Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac is presenting a series of new bronze sculptures and paintings by Indian-born, London-based artist Raqib Shaw at its Paris Marais gallery from June 6-July 5, 2015. It is Shaw’s second solo exhibition in the Paris Marais gallery.Shaw is best known for creating opulent paintings of fantastical dreamscapes whose glittering surfaces of stained glass paint and enamel hide a world simmering with erotic tension and violence populated by strange hybrid creatures and decorated with beautiful floral motifs.True to his signature style, Shaw’s new sculptures are deceptive in their beauty. At first glance they resemble late-Mannerist bronzes from the Renaissance, but on closer inspection the perfectly honed male figures have heads of beasts, loins of sculls, and wear contemporary leather gear.“Like the Mannerist sculptors, Shaw has made his figures, lithe, sinuous, and slightly elongated or stretched, especially the necks and limbs... [he] has also aimed to delight and surprise the spectator by incorporating inventive and playful motifs,” writes art historian Caroyln Miner in “The Maniera of Raqib Shaw.”“The bizarre combinations of heads of beasts and genital of toothy jaws are much like the grotesque beasts in Mannerist bronzes,” Miner adds.The exhibition also include four new paintings, including three self-portraits showing the artist either in his study or studio. Based on works belonging to London’s National Gallery, the paintings feature objects of great personal significance to the artist, depicted within complex and fantastical scenes that reflect the eclectic mix of Western and Eastern influences from which Shaw continues to draw inspiration.“Raqib Shaw” at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac exemplifies the ingenuity and singularity of Shaw’s visionary practice and showcases his complex engagement with the dichotomy of the foreground and background, both conceptual and physical, which he uses to create what he describes as satires on human society and the human condition.
↧