Karanjit Panesar (Government Art Collection)
We’re celebrating the latest chapter of Art X-UK, our partnership with the Government Art Collection connecting regional talent with national collecting. Across 2025–26, works by Yorkshire and the Humber-based artists Grace Clifford, Kedisha Coakley, Sam Metz and Karanjit Panesar have been acquired for the Government Art Collection, meaning their art will now be represented in government buildings around the world. So we’re spotlighting each of the 4 artists selected from our region!
Introducing Karanjit Panesar (b. 1992), an artist and filmmaker currently based in Leeds. In his multidisciplinary practice, he obliquely explores diasporic experience and structures of power and authority. His work A reflection, a photograph (the light) and Untitled, a series of five prints, have been acquired.
Credit: Karanjit Panesar headshot ©Mat Dale“I think it’s important to build communities for ourselves as artists; it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. ”
Can you tell us a bit about your practice as a visual artist?
My work is often about finding points of contact between individual experience and structures of power and authority. I work in different media including moving image, sculpture and installation. I like to make whole exhibitions – environments in which multiple elements can speak to each other and create networks of ideas and images.
What can you tell us about your work that has now been acquired in the Government Art Collection? And what does being a part of this collection mean to you?
The work is from my show Furnace Fruit that was at Leeds Art Gallery in 2024-25. One is a photo-etching of a pomegranate tree in brass-plated mild steel, and the other is a series of photogravure prints that show bronze sculpture being made in British foundries. Furnace Fruit as a whole explored diasporic cultural identity and aspects of imperial history. It means a great deal to have the work acquired for the collection, and to see it become part of a bigger picture of art in the UK. It’s been a real motivator.
Credit: Karanjit Panesar, A reflection, a photograph (the light) 2024, ©Rob BattersbyWhy do you create?
I think this is a simple question with a complicated answer. Everyone creates in one way or another. For me, art-making is a way to make sense of the world around me, and to find my place in it. It’s also a way to challenge, celebrate and critique.
Do you consider yourself to be part of any artist networks/community, what are they and how do they impact your practice?
I’ve been part of several artist networks – in Leeds where I am currently (shout out Serf and Assembly House), in Bristol where I used to live and run a space called East Bristol Contemporary, and more fluid nation-wide networks of artists that I know or have worked with. I think it’s important to build communities for ourselves as artists; it doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
Credit: Karanjit Panesar - Furnace Fruit at Leeds Art Gallery (2024), ©Rob Battersby “For me, art-making is a way to make sense of the world around me, and to find my place in it. It’s also a way to challenge, celebrate and critique.”
What changes would you like to see in the wider arts sector?
More money, more space, and more risks being taken.
What are your future aspirations as a visual artist and have you got anything coming up you’d like to share?
My only real aspirations are to keep doing it and to make my work as good as it can be. This feels like plenty to be getting on with!