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Houston Fine Arts Museum to host Raqib Shaw's art exhibit
Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, in 1974, Raqib Shaw spent most of his childhood in Kashmir. Shaw's paintings blur the lines between art and ornamentation
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is preparing to host the exhibition / raqibshawstudio.com
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is preparing to host the exhibition "Raqib Shaw: Ballads of East and West" from Jun. 9 to Sep. 2, 2024. Organized by the Frist Art Museum, Nashville, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, the showcase will feature the intricate paintings of Raqib Shaw, a London-based artist known for his fusion of Eastern and Western influences in his work.
"Raqib Shaw's universe is revealed through the memory of childhood experience in the extraordinarily beautiful Valley of Kashmir, the tragic history of modern Kashmir, and his knowledge and appreciation of the history of art both Western and the Eastern," commented Gary Tinterow, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The exhibition’s cornerstone work, Retrospective 2002–2022, includes 60 miniaturized versions of Shaw’s own paintings and sculptures in a reworking of the famous suite of three paintings from the 1750s by Giovanni Paolo Panini, each titled Picture Gallery with Views of Modern Rome.
Dr. Zehra Jumabhoy, exhibition curator and lecturer on the history of art at the University of Bristol, elaborates, "Raqib Shaw is inspired by the next lines of Kipling’s ballad, which propose the opposite: when like-minded souls meet 'there is neither East nor West' even if 'they come from the ends of the earth!' Shaw creates a resounding affirmation that this 'meeting' can be fused in art with remarkable results."
Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, in 1974, Raqib Shaw spent most of his childhood in Kashmir. Shaw's paintings blur the lines between art and ornamentation, incorporating elements from various cultures such as Japanese aesthetics, Mughal artifacts, Islamic textiles, and Indo-Persian architecture. He employs unique techniques, including painting with porcupine quills and fine needles, and embellishes his works with jewels, glitter, and semiprecious stones, adding to the opulence and allure of his pieces.
According to the organisers, the viewers will encounter Shaw as the protagonist, depicted in various settings that blend elements of luxury with hints of darkness and conflict, mirroring the turbulent history of Kashmir.
"Raqib Shaw's paintings are at once seductive and disturbing. The artist deftly weaves together not only East and West, but beauty and conflict, hope and longing, in his lush and enticing landscapes and interiors," remarked Alison de Lima Greene, Isabel Brown Wilson curator of modern and contemporary art at the MFAH.
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