Shashi Bikram Shah (also: Shashi Shah, Nepali: शशी बिक्रम शाह) is a Nepali artist born in Kathmandu in 1940, and with a career spanning five decades, is regarded as one of the preeminent contemporary artists of Nepal and one of the country's first modernist painters. Shah’s lifelong fascination with art matured in the 1960s while studying at the Sir J.J. School of Art in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, where he got introduced to works of

impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

and surrealists. The influence of these artists are still evident in Shah’s paintings which continuously aim to capture the world’s suffering. His works have garnered numerous accolades, have been exhibited in over ten countries, and have been featured in many public and private collections. Shah's works are often based on myths from

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

puranas. He is renowned for his depiction of horses, which in his work is often a metaphor for the

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

avatar of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

, who in Hindu iconography is depicted riding a horse. Kalki is a salvation figure prophesied to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga for the deliverance of human beings from suffering and

adharma Adharma is the Sanskrit antonym of dharma. It means "that which is not in accord with the dharma". Connotations include betrayal, discord, disharmony, unnaturalness, wrongness, evil, immorality, unrighteousness, wickedness, and vice..In Indi ...

. In effect, Shah uses this metaphor to represent the duality of and the dialectics between suffering and salvation. Many of Shah's work draw from the

Dashavatar The Dashavatara ( sa, दशावतार, ) are the ten primary avatars of Vishnu, a principal Hindu god. Vishnu is said to descend in the form of an avatar to restore cosmic order. The word ''Dashavatara'' derives from , meaning "ten", an ...

, the ten primary incarnations of Vishnu. While rooting his paintings in traditional Hindu motifs, Shah also represents contemporary issues such as war, terrorism, and inequality. In addition to paintings, Shah is also known for his draftsmanship and sculptures. Shah was an active member of SKIB'71, the first modernist art collective in Nepal. In addition to Shashi Shah, the group consisted of Krishna Manandhar, Indra Pradhan, and Batsa Gopal Vaidya. He was also a founder member and principal of the Sirjana College of Fine Arts in Kathmandu.

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