Amar Singh
Born
Kanwar Amar Jit Singh

(1989-06-14) 14 June 1989
London, England, UK
EducationSt John's Beaumont School
Charterhouse School
Licensed Victuallers' School
Known forArt and NFT dealer, women's rights and LGBTQ+ activist, and film producer

Kanwar Amar Jit Singh (born 14 June 1989) is a British art and non-fungible token (NFT) dealer, women's rights and LGBTQ+ activist, and film producer.[1][2][3] He has sometimes been described as an 'Indian prince',[4][5][6] despite being a fourth cousin once removed to the current titular holder of the erstwhile princely state of Kapurthala, which was dissolved in 1947.[3]

Initially an art gallerist, Singh later pivoted into NFTs, and according to Vanity Fair had between 2021 and 2022, secured $500 million of NFT art deals, owning 100 per cent of his operations.[7] Throughout his career, Singh has emphasised underrepresented female, LGBTQ+ and minority artists.[8]

On 14 October 2023, Singh was accused by Air Mail of using threatening and misogynistic language in phone-call recordings with a former partner, who, Singh claimed, had lied about her identity and cheated on him.[3] Singh denies the allegations, claiming that the recordings had been produced by artificial intelligence, a claim which digital forensics and data recovery expert Alfred Demirjian does not believe.[3] Demirjian said that there was a high degree of scientific certainty that the recordings were of Singh's voice.[3] Singh later asserted that the story about him provided to journalists was fictitious research for a movie plot entitled "Thirst for Fiction",[3] however Singh has been accused of having attempted to bribe a female journalist on two occasions, and utilised lawyers, in an apparent attempt to quash the story.[3]

Education

Singh was educated at St John's Beaumont School, Charterhouse School.[9]

Career

On 20 January 2017, Singh opened the Amar Gallery, an art gallery in London located close to the Central Saint Martins campus in North London.[6][10] The gallery's inaugural exhibition was 'LINKS', by Howard Tangye, an artist who was the fashion illustration tutor and former head of womenswear at Central Saint Martins.[10][11][12][13] The physical gallery space located between King's Cross and Islington, was closed in April 2019. In the two years the gallery space was open to the public, the Amar Gallery exhibited the work of female artists and feminists including the Guerrilla Girls, Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan, and Renee Cox.[4][14][10][15] The Amar Gallery also mounted LGBT+ exhibitions including 'LINKS' by Tangye and 'Section 377', an online exhibition about the road to legalise homosexuality in India.[1] By 2020, the gallery owed creditors $435,192,[3] and the company was dissolved by "compulsory strike-off" in October 2021.[3]

After the closure of the physical Amar Gallery space featuring traditional art, Singh moved to virtual art and NFTs.[16][17][18][7] In June 2021, Singh partnered with Givenchy and VeVe to raise $128,000 for LGBT+ youth movement Le MAG Jeunes LGBT+, by collaborating with artists Rewind Collective and selling the first NFT created for a beauty brand.[19][20][21]

In 2019, Singh had stated his next venture, set to open October 2019, was Curated Golden Square, described as a "$100 million, 30,000 square foot apartment hotel".[22][14] In a 2021 follow up interview with Vanity Fair, Singh claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was the reason the venture did not move forward.[8]

In March 2021, SABO Art and Amar Singh Gallery launched an art exhibition to celebrate women and Women's History Month in Lagos, Nigeria.[23]

Between 2021[8][24] and July 2022, Singh claimed to have donated $5 million worth of art by female, LGBTQ and minority artists to museums worldwide, [25] however in October 2023, journalists were unable to find evidence that his donations totalled $5 million.[3] In 2022, he also pledged to donate $1 million to international women's rights non-profit Vital Voices,[26] where he was a member of the solidarity council,[27] until October 2023.[28] Singh is alleged to have claimed on Instagram that he donated a painting by British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor to the "Smithsonian Museum" in Washington, D.C., however according to journalists in 2023, the Smithsonian Institution had no record of the painting being in their collections, and the artist's studio declined to comment.[3] Singh is also alleged to have claimed on Instagram that he donated $10,000 to nonprofit 'Art at a Time Like This', however according to journalists in 2023, the organisation in question claimed that "there wasn't a donation from Singh", but rather he had helped to facilitate one.[3]

Activism

Since 2020, Singh has been working with Manvendra Singh Gohil, Ankita Surabhi, and human rights lawyer Ravi Kant who worked on the honor killing case Shakti Vahini vs Union of India (2018), on an Indian Supreme Court case to nationally and comprehensively make conversion therapy illegal in India.[29][30][31] At present, the precedent set by Madras High Court's S Sushma v. Commissioner of Police (2021), prohibited conversion therapy in India, forced the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to provide 'shelter homes' for LGBTQ protection, and suggested that the government create education programs 'to sensitize police and prison authorities, district and state legal service authorities, health professionals, educational institutions, and most importantly, parents of LGBTQIA+ members'.[32] However, the only protection against conversion therapy is limited to the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, prohibiting medical discrimination against patients on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, limiting liability to state and mental health professionals, but not prohibiting the community or parents from enacting conversion therapy on members of LGBTQIA+ members.[32]

In July 2019, Singh spoke at the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute's Annual Future Leaders Conference, held at the Russell Senate Office Building, about women's rights and how communities are impacted through art and culture.[8][33]

Singh has been critical of a lack of LGBT rights in Brunei, branding the country's laws punishing homosexuality with death by stoning as 'disgraceful'.[8][14]

Personal life

Singh's father is a retired software engineer and businessman, and his mother is a property developer.[3] Through his father, Singh is a great-great-great-great-grandson of Raja Nihal Singh of Kapurthala,[9][34] an erstwhile ruler of one of the 565 princely states which existed during the British Raj, and which was abolished in 1947 following Indian independence. As of 2023, Sukhjit Singh, who is Singh's fourth cousin once removed, is the current holder of the titular Kapurthala title.[3]

A 2017 Los Angeles Blade article incorrectly reported that Indian politician Vishvjit Singh was Singh's uncle;[2] Vishvjit was Singh's first cousin once removed.[9]

In 2018, The Independent claimed that Singh, who is heterosexual, was "driven out of India" at the age of 20, after he spoke out in support of gay rights.[35]

References

  1. 1 2 Bullock, Andrew (10 August 2020). "Amar Singh: "I don't know why we have to fight so hard for equal rights!"". Gay Times. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  2. 1 2 Ocamb, Karen (30 November 2017). "Indian Royal Amar Singh on a mission for equality". Los Angeles Blade. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Hannah Ghorashi; George Pendle. "A Swedish Conwoman, An Indian Prince, And a Grift Gone Terribly Wrong". Air Mail. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  4. 1 2 Hawgood, Alex (3 October 2017). "The Indian Prince Who Supports Gay Rights and the Arts (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Jeremy Kinser (17 March 2019). "Is This Star-Studded LACMA Party the Art World's American Idol?". Town & Country. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  6. 1 2 Chaundy, Bob (25 January 2017). "Howard Tangye - Amar Gallery". HuffPost. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Billion Dollar Boom: NFT Rainmakers". Vanity Fair. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Bullock, Andrew (9 February 2021). "The Art of Amar Singh's Activism". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Kapurthala". sikh heritage. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 updated, Elly Parsons last (23 January 2017). "Fine lines: Howard Tangye inaugurates Amar Gallery with his revealing sketches". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  11. ↑ Woodcock, Victoria (12 September 2021). "The hidden figures of Howard Tangye". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "Howard Tangye: Links | Howard Tangye". howardtangye.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "Howard Tangye - Amar Gallery". HuffPost UK. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 Bullock, Andrew (19 June 2019). "Amar Singh's Curated Quest for Equality". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  15. ↑ Baker, Sam (29 June 2019). "The (Male) Art Entrepreneur Exhibiting Female Artists". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "I Am Not A Goddess... Unless I Say I Am". www.saboartadvisory.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "Missing In Action - Online Exhibition". Guerrilla Girls. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  18. ↑ "Exhibitions". Amar Singh Gallery. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  19. ↑ "Givenchy Beauty - Official site | Fragrance, make-up and skincare".
  20. ↑ Weil, Jennifer (22 June 2021). "Givenchy Parfums Creates NFT Artwork to Profit LGBTQ Cause".
  21. ↑ "The Rise and Rise of NFT Artworks". Vanity Fair. 27 July 2021.
  22. ↑ Baker, Sam (29 June 2019). "The (Male) Art Entrepreneur Exhibiting Female Artists". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  23. ↑ Ekow Barnes. "The Culture List: Four Exciting Art Installations Celebrating Womanhood". Ebony. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  24. ↑ Gerlis, Melanie (4 February 2021). "A tale of Churchill, Roosevelt — and Angelina Jolie". Financial Times.
  25. ↑ Ramani, Reshma (25 November 2022). "NFT Art Pioneer's Ambitious Push for Change". Esquire. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  26. ↑ "REMEMBER US XXI (NFT ARTWORK) EXHIBIT, POWERED BY AMAR SINGH". Vital Voices. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  27. ↑ "Amar Singh". Vital Voices. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  28. ↑ "Vital Voices Solidarity Council". Vital Voices. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  29. ↑ Bullock, Andrew. "Royal Rebels: Amar Singh and Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  30. ↑ "SHAKTI VAHINI v. UNION OF INDIA [(2018) 7 SCC 192], (Honour killing is a crime, making a person to marry other than his own choice is violation of Article 21) - Legal Vidhiya". 7 April 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  31. ↑ "Will file a petition urging the Supreme Court to declare conversion therapy as illegal in India: Manvendra Singh Gohil". The Times of India. 12 August 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  32. 1 2 "India's High Court Bans Conversion Therapy: A Much Needed Law". www.jurist.org. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  33. ↑ "CHLI Conference Connects Future Leaders to the Real World". Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  34. ↑ Sternlicht, Alexandra (13 May 2021). "Why This 31-Year-Old Gallerist Is Partnering With Christie's To Auction NFTs". Forbes.
  35. ↑ Oppenheim, Maya (10 February 2018). "India's only openly gay prince is turning his pink palace into a centre for vulnerable LGBT+ people". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
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