The Valiant Ones - Portraiture of Extraordinary Lives

Painted by Kanwal Dhaliwal as the subject of his latest series of paintings, ‘The Valiant Ones’ is a set of personality portraits of unique individuals, lived on the Indian soil in the country’s recent history. Initiated in 2008 with the portrait of Gaihal Singh Chhajjalwadi, an obscure martyr, slaughtered by his own kind, a bizarre victim of the religious brutality, which was the legacy of India’s partition, Kanwal has kept on choosing, controversial in their own respect but certainly such humanistic personalities, who were either the victim of unjust socio-political system or the ones who challenged such a system, or both. Where there are writers, poets, social activists, freedom fighters and scholars in his selection, there also are ordinary souls who became extraordinary, simply being subjected to endure the suffering and humiliation of a kind, beyond the human imagination. Whoever they may have been as regards to their contribution in the history of humankind, they share one common characteristic, that is, dare to challenge the set norms, taboos, authority of tradition and establishment; through whatever means they had, intellect or arms or both. This common characteristic becomes the inspiration for the artist to pay his homage to these heroes/ heroines, who are stuck between the definition of ‘unsung’ and ‘celebrated’.