Born in 1930 in the Kaira district, Gujarat, artist Jeram Patel is consider one of the pioneers of abstract art in India. Breaking through to explore a new vocabulary and techniques, Patel is known for his powerful strokes and statements. A graduate in painting from Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, he went on to study typography and publicity design at the Central School of Arts and Craft, London. 

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Patel is recognised and celebrated for the new dialogues and visual identities that he helped birth in the contemporary Indian space in the late 1950s and 60s. He was one of the founding members of Group 1890 - a collective of artists that initiated new progressive movements in art in post- independent India. He is particularly celebrated for exploring abstraction beyond form and canvas. He developed a method of engraving on burnt wood that he set alight with a blowtorch, plunging the process itself into the unknown and creating something instinctive and emotionally responsive in the moment. This became one of his most celebrated styles, along with his iconic black strokes and saturated shapes of ink on paper. 

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He held solo shows in London, New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai and represented India at numerous international art festivals and biennale. His works feature in prestigious collections including those at the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Bhopal.He was awarded the Kala Ratna by the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (1997), an Emeritus Fellowship from the Government of India (1994) and the National Award from the Lalit Kala Akademi on multiple occasions (1957, 63, 73, 84). 

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Jeram Patel passed away in 2016.