Under artist Jake Grewal’s Sky
Jake Grewal’s first exhibition in London includes eleven never-before-seen works, including a 6m panoramic triptych…
By
Rhea Mathur
January 21, 2025
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
Under the Same Sky is Jake Grewal's first institutional exhibition in London at Clapham’s Studio Voltaire. It begins with a six-metre panoramic painting titled The Ceaseless Cycle of Erosion, painted with oil on canvas, a medium Grewal chose to focus on in this exhibition. The painting is reminiscent of the visual effect created by Cecily Brown’s Unmoored from her reflection (2021) upon walking up the 18th-century staircase at The Courtauld Gallery. Placed on a curved wall, Brown’s work bends with the shape of the architecture. Grewal’s panoramic painting similarly curves with the room's shape but is placed low to the ground, allowing visitors to walk along its edge.
In the work, he paints a view of a rocky shoreside with blue skies and calm waves, bringing large stones reflecting the sun to the forefront. Walking along these rocks are nude male figures- which can be seen as five separate figures or one in motion. The shifting figures allow Grewal’s composition to reflect a psychological, human world that is constantly in motion. He also blurs the boundaries between his figures and the landscape, further enhancing the appearance of movement and passing time. Placed directly below a skylight, the blue sky outside mirrors the sky in the painting, appearing visually as an extension of the work.
The panoramic painting is a triptych, in which each canvas depicts a component of the figure’s journey through life. This haphazard, non-linear movement seems to be searching for something, further emphasized by the hidden faces, constantly looking away and around from the viewer's direction. In the second canvas, the figure also appears to be going down the rocks, away from the viewer and by the third and final canvas, he has disappeared. The viewer is left standing on rocks facing the shore by the end, seeing a cliff in the distance. Grewal’s work allows reflection into the relationship between humans and nature and comments on nature’s ability to withstand and outlast the human race within the context of climate change and global warming.
Grewal’s paintings of landscapes draw an interesting connection to human psychology, wherein in each of his works, figures can be seen in motion, with their faces looking straight ahead in their direction of travel. In some works, such as Across The Great Water (2024- 2025), the figures are hidden and only by looking closely at the work can they be spotted. The rock in this work casts a reflection of the figure, but in it, he is further ahead on his journey. In the background, Grewal paints a breathtaking landscape with pink clouds, a setting sun, turquoise waters and a sandy beachfront.
An additional element in his work for this exhibition is his ability to blur boundaries between figures and formations as they envelop each other, collaborating and separating as the visitor moves and their perspective changes. He is also able to play with shadows and sunlight in his work, where the two melt into one another, symbolising the quick passage of time and constant motion in his work.
Grewal painted the artwork in Under the Same Sky between 2024 and 2025 for his commission at Studio Voltaire. Each of them depicts a different landscape. In Healing the Heart (2025), a nude male figure walks on a pink beach while the waves behind him gently caress the sand. There is a sense of Romanticism in his work, referencing works from the 1800s where artists focused on understanding the relationship between man and nature. However, in his work, rather than using dark colours and heavy pigments and painting the tempestuous seas, Grewal chooses a calm, happy and uplifting visual. His bold use of light yellows and oranges throughout his work and focus on the beach, a place that evokes a relaxing sentiment in the viewer’s mind, makes his work starkly contrast the same work he embodies.
Grewal also spent a considerable amount of time travelling while creating this exhibition, including an extensive first trip to India through southern Goa, Kerala; the northern cities of Varanasi, Amritsar and Delhi; and the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh. The artist then also spent a month exploring coastal landscapes at Porthmeor Studios, St Ives. He then brings in the colour, light and emotion he witnesses while travelling across various landscapes in different parts of the world. He highlights what brings us together- our shifting, fleeting, momentary figures in motion, racing through life while nature still witnesses it all.
