You really need to see this in person in our Phantoms of Asia exhibition to fully appreciate and get the full effect. Here is a detail from a large, textured, and intense work by Raqib Shaw; it’s as beautiful as it is horrific, depicting what I can only quickly sum up personally as an orgy of mutilation and pleasure. This painting is called Absence of God VII, made in 2008 with acrylic, glitter, enamel and rhinestones on board.

The London Telegraph calls Raqib Shaw “a vibrant artist destined for greatness.” Born in Calcutta, Shaw grew up in Kashmir, where he was influenced by the distinctive amalgamation of Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian cultures. Since 1998, Shaw has lived and worked in London, where his profound love for the visual and poetic cultures of East and West continues to influence his art. Taking themes from Milton’s Paradise Lost, Shaw summons a world of cultural contradictions, and draws from personal experience, self-knowledge, and dream psychology. Of his own process, he says it is “suggestive of shamanic practices where people dance wildly or use channeling to establish contact with the other side.” Dense in information and heavily populated with fantastical creatures, his work, with its intricate detail, rich color, and jewel-like surfaces, provides contrast to the intensely violent and sexual nature of its imagery.

Absence of God VII (detail), 2008, by Raqib Shaw (India). Acrylic, glitter, enamel and rhinestones on board. © Raqib Shaw. Courtesy of White Cube, London. Photo: Todd-White Art Photography.