The Pasadena Art Alliance opened the year with a curator-led visit to the Huntington Art Gallery to see Raqib Shaw: Ballads of East and West. 

Raqib Shaw is a London- based artist, known for his opulent and fantastical works, blending Eastern and Western influences to create mesmerizing paintings that merge fable, history and autobiography. His seven works on view bring the viewer into a lush fantasy world of landscapes and imagined interior spaces influenced by and responding to world-renowned Old Master artworks. Steeped in South Asian aesthetics, his intricately detailed paintings incorporate ornamental elements from Japanese prints and kimonos, Persian miniatures, and Indian textiles. He frequently incorporates self-portraiture, landscapes in peril, and historic painting references. His painting surface is luscious, glossy, and rendered in infinite colors and shades with a precise technique of enamel paint applied with porcupine quills to birch wood panels.

In 2014, Shaw had a breakthrough when he started mixing his own paint with a machine, resulting in enameled colors of glossy intensity. This paint was used to enhance the two stunning tapestries that he incorporated in his show that now hang in the entrance stairway. This nationally touring exhibition was a treat for all of us to see, especially since we were partial underwriters.

~ Mary Alexander