“I always felt that in a strange way I am the reversal of Kipling, the “Colonizee” and the Colonized exchanging places and perspectives”
-Raqib Shaw, on his Ballads of East and West (2023)
This is a response to a poem written by Rudyard Kipling. The exhibit was named the same as the poem, and it is a crash of past and new. Raqib Shaw may not be from history, but he does quite the job taking history and making it his own. I saw this exhibit while visiting Nashville, and it was striking. The use of painted enamel made every piece glitter in the most breathtaking way. Pictures of course do not do it justice, but maybe if you put the glitter filter over them you may get CLOSE to how beautiful they are. For a short background on Shaw, he lived in India, but had moved to New Delhi in 1992. A lot of controversy and violence was happening in that area, and it is reflected in his works. in ’93 he goes to London only to fall in love with the Old Masters. He becomes greatly influenced by historic art, and integrates it into his own.
The Retrospective 2002-2022 Raqib Shaw
Acrylic Liner, enamel, rhinestones on aluminum
Of course I bought the exhibitions book! Excuse the scanner marks, this piece took up more than one page. The Retrospective is a rework of Giovanni Panini’s Picture Gallery with Views of Modern Rome (1775). In it he puts miniatures of his own paintings in the gallery-like atmosphere. However, many of the paintings included are also reworks of history’s most famous pieces. There is a map that numbers every piece, and it includes The Garden of Earthly Delights (rework of Hieronymus Bosch, 1503-1515) in multiple places, then The Four Seasons “Winter” is actually his version of Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons (rework of Martin Schongauer’s engraving, 1470-1474) . He included The Annunciation (rework of The Annunciation by Carlo Crivelli, 1486), An Allegory of Melancholy (rework of Lucan Cranach, 1528), and also another print, A Self Portrait in the Study at Peckham is his rework of Saint Jerome in His Study (Vincenzo Catena, 1510).
This is a closer look at The Annunciation – After Carlo Crivelli and next to it Carlo Crivelli’s Annunciation altarpiece as well. Shaw in a lot of his works replaced people with animals, sometimes even animals that don’t actually exist. Another call back to Bosch? Maybe. He integrates his own style and past into these iconic pieces making them much more chaotic but still recognizable. Shaw grew up around many religions and is inspired by more than just the Renaissance.
This is a closer look to Shaw’s rendition of Saint Jerome in His Study (Vincenzo Catena, 1510). There is more evidence here of his imagination, and evidence of something more sinister at play. Among the clutter and rich items are skeletons coming out of a cabinet and rats eating off the plate on the ground. Worms are escaping the pomegranates, and Shaw is holding onto his little dog, his actual dog, for comfort. This piece may be visually stunning, but the content is subtly depressing. This self portrait captures the melancholy he feels from his exile, and the fragility of life and loss.
It isn’t unusual for Shaw to substitute himself for a holy figure, while also having his dog substitute for another notable holy figure. He is holding on to his culture and childhood home, while being seduced to join the Euro-American art world. He is not in need of riches and uses this piece to show his difference to the people that are around him. Shaw uses his artwork to portray issues in society, not just his own.
I’ll wrap it up with this one as it’s my favorite. This is The Four Seasons “Winter”, but only a snippet of the top where the comparison lies. On the right is Martin Schongauer’s Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons engraving from 1470-1474. The landscape of this piece is also a reference to a 19th century landscape by German artist Casper David Friedrich. With Shaw’s past comparisons and context changes, one could assume that he means he is tormented by more than just his own demons. Could it be society’s? Could it be his own lurking back from his violent childhood? It may even be the art world, an unapologetic place to be. It could even be all of it. Unfortunately I could not get any clarification as to what he is referencing here, but the resemblance to Schongauer’s engraving was amazing. This time, this is a picture I took because of how amazing it was to see another when just a few months prior I saw Schongauer’s up close. It was not a coincidence I landed in Nashville at the same time as this exhibit.
Pictures of these art pieces will never be able to provide the brilliance of them up close and in person. I’m not much of a contemporary or modern art fan, but this was a whole new level. This exhibition, “Ballads of East and West” by Raqib Shaw is still traveling around, so if you somehow find yourself in the area of the dates listed in the link, I highly, HIGHLY recommend attending. I don’t think I can rave enough about his artwork, it’s ethereal and stunning and dark at the same time. I got lucky.