About the Artist and his work :
Born : Partha Shaw was born in Kolkata in 1971.
Education :
1992 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Kala-Bhavan, Viswa Bharati, Santiniketan.
1994 Master of Fine Arts, Rabindra-Bharati University, Kolkata.
Partha Shaw is a painter who schooled in Santiniketan – a place steeped in artistic tradition and history, generated by masters like Nandalal Bose and the Tagores, and enhanced by modern and contemporary artists like K.G. Subramanyan, Sunil Das and Dharmanarayan Dasgupta. It was in Santiniketan that Partha Shaw developed his imagination and creative vision. But even though Shaw had this rich and overflowing background to borrow from, he like most of the other artists there, decided to create a style of his own and add to the heritage he learnt of, rather than make use of it. Here, he could also closely study nature and the works of the great Indian masters. Taking off from the unique Indian miniature, Shaw gave shape to his personal vocabulary of artistic expression, which is characteristically Indian and at the same time is loaded with modernity.
Solo & Group Exhibitions :
So far most of his showings have been in his own city, the exceptions being a couple of exhibitions in New Delhi. Shaw`s first solo show was held in 1995. He has held solo shows of his work at Kolkata and New Delhi besides participating in many group exhibitions held in different parts of India and abroad including those at Mumbai, Bangalore and London. Partha has toured extensively and taken part in important art campus and workshops.
Style :
Shaw works mainly with landscapes, but handles them in a very contemporary fashion. Instead of using abstract methods of representation, Shaw, along with some other Bengal artists, has used figures in his paintings to represent what he wants. This movement has very aptly been termed “Figurative Symbolism,” a conscious effort to exhort the virtues of the non-abstract.
