Description :
Ibrahim Wagh was born in Bombay, British India (now Mumbai, India) in 1936. He was awarded first prize in his final year of studies at the Sir J.J. School of Art in Bombay and established his art studio at the Bhulabhai Institute, working with prominent actors, directors and writers from the Indian Peoples Theatre. A member of the Bombay Art Society, he received a silver medal at one of their annual exhibitions. Wagh moved to London, England in 1962 on a Tata scholarship, studying at the Central School of Arts and Crafts (now Central Saint Martins, UAL), London College of Printing (LCP) and Twickenham College of Technology. From 1965 Wagh worked as a civil servant in the Department of Transport and Environment as a leading illustrator (Price, 2010).
Alongside his work as an illustrator, Wagh was a founding member of the Indian Painters Collective (IPC) in 1963. Comprising Indian artists living and working in London, IPC was formally announced in 1964, following a meeting between Wagh and other former members of the Bombay Art Society: Gajanan Bhagwat, Lancelot Ribeiro and Yashwant Mali. A key initiative of the IPC was the exhibition, Six Indian Painters, held at India House, London in 1964. Opened by the Indian High Commissioner, Dr Jivraj N. Mehta and Jennie Lee, then Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Public Buildings and Works, Wagh showed work alongside Bhagwat, Ribeiro, Mali, and additional members, Balraj Khanna and S. V. Rama Rao. The IPC was the first artistic collective of its kind outside India, with the exhibition catalogue stating their mission was to hold ‘frequent exhibitions under their own auspices’ and to ‘participate in other exhibitions here and on the continent’, representing ‘a cross section of Indian painting today’ (Ribeiro, Art UK, 2019; Diaspora Artists). Beyond IPC, Wagh held various solo exhibitions in London, including at the Victoria League (1962), English Speaking Union (1963) and Richmond Hill Art Gallery (1971).
Wagh was the artistic director at Horizon Gallery, London, which functioned as the visual arts wing of Indain Arts Council. The gallery focussed on artists of dual cultural heritage, especially South Asian women (VADS Collection). Wagh also researched ceramics at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London in 1988, and was awarded residencies in Japan and Canada (Price, 2010). In 1990, he exhibited in two touring exhibitions: the seminal The Other Story: Afro-Asian Artists in Post-War Britain at the Hayward Gallery, London (curated by Rasheed Araeen), alongside other notables such as Balraj Khanna, Sonia Boyce and Gavin Jantjes; and Eddie Chambers’ Let the Canvas Come to Life with Dark Faces, in which non-white artists in Britain showcased self-portraits at Bluecoat, Liverpool and the South London Art Gallery. In 1993 Wagh was awarded a fellowship from Digswell Art Trust, Welwyn Garden City. Wagh passed away in 2010.
Excerpt from text: buru.org.uk