Raqib Shaw
Born in Calcutta in 1974, Raqib Shaw now lives and works in London. A graduate of London’s Central Saint Martins College, he has developed a fantastic universe that straddles the monstrous and the erotic. His paintings lie somewhere between the categories of fine art and applied art. Shaw’s landscapes, bustling with chimeras, are line-drawn with an evident mastery of classical draftsmanship. The colours are arranged as though a silversmith’s compartmentalizing techniques has been used. Shaw fastidiously chooses radiant tones, enlivening his images with coloured enamel and metallic paint. His dreamlike landscapes draw from decorative and floral motifs, as well as the bestiary. He is inspired by crafts like silversmithing, tapestry work, and jewellery making. Each image seems to be an illustration of a marvellous and cruel tale written by the artist, based upon his aesthetic encounters. His work evokes the seething and malevolent universe of Jerôme Bosch, as well as British traditions, circumvolutions of medieval heraldry, and the detail and refinement of Persian miniatures.
Solo exhibitions
2012
Of Beasts and Super Beasts, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris
2011
Paradise Lost, White Cube, London
2009
Absence of God, White Cube, London
Absence of God, Karlsplatz Project Space, Kunsthalle Wien, Wien
2008
Raqib Shaw At The Met, The Metropollitan Museum, New York
2006
Art Now: Raqib Shaw, Tate Britain, London
Raqib Shaw: Garden Of Earthly Delights, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami
2005
Raqib Shaw: Garden of Earthly Delights, Deitch Projects, New York
2004
Raqib Shaw: Garden of Earthly Delights, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Group exhibitions
2010
Kupferstichkabinett: Between Thought and Action, White Cube, London
The Beauty of Distance: 17th Biennale of Sydney", Sydney
Resonance, Suntory Museum, Osaka, Japan
2009
Nightmare full of unspeakable things, Concept V, New York
Taswir: Pictorial Mappings of Islam and Modernity, Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin
Flower Power, Villa Giulis - CRAA Centro Ricerca Arte Attuale, Verbania, Italy
Die Macht DesOrnaments (The Power Of Ornament), Belvedere, Vienna
2007
Panic room - Works from The Dakis Joannou Collection, Deste Foundation, Centre for Contemporary Art, Athens
2006
Around the World in Eighty Days, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
The Sixth Gwangju Biennale: Fever Variation, Gwangju, South Korea Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Passion for Paint, National Gallery, London
Passion for Paint, Bristol City and Art Gallery, Avon
Passion for Paint, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
Dan Attoe, Elliot Hundley, Raqib Shaw: There's No Fooling You (The Classics), Peres Projects, Los Angeles
2005
Expanded Painting, Prague Biennale, Prague
2004
Plantmania! Art and the World of Plants, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens
2003
Nation and Nature; Vaster than Empires, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Nation and Nature; Vaster than Empires, Worcester City Art Gallery
Nation and Nature; Vaster than Empires, The Yard Gallery, Nottingham
Nation and Nature; Vaster than Empires, Lethaby Gallery, London
2002
Direction 2002, The London Institute Gallery, London
Chancellor's Forum, London College of Fashion, London
2001
Future Map 2001, Lethaby Gallery, London
Bibliography
ARTICLES
2010
Martin Herbert, Kupferstichkabinett: Between Thought and Action, Time Out, 5 August
Ted Loos, Eastern Promise, The Wall Street Journal, 21 October
2009
Unknown, Raqib Shaw: Absence of God at Kunsthalle Wien, Artdaily.org, 19 November
Unknown, Raqib shaw: Absence of God opens at Kunsthallw Wien, 19 November
Zehra Jumabhoy, Raqib shaw: Absence of God, ArtAsiaPacificm September and October
Unknown, Critics choice galleries, Time Out, 2-8 July
Fisun Guner, London Lowdown: Art Review" Raqub Shaw - Absence of God, Metrolife, 26 May
Unknown, Critics: Choice Galleries, Time Out, 21-27 May
Ben Lewis, An Orgy of Animal Spirits, The Evening Standard, 21 May
Norman Rosenthal, The World's most magical artist, The Telegraph review, 16 May
Unknown. Critics' choice, Time Out, 14-20 May
Unknown. In the Studio: Raqib Shaw, Time Out, 14-20 May
Karen Rosenberg. Starting from Holbein, Then Taking Flight, The New York Times, 2 January
2008
Pernilla Holmes, Is Art Having an Indian Summer?, The Financial Times, 2 August
Various Contributors. "Power 2008", Art & Auction, December
Amit Roy, Calcutta-born 'upstart' set for Sotheby's rebirth, The Telegraph - India, 28 April
2007
Amrita Jhaveri, Where I Work - Raqib Shaw, Art Asia Pacific, Issue 56, November/December
Uma Nair, Heavenly work, Earthly delights, The Ecnomic Times, 27 October
Raqib Shaw, Quintessentially Art, Autumn
Amanda Couslon, Art & Market, Tema Celeste, January-February
2006
Nick Hackworth, Violence and Beauty Collide, Evening Standard, 1 December
Martin Herbert, Against Nature, Modern Painters, September
David Galloway, Fantastic, Aquatic, Orgiastic, ARTnews, September
Paul Laster, In the Garden of Eden, Art Asia Pacific, Issue no. 47, Winter
P.C. Smith, Looking for Islam, artnet.com, 15 March
Glenn D. Lowry, Gained in Translation, ARTnews, Volume 105, Number 3, March 2
Holland Cotter, What Does Islam Look Like?, New York Times, February 26
2005
Bridget L. Goodbody, Raqib Shaw, Time Out New York, September 22-28
Holland Cotter, Raqib Shaw, The New York Times, Friday 30th September
2004
Richard Dyer, Raqib Shaw in conversation, Wasafiri, Issue no.42, Summer
Dean Rhys Morgan, Freize Frame Interviews, AXM Magazine, October
Eliza Williams, Raqib Shaw, Tema Celeste, June
Rox Exley, Raqib Shaw, Flash Art, No. 236, May - June
Colin Gleadell, Contemporary Market, Daily Telegraph, 29 March
Laura Cumming, Lost in the Small Print, The Observer Review, 14 March
Rebecca Geland, Review: Raqib Shaw - Victoria Miro Gallery, Time Out, 3 March
Jessica Lack, Garden Of Earthly Delights, The Guardian, 1 March
Raqib Shaw, AXM Magazine, March issue
Sebastian Preuss, AD Magazine, issue 47, 3 March
Riki Simons, Elsevier, issue 9, 28 Feb
Massimo Torrigiani, We Are Animals, Boiler Magazine, Issue.4
Fisun Guner, Dazzled By the Sight, Metro London, 20 Feb
Morgan Falconer, Pleasure Gardens, What's On, 18 Feb
Richard Dyer, London News, Contemporary Magazine, Issue 60
Alex Poulson, Raqib Shaw, Dazed + Confused
CATALOGUES
2010
17th Biennale Of Sydney. The Beauty Of Distance: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age, Biennale of Sydney, Austrailia, Sydney
Susan May, Kupferstichkabinett: Between Thought and Action, White Cube, London
2009
Homi K. Bhabha, Absence of God, White Cube, London
Flower Power, Villa Giulis - CRAA Centro Ricerca Arte Attuale, Verbania, Italy
2006
Around the World in Eighty Days, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Panic Room: Works from The Dakis Joannou collection, Centre for Contemporary Art, Deste Foundation, Athens
The Sixth Gwangju Biennale: Fever Variations, Gwangju Biennale Foundation, South Korea
Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
2005
David Rimanelli, Raqib Shaw - Garden of Earthly Delights, Deitch Projects, New York
Giancarlo Politi, Editor, Expanded Painting, Prague Biennale 2, Prague
2003
Nature and Nation: Vaster then Empires, Hasting Museum and Art Gallery, UK
2000
Uta Grosenick, ART NOW, Taschen
Public and private collections
Tate Britain, London
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York