Raqib Shaw

An in-depth exploration of Shaw's most recent work: the ambitious, twenty-one-panel painting Paradise Lost London-based artist Raqib Shaw (b. 1974) creates fantastical yet profoundly personal works that draw upon his Indian heritage and his deep knowledge of art history. This book explores the twenty-one-panel painting Paradise Lost, Shaw's most recent work and magnum opus. Premiering in an installation at the Art Institute of Chicago, the painting presents a dramatic narrative—from the loss of an idealized Kashmiri childhood to disillusionment, hedonism, destruction, rebirth, and, ultimately, peace. Stunning new photography with close details and installation views of the work offers a glimpse of Shaw's unique technique, involving industrial enamel paints that result in a luminous, cloisonné-like surface. Essays explore Shaw's sprawling autobiographical work through the lens of his multiple Kashmiri, Indian, and British identiti