Paradise Lost
All three of the Pace Galleries in Chelsea are presenting, for the first time, the work of British artist Raqib Shaw. His exhibit, Paradise Lost, opened November 8, 2013 and will be available to viewers until January 11, 2014.
Shaw was born in Calcutta, India in 1974 and moved to London at the age of 18. He cites his first visit to the National Gallery as the turning point in his life as that was when he decided to become an artist. He attended Central Saint Martins School of Art, where most of the students were more interested in creating conceptual art than painting. Nevertheless, Shaw was very passionate about the latter and continued to practice this skill. Today, his paintings are renowned for their richness in color and opulence.
The ten paintings in Paradise Lost, based on John Milton’s poem of the same name, are extravagant depictions of themes from Eastern mythology intertwined with Classical Western aesthetic ideals. The works show numerous beast-like figures causing chaos in idyllic environments. Through the use of lustrous oil paints and jewels, the paintings in this exhibit illustrate the power and pride of the exotic characters from ancient Indian stories as well as the delicate beauty of the European landscapes they have destroyed.
The central work of this exhibit is the twelve-panel painting Paradise Lost (2011) which took about ten years for Shaw to complete. While this piece is displayed at the gallery at 510 West 25th St, the other paintings and five drawings are shown at 534 West 25th St. Shaw had also created three bronze sculptures that are exhibited at 508 West 25th St. These sculptures also portray the clash between Eastern and Western cultures and are reminiscent of many sculptures that were made during the European Renaissance.
The galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM. Paradise Lost would undoubtedly be of interest to those with an eye for detail and drama, as Shaw aimed to tell the stories of and conflicts between the two cultures that he grew up with through elaborate, fantastical illustrations.
[Photo Credit: Pace Gallery]
