He is a very down to earth man.
He appears to be humble as well. But really, can a man who yearns to be his own
lord and master ever do justice to the true meaning of the word, ‘humility’? Really,
can a man who aspires to live life on his own terms ever be as amiable as
society expects him to be? The issue becomes further complicated when the man
you are talking about is an artist. Still more complex when the artist in
question is sixty six years old, has traveled the globe, received as many
awards as his years, and confides, “Some years ago a doctor told me that if I
ever started drinking again, he would be the first to send me a white cane.”
The doctor was referring to the artist’s long standing problem of glaucoma,
probably a by-product of his diabetes. The white goatee beard seems to mock and
the eyes twinkle mischievously as the artist, Shashi Bikram Shah, adds, “I love
drinking and I love my pipe. I like to paint with a drink beside me. Well, I’m
fine till now. Just have to use that eye drop regularly.”
Humble? Yes of course he is by
his own standards. Maybe that is why he is so well regarded by all and sundry.
It’s just that Shashi Shah is actually such a buccaneer and cares so little
about his own health that if pondered upon, the issue has to be of deep concern
to his many admirers. After all, the good health of a Rastriya Pratibha Puraskar
recipient cannot be anything but a
matter of national concern. Still, besides the glaucoma problem, the artist
seems to be in fine fettle and in good spirits. He is also now venturing into
unknown waters as far as his artistry is concerned. “Yes, after 15-20 years of
painting horses, I am now painting other subjects,” he reveals. Well, this
should come as a pleasant surprise to many because Shashi Shah’s name has
always been synonymous with horses. And not just ordinary horses, mind you. His
horses have always been of the untamed variety. Muscular, large sized and unbridled.
Perhaps the artist has tried to portray his deepest wishes and his innermost
nature through the depiction of such magnificent beasts. This could be his way
of releasing his own freedom-loving spirit because no matter what, he knows
that no one is allowed such uninhibited freedom. At least not if one is to live
in society.
And live in society he must. Born
to late Chuda Bikram and Iswori Shah in 1940, one of seven brothers and four
sisters, Shashi Shah himself has a small family. He lives with his youthful
looking wife, Kiran, in Kumaripatti, Lalitpur, while his two daughters, Kriti
and Saguna, are married with families of their own. Kriti too is an artist who
was recently awarded the 2nd prize in contemporary painting during
the National Art and Crafts Competition this year. The buccaneer artist is
anything but unhappy with the life he has lived and declares, “Even in a
country like Nepal
with its innumerous difficulties I have managed to achieve a lot as an artist.”
Name and fame have been well earned and as far as personal life is concerned,
he appears to be happy with his lot.
Much of the artist’s life has
been devoted to the depiction of horses and his horses have been much admired
by many. He reveals an interesting tit-bit, “Recently, a businessman named
Manoj Manandhar of Dillibazar offered to buy all of my paintings. All of them! It seems he has been collecting
my works for many years.” Well seeing that Shashi Shah is now venturing unto
other subjects which will undoubtedly mean less production of paintings of his
favourite subject, perhaps one must acknowledge that the businessman is indeed
business savvy. Another person who the artist confides has a good collection is,
Kedar Bhakta Mathema. “He is a good friend as well. We studied together.”
Besides this fact, Shashi Shah admits, “When Mathema was in Japan as an
Ambassador, he took pains to organize an exhibition of Nepalese artists there
in which Krishna Manadhar, Bachhu Gopal Vaidya and myself participated. I wish
more of our foreign emissaries would follow his example. After all, Nepal
can claim to be rich in art and culture if nothing else.”
Obviously, the artist has been
bestowed with many honours but the one which he holds in the specialt esteem is
the Indra Rajya Laxmi Academy Award presented by the Royal Nepal academy in
1979. Of this, he says, “This was the time that the Academy also awarded the
late Bal Krishna Sama the Rastriya Pratibha Puraskar. So I think it was a
historic occasion.” Schools too have bestowed Shashi Shah with tokens of love
like the attractive ‘dorje’ and bell set presented by Brihaspati School and a
plaque paying special tribute by Little Angel’s School along with a beautiful
statue on the occasion of its silver jubilee in which 25 prominent citizens
were felicitated.
Shashi Shah received his Diploma
in Arts from JJ School of Arts, Mumbai in 1967 and in 1968, did a special
course on murals from the same college. In the same year he underwent a short
term training on Rajasthani murals from Banasthali Bidyapith in Rajasthan and
in 1970, completed a special course on Graphics from Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi . From 1968 to
1994 he was a lecturer at the Fine Arts Campus in Kathmandu ,
and its campus chief from 1979 to 1989. He
is currently the Principal of Sirjana
Contemporary Art Gallery in Kamaladi, but he confesses, “ The overheads are
high, specially the rent. And although we do get about thirty students at a
time, we have to charge more because of our high expenses.” Obviously, the
board must be having thoughts about moving to a more economical area.
In 1971, Shashi Shah, along with
Krishna Manandhar, Indra Pradhan and Bachhu Gopal Vaidya, had formed one of the
first artists’ group in the country. It was called SKIB after their initials. Shashi
Shah says, “Nowadays, artists have a much better deal as regards exhibitions,
galleries and media coverage and I must admit that many of the young artists
today are far ahead of what we used to be at their age.” That is not to say
that Shashi Shah has been lacking in this regard. On the contrary. His works
have been exhibited in India ,
USSR , Japan , Bangladesh ,
South Korea and Australia
besides of course, his own country.
Concerning artists as a whole,
Shashi Shah is of the opinion that an artist can consider himself to have
achieved some success if the viewer can identify him/her with their paintings. “Everybody
has a different style and a painting must immediately be recognized as a
particular artist’s. This is success in itself.” He likes to paint at night and
says that some nights he has not slept a wink but still has not felt the lack
of it. Recently, he has been painting large canvases portraying the strife in
the country. One such work, ‘Thinking Buddha’ shows a monk like fellow in
monkish robes in the classical thinking pose as made famous by Rodin’s
‘Thinker’. One of his eyes is half open and the brow is furrowed as he
contemplates the smaller figures around him in various poses of death and
destruction.
Another work done during the time
when twelve Nepalese were cruelly beheaded in Baghdad , shows similar figures in orange and
red. He is now working on another version of the ‘Thinking Buddha’ and even in
the half completed work one can see that the artist is deeply concerned with
the present state of affairs. But of course, since he lives within his own
world and by his own rules, Shashi Shah is not the type to be fazed by much.
Very much his own man, the artist continues to paint through long nights with a
drink beside him and with his mahogany pipe billowing small puffs at regular
intervals. However, this time around he does not seem to be painting his
horses, horses about which he says, “Horse and horses dominate my paintings…The
white horse is the symbol of Vishnu… others are also symbolic – some are evil,
horrifying, manic and devastating… Some are good, some are evil…May they all
seduce the viewer’s imagination.” Seemingly, the white horse is the final
avatar of Vishnu and known as the Kalki avatar which appears as the saviour
during the Kali Yug, the age of chaos and destruction.
He has almost got a large
collection of his newer works ready and is looking forward to exhibiting them
within the next few months at the Siddartha
Art Gallery
No comments:
Post a Comment