Shashi Shah
Shashi Shah clings to traditional beliefs and influences which he views as an important basis of his work. He takes up age-old images and colour schemes and transfers them during his exploration of modern canvas. Shah’s paintings explore the Hindu myths in surrealist form. Horse is the recurrent image in his work which symbolizes the Kalki, the tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. According to a Hindu mythology, in Kali yuga, the present age, when the world will be dominated by evil forces, Lord Vishnu will take Kalki Avatara and save the world from its possible doom.
Shashi Shah clings to traditional beliefs and influences which he views as an important basis of his work. He takes up age-old images and colour schemes and transfers them during his exploration of modern canvas. Shah’s paintings explore the Hindu myths in surrealist form. Horse is the recurrent image in his work which symbolizes the Kalki, the tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. According to a Hindu mythology, in Kali yuga, the present age, when the world will be dominated by evil forces, Lord Vishnu will take Kalki Avatara and save the world from its possible doom.
Shah’s vision is power, the immense energy of the horse. All of his canvases are of galloping, frenetic bright horses. He is able to convey so much energy and to sustain it without being dull is impressive. The imagery is highly symbolic. Hindu belief regards our era as the age of cheaters and liars. When the time is ripe, Vishnu, the Supreme Self and Creator, will deliver the world from evil and bring about a new golden age. He will arrive riding on or personified by white horses of energy.
The energetic movement of the horses suggests their gallop across time, on their mission to save the world. The colour of the horse is also symbolic. The white horse as Kalki attacks black horse, the evil force, symbolizing the battle between good and evil. His paintings reveal a time of spirituality in chaos, a world turned upside down as symbolized by the scattered images of horse.
Kalki Avatar, the protagonist of his paintings, a symbol, is the ‘expression of a desire for peace and a vision for the continuity of the future. In order to protect the world from its possible doom, a situation is always created in one form or another.’ In response to the fragmentation, tragedy, brutality and terrorism of the contemporary world, Shashi Shah turns toward Hindu mythology for consolation. The images of horse are not the objective representation of the real horse.
The artist plays between illusion and reality. The horses are both real and unreal. Although they look real at casual glance, in close scrutiny they are outside the realm of possibility. Shashi’s horses are both undeniable and impossible. The illusion of movement expressed in the vitality of lines and shapes of the horses and their floating manes and tails give the painting an undeniable vibrancy.
Date of Birth : 1940 Kathmandu, Nepal
Son of the late Sri Chuda Bikram Shah and Smt. Iswori Shah
Art Education :
1967 Govt. Diploma in Arts, Sir J.J. School of Arts, Bombay, India
1968 Special course on murals Sir J.J. School of Arts, Bombay, India
1968 Short-term training on Rajasthami Murals, Banasthali Bidyapith, Rajasthan, India
1970 Special course on Graphics, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, India
Exhibitions :
1968 : Solo Exhibition, NAFA Gallery, Kathmandu
1970 : EXPO – Japan
1970-82 : National Art Exhibition, NAFA Gallery, Kathmandu
1971 : Solo Exhibition, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, India
1971 : Three Men Show, NAFA Gallery, Kathmandu
1971 : Trinnale Exhibition, New Delhi, India
1971-78 : SKIB ’71 Exhibitions (Darjeeling, Pokhara and Kathmandu)
1975 : Trinnale Exhibition, New Delhi, India
1980 : Asian Art Show, Fukuoka, Japan
1981 : Trinnale Exhibition, New Deihi, India
1981 : Biennale Exhibition, Dhaka, Bangladesh
1983 : National Art Exhibition, Artist’s Society of Nepal, Kathmandu
1985 : Asian Art Show, Fukuoka, Japan
1985 : Asian Art Show, Organized on the occasion of Asian Games, Seoul, South Korea
1985 : Nepali Painting Exhibition, Manuka Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1981: Biennale, Dhaka, Bangladesh
1983 : Biennale, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2001 : Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
Special Participations :
1971 : Visited India to represent Nepal at the 2nd Trinnale Exhibition, the Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi
1975 : Visited USSR to attend the Nepali Paintings Exhibition, The Oriental Art Museum, Moscow
1981 : Visited India representing Nepal to take part in Trinnale Exhibition, the Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi
1985 : Visited Japan representing Nepal to take part in the Asian Art Show and the seminar, the Fukuoka Museum of Art, Fukuoka
1992 : Visited India to participate in the 1st SAARC Cultural Festival
Awards :
1970 : 1st Prize, National Art Exhibition, NAFA, Kathmandu
1979 : Indra Rajya Laxmi Academy Award, Royal Nepal Academy, Kathmandu
Collections :
Birendra Art Gallery, NAFA, Kathmandu
Royal Nepal Academy, Kathmandu
CNAS, TU, Kathmandu
Office of the representative of Nepal to the United Nations, New York
Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka
John Lennon Center, New York
Represented in many other public and private collections in Nepal and abroad
Associated with Fine Arts Campus, Kathmandu as a lecturer from 1968 to 1994
Campus Chief, Fine Arts Campus – 1979 to 1989
Principal : Sirjana College of Fine Arts, Kathmandu
Members :
1968-74 : Member, Executive Committee, NAFA
1970 : Founder Advisor, Young Artist Group
1971 : Founder Member, SKIB’ 71
1975-82 : Member, Board of Advisors, NAFA, Royal Nepal Academy
1980-82 : Member, Faculty Board, Institute of Humanities and Social Science, TU
1984-89 : Vice-President, Artist’s Society of Nepal
1987 : Member, Sirjana Contemporary Art Gallery
1988 : Chairman, Subject Committee of Paintings and Sculpture, TU
