A collection of Lalu Prasad Shaw’s masterpieces is being displayed at Galerie 88, on till April 30. On display, over two floors, it includes a wide spectrum of his work, including lithographs made in the ’70s as well as his more recent works from the Babu and Bibi series.
Divided into segments, ‘Blossoms’ and ‘Imprints’, it is a window into Shaw’s mastery in printmaking as well as tempera. While the ground floor has a select display of Shaw’s etchings, lithographs, lino print and the serigraph, executed between 1976 and 2004, the first floor showcases paintings from the Babu and Bibi series.
“He is mostly interested in space against space. His earlier works, the etchings, were mostly black and white with one intermediate shade, just one, and the whole work would look like a space against space and how two flat-coloured areas interact with each other. So his earlier concern was spatial more than colours. Sepia came in later. Colour triggered later, around 2000, and its inclusion in his work was also interesting. Figures or silhouettes occupy a space against the space. Space was though not a priority but space against space was still at the back of his mind. Gradually detailing started getting into the image,” explains art critic and author Pranab Ranjan Ray.
An album from the launch.