Sunil Krishna Garg (born February 19, 1952) is an

Indian-American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, who are also referred to as "Indians" or "Am ...

visual

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, who specializes in kinetic light sculpture. Born in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, he lives and works in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, where he has a studio at

Mana Contemporary Mana Contemporary is a cultural center in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States with affiliated centers in Chicago and Miami. History and Founder Opened in May 2011, the center was founded by moving company mogul Moishe Mana. Shai Baitel ...

Early life and education

Sunil Garg was born on February 19, 1952, in

Dankaur Dankaur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Gautam Buddha Nagar district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated on Yamuna Expressway, south of Greater Noida. History Before 1997, Dankaur and Jewar were parts of the Bulandshahr dis ...

, a town 33 miles (54 km) southeast of new Delhi, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh His first solo exhibition as a painter was at the Shridharani Gallery in Triveni Kala Sangam in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

in 1971. He studied chemistry at St. Stephen's College at the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

then continued graduate studies in the U.S. in 1972, earning his MA and Ph.D. in chemistry at Stevens Institute of Technology. An accomplished sitar player, he accompanied many well known avant-garde jazz musicians in the late 1970s in clubs, and recording sessions with

The 360 Degree Music Experience The 360 Degree Music Experience was an American band that performed both traditional and experimental jazz. Active during the 1970s and '80s, the group was initially co-led by drummer Beaver Harris and the pianist Dave Burrell. After Burrell lef ...

, led by Beaver Harris and

Dave Burrell Herman Davis "Dave" Burrell (born September 10, 1940) is an American jazz pianist. He has played with many jazz musicians including Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown and David Murray. Biography Born in Middletown, Ohio, United Sta ...

, including the acclaimed album In: Sanity to which

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

awarded five stars and

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Nastos, M. G
Allmusic Review
accessed February 18, 2025. and ''The Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide'' both awarded 4 stars.

Career

While working at Celanese Corporation, where he served in both scientific and executive roles, he earned a law degree and, in 1986, went on to practice environmental law as well as serving as the executive director of the

Union County, New Jersey Union County is a County (United States), county in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, seventh-most-populous county

Utilities Authority. During this time he continued making art, ultimately returning to it full time. His work and installations have been displayed at The

Queens Museum The Queens Museum (formerly the Queens Museum of Art) is an art museum and educational center at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. Established in 1972, the museum includes the '' Panorama of the City of New ...

, the

Morris Museum Actively running since 1913, the Morris Museum is the second-largest museum in New Jersey at . The museum is fully accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Museum history 1913–1957: early years The Morris Children's Museum was found ...

, the

Lehman College Lehman College is a public college in New York City, United States. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, it became an independent college in 1967. The college is named after Herbert H. Lehman, a former New York governor, United ...

Art Gallery, Sculpture Key West, the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college under the State University of New York, in New York City. It focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It was founded in ...

, the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin, and

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, w ...

, in Philadelphia. In 2025, he was the recipient an Individual Artist Fellowship based on artistic merit, by the

New Jersey State Council on the Arts The New Jersey State Council on the Arts was founded in 1966 to support artistic activities in the state of New Jersey. It is funded by the New Jersey State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the ...

, a partner agency of the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

. He is a resident of

Summit, New Jersey Summit is the northernmost City (New Jersey), city of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located within the New York metropolitan area. Situated on a ridge in north Jersey, northern–central Jersey, centra ...

Selected group exhibitions

* 2024 Myriad, A Celebration of BIPOC Artistry at

* 2024 Incandescence: The Chandelier in Contemporary Art:

Art Gallery * 2024 New Sculpture New Jersey:

: * 2024 Picturing Light: Artists Explore Luminosity:

(FIT) Art and Design Gallery * 2022 Art Fair 14C: What's next for Jersey City's biggest art gathering * 2018 Affordable Art Fair: Metropolitan Pavilion, NYC * 2017 GLEAM 2017: Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison, Wisconsin * 2016: Light, Form, Symbol: Williamsburg Art & Historical Center & Yuko Nii Foundation, Brooklyn, NY * 2015: Call for Chelsea 2015, (Re)envisioning art's aura in the age of turbocapitalism: Galleria Ca' d'Oro, Chelsea, NYC * 2015: The Rebirth of Wonder: Call for

Bushwick Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; the cemeteries of Highland Park to the southe ...

2015, Bushwick, NYC * 2015 Clio Art Fair * 2014 Sculpture Key West, Key West, Florida * 2014 Erasing Borders:

of Art. The Indo-American Arts Council’s 11th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora, curated by Vijay Kumar

Selected solo exhibitions and installations

* 2020 Boundless Light: Visual Arts Gallery, Jersey City * 2019: LANDWORKS 2019: Long Beach Island Foundation, NJ, a large-scale light installation on a 20-acre tidally influenced salt march on

Barnegat Bay Barnegat Bay is a small Brackish water, brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately long, along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey, Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. It is separated from the Atlantic by the long Island B ...

* 2018: GLOW in the Park,

, Philadelphia, PA

References

External links

*
Interview with Sunil Garg in Newarker Magazine

Artist Engineer Podcast interview with Sunil Garg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garg, Sunil 1952 births Living people 21st-century American male artists 21st-century American sculptors Artists from New Jersey Light artists 21st-century Indian male artists 21st-century Indian sculptors Stevens Institute of Technology alumni Rutgers School of Law–Newark alumni Painters from Uttar Pradesh Artists from Uttar Pradesh St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Artists from Delhi People from Summit, New Jersey Artists from New Delhi