Raqib Shaw’s Paradise Lost at Art Institute of Chicago

 

 “Paradise Lost” is an immersive experience through the psyche of Raqib Shaw ( b. 1974,  Calcutta, India). One man’s mind is the entire focus of a theme park a hundred feet long and twelve feet high

In detail, it’s a collage of many landscapes, florals, animals, human/animal hybrids, yet only  one person.

Form and space collapse into the high energy of the collage, so the piece looks  better if they’re not even noticed. The effect is morbid - like dead flesh consumed by colorful blooms of fungus. Revolting and fascinating at the same time.  Though the piece is 1200 square feet, pixelated  dots of enamel have been applied with a porcupine quill. It’s the overstuffed horror vacui of Victorian decor.

Yet there is a colorful , dramatic flair to many of the areas.  This is dramatic self glorification on a grand scale.  Sometimes it’s gorgeous, but overall it’s Hellish.  This is, after all, a “Paradise Losr”, not a paradise. Whatever complexity may have been put into the narrative, it’s anchored in the pain of Raqib’s existance. I’ll be looking away the next time I have to walk through Gunuslaus Hall.