Jaipur’s outsider art takes centre stage in Delhi with twin exhibitions

Jaipur’s rich tradition of self-taught artistry comes alive this February with the simultaneous opening of two solo exhibitions at the India Habitat Centre. The Enigma of Jaipur and The Jadugar of Jaipur, presented by The Crites Collection in collaboration with ICA Gallery – Jaipur, showcase the works of the late Nannu Singh and contemporary artist Nagdas, offering a rare glimpse into Rajasthan’s outsider art movement, where folk, spiritual, and tantric traditions intersect with highly personal imagination.

Nannu Singh (1905–2005), often called the “Picasso of India” by artist-educator Ramgopal Vijayvargiya, spent much of his life in Jaipur and remains one of the country’s most enigmatic self-taught painters. His works, painted on handmade paper using stone-ground and mineral pigments, draw from folk and tantric aesthetics while remaining strikingly contemporary. Singh’s imaginative renderings of Lord Ganesha and other spiritual motifs reveal a lifetime of devotion through raw, intuitive brushstrokes, evoking a sense of mystery where identity, place, and inner worlds converge.

Running alongside Singh’s exhibition is The Jadugar of Jaipur, featuring the work of Nagdas, born in 1987 in Jalore, Rajasthan. A contemporary outsider artist, Nagdas creates hypnotic black-and-white worlds populated by “therianthropes”—hybrid forms merging human, animal, and mythical elements. His intuitive, sketch-free process channels imagination as a form of spiritual worship, resulting in layered, mesmerizing compositions that blend folk myths, oral traditions, and personal memory. Through his work, Nagdas brings the magic of Jaipur to life, transforming the city’s cultural heritage into a living visual language.

Conceptualised by Minhazz Majumdar, a scholar of indigenous art, and American art expert Mitchell A. K. Crites, who has spent 55 years working with folk, tribal, and tantric artists, the exhibitions are presented in collaboration with the Bansal family of ICA Gallery, Jaipur. The twin shows aim to foreground artist voices outside conventional art histories, offering collectors, critics, and art enthusiasts a rare opportunity to engage with Jaipur’s protean creativity.

Running from February 3 to 9, 2026, with a preview on February 2, the exhibitions are on view at the Visual Arts Gallery and Open Palm Court of the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, from 11 AM to 7 PM daily. Together, these twin exhibitions invite audiences into the visionary worlds of two remarkable artists, highlighting Jaipur not only as a city of heritage but as a city of artists.

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