Raqib Shaw is a Kashmiri-born, London-based artist whose paintings are immersive, opulent, and unsettling. Fusing the splendour of Persian miniatures, Japanese lacquerware, and European baroque with his own rich imagination, Shaw’s works evoke a world of mythic grandeur and dark desire.
Artistic Philosophy
Shaw doesn’t use art to escape reality—he uses it to transform it. His visual worlds are lush and layered, often loaded with metaphors about exile, desire, violence, and control. He places beauty and brutality in the same frame, asking the viewer to look—and look again.
Signature Work
From his Garden of Earthly Delights series to his self-portraits as fantastical beings, Shaw’s works are theatrical, hyper-detailed, and finished with enamel, gold, and rhinestones. His creations are both personal mythologies and global visual tapestries.
Process
Shaw works obsessively, painting with a porcupine quill and metal nib. Each detail is hand-painted and intricately layered. His studio practice is part alchemy, part ritual—turning trauma and opulence into timeless tableau.
Why His Work Matters
In a world overwhelmed by speed and surface, Shaw’s art demands attention. His paintings remind us that fantasy isn’t just escape—it’s confrontation. And that ornamentation can carry history, identity, and protest.