Untitled (Gandhi)

The famed Dacca born artist was a student activist during Bangladesh's 1971 War for Liberation. Though he moved to Paris in 1974, the horrors and carnage of the freedom struggle still subtly influence his paintings. Depicting figures of monumental proportions, the thick gestural brushstokes form a fleshy impasto giving a bubbling viscous quality to the finished surfaces. These 'wounded' contours are highly reminiscent of Francis Bacon. Shahabuddin's skill as an artist stems from his ability to capture the emotive qualities of his subjects as he wavers between figuration and abstraction.