors who brought the art of Punjab on the global landscape.“Shiv scaled the pinnacles of artistry portraying his aesthetical acumen in different streams of visual arts…he was a gifted artist who practiced his artistic expertise in painting and designing but he was basically a sculptor. Recognising Shiv Singh’s contribution, the Punjab Government had accorded him the state honour,” Thandal said.
Renowned Punjabi documentary filmmaker and journalist Daljit Ami, also condoling his demise, tweeted, “Painter and sculptor Shiv Singh is no more. He will remain alive in his sculptures. Punjabis will always dance in his sculptures.”in 1967, Shiv Singh was invited to participate in the Second National Sculptors’ Camp at Delhi. In 1968, the German Government offered him a scholarship in advanced studies and research in art for three years in Germany. Since then, he has exhibited several times in Europe.From 1972 to 1982, he was a member of the lalit Kala Akademi at New Delhi and he has been a founder member of the Punjab lalit Kala Akademi, Chandigarh, as well as Alliance francaise le Corbusier de Chandigarh.
In 1987, he was appointed by the British Council, New Delhi as jury member to judge the works of Indian sculptors for an award, the exhibition took place simultaneously with the exhibition of British sculptor Henry Moore, in India.Fifteen documentary films on him and his works have been televised by various channels. He has broadcast several talks on art from All India Radio — Jalandhar and Chandigarh.He has held sixty one-man shows in India, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Scotland, Canada and England.In 2013, Chandigarh lalit Kala Akademi honoured him for his contribution in the field of visual art. Only recently, he was appointed as an expert by the Ministry of Art and Culture to give scholarships to young artists.