This publication accompanies Raqib Shaw’s exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery (15 February – 26 May 2013) and Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague (6 June – 15 September 2013).
Raqib Shaw is an Indian-born, London based artist whose gloriously opulent paintings and sculptures evoke Old Masters such as Holbein and Bosch, the lavish world of Persian miniatures and Kashmiri and Japanese textiles.
Beneath their exquisite jewel-like surface, is a collection of dark and violent images inspired by ancient myths and religious tales from both East and Western traditions.
Shaw’s elaborately detailed works portray a dizzying and fantastical world inhabited by hybrid and anthropomorphic creatures such as ferociously wild monkey warriors, set against a backdrop of vibrantly painted flora and fauna.
Shaw employs a unique technique of manipulating pools of enamel and metallic industrial paints with a porcupine quill, adding precious stones to the surface and outlining motifs in embossed gold. |