Shashi Shah

Shashi Bikram Shah was born in 1940 A.D. in Bhotebahal, Kathmandu. He got scholarship from the Indian government and enrolled at J.J. School of Fine Arts in 1963 where he completed his diploma course in 1968 A.D. His first solo exhibition took place at Nepal Association of Fine Arts (NAFA) gallery in 1969 A.D. When one views his early works, it seems that his works were influenced from the surrealist movement. His elongated representations of human forms and their seemingly weightless placement on the canvas confirm that he was a thinking artist from his early career. He with his absolute devotion in art inspires many creative minds till date with his unparalleled art. He is one of the prominent members of SKIB which is landmark artists’ group that played a pivotal role in shaping the modern art in Nepal. He has numerous solo and group shows to his credit nationally and internationally.

Mid twentieth century was very crucial for Nepal as modernism had just arrived here. There were many innovative writers, musicians and artists with ingenious works. Writers were in pursuit to interpret thousands years of ancient culture through their works and musicians busy in romanticizing and philosophizing new ways of life approaches. Painters were also trying to bring all these religious and cultural motifs on their canvas with personal interpretations. When viewers stepped in the gallery, they were confronted with ancient motifs but the embellishments in their paintings were absolutely new to the local audiences. Shashi B Shah was one of the key figures to feature religious icons by combining them with modern concept and technique. His initial theme in painting was the ten incarnations of Vishnu, one of the significant gods in Hinduism. Later he zoomed into Kalki, the tenth and final incarnation. This concept was indeed a spellbinding style in the Nepali modern art sphere.