Biography

Home

Art Index

Autoboigraphical

Socioeconomic

Performance

Conflict war and Propoganda

Interactive

Photographical

Conflict and Religion

Research and development

Plasticity

Human Psychology

indexing

Audio

Downloads

Support Artist

Text

Hanz Koontz Art and the Social Systems

Note

Censorship

Ranjit Singh (b. 1967, Birmingham) is an artist whose practice explores the social, political, and cultural structures that shape lived experience. Educated at Birmingham City University (Bournville School of Art), Singh works at the intersection of socially engaged practice, institutional critique, and public-facing art. His work examines how systems such as education, governance, and cultural production influence behaviour, identity, and access, with particular attention to structural inequality and exclusion.

Drawing on lived experience within state institutions and post-industrial urban environments, Singh’s practice critically reflects on how social systems operate and how cultural narratives are formed and sustained. Central to his methodology is the use of pseudonyms, which function as a strategy for maintaining economic, racial, and formal autonomy, while challenging fixed notions of authorship, representation, and value within the contemporary art ecosystem.

Since 1998, Singh has prioritised inclusive, site-responsive approaches that extend artistic practice beyond traditional gallery settings. He has developed and delivered projects within council estates, tower blocks, and community spaces, embedding artistic activity directly within everyday environments. This approach supports meaningful engagement, encourages dialogue, and reduces barriers to participation for communities that are often underrepresented in publicly funded cultural provision.

Singh’s practice aligns with place-based working, recognising the importance of local context, collaboration, and sustained presence. His projects are informed by community experience and aim to create accessible cultural opportunities that reflect the realities of the environments in which they are situated.

More recently, Singh has expanded his practice through digital technologies, developing flexible and distributable formats that enable broader reach and long-term access. By combining online dissemination with physical outputs such as prints and installations, the work operates across multiple platforms and audiences. Across all formats, Singh’s practice is committed to widening access, supporting engagement, and contributing to a more equitable and inclusive cultural landscape.

Exhibitions

Testing theories and stereotypes Barcelona

Exploration of racial stereotypes

Performance

Testing theories and stereotypes New York

Exploration of socioeconomic stereotypes

Testing theories and stereotypes Paris

Exploration of socioeconomic/racial stereotypes

1996

1998

1997

Invited artists

Stealing by Finding by Frank MacAleese 1/3/99 - 8/3/99

Article 69 (1) by Frank MacAleese 8/3/99 - 15/3/99

Article 69 (2) by Frank MacAleese 24/1/00-29/1/00

Article 69 (3) by Frank MacAleese 31/1/00-11/2/00

Untitled Painting by Barbara Walker 11/7/00-15/7/00

Ingoldsby Estate Community arts Project Birmingham ( Solo exhibitions )

Cleansing to a Brilliant White

Desmond Tate

Surplus Workers. (From Conflict and Consciousness)

Working Class Crime / Corporate Crime.

Untitled (beans) (From Conflict and Consciousness)

Desmond Tate (Painting)

Maintaining Underdevelopment

Designed in Germany Made in China

Working Class Crime/Corporate Crime. Northfield Library Birmingham

1999

641 Youth House Birmingham ( Solo exhibitions )

Working Class Crime / Corporate Crime.

Designed in Germany Made in China

Untitled (beans) (From Conflict and Consciousness)

Charles Archie (video)

1999

(Big Peg) Birmingham Solo

Untitled (Big Peg) Birmingham 1996

Central Collective

(Group exhibition and lecture program) Roundhouse Gallery

Birmingham

Ranjid Sohota Desmond Tate Charles Archie

1999

641 Youth House Birmingham ( Solo exhibitions )

Cleansing to a Brilliant white

Maintaining Underdevelopment

2000

Masefield Square Community Centre Birmingham

Designed in Germany Made in China

Working Class Crime / Corporate Crime.

1999

Pulverised by Propaganda Series No 004

Let Me Liberate You Series No 001

2012

Hanz Koontz / R Sahota – Drawing / Architectonics

Architectonics Interactive

Re-distribution of knowledge concept

Reconditioned concept

Architectonics

Missing in Action (Birmingham)

2009

2011

2008

2004

2003

Online accessible art [ongoing]

American Intelligence fail 01

2013

Angry Jesus

2013

Out Of Sync. ( Through the eyes of R. Sohota ) Performance

Public house (The Old Angel) Nottingham

Night club (Last Weekend) Nottingham

Surplus Workers. Northfield Job Centre Birmingham UK

1999

Designed in Germany Made in China

(S) Bahn (U) Bahn Berlin

Out Of Sync. sculpture/performance Public house Pustublume

Martin Luther Str/Meininger Str) Berlin

Beyond the Point of Restriction (Tegel airport) Berlin 24/3/99

1999

BitTorrent art distribution

Damien Hirst visual critique BY HANZ KOONTZ exe Torrent

Birmingham Queer Open, title: Pulverized by Propaganda

Hanz Koontz: Birmingham

Big Peg: Vyse Street, Jewellery Quarter

Curzon Street Station: Eastside, Digberth

Wynner House: Bromsgrove Street

2009

Contemporary Art Gallery Vancouver

Ikon Gallery Birmingham

Spike Island Bristol

The New Art Gallery Walsall

Modern Art Oxford

Nottingham Contemporary

blocked

2014 Ongoing

Social Manipulation 2016 - 17

A Case for Nonsense 2016