Nahem Shoa
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Drawings 1990s - Present



For Shoa drawing what you can see in the perceived world with accuracy, has played an important role in his graphic work, right from the start of his career, aged seventeen.  Shoa drawing his mum at 19 showcases clearly his ability to scrutinise form, draw what he saw in front of him with incredible intensity and emotion. He would later spend up to one month, over 200 hours drawing a statue in the V&A, trying to make it so observed, that it looked alive, the more he described, the more fresh the drawing became. Later he brought, this power into drawing trees in parks, olive groves, without using tone, but convincingly describing form and space by unusual, daring mark making.  Shoa feels as comfortable working from his imagination, allowing himself total unsentimental, uncensored freedom of expression and emotion. In his more recent series, Seen and Unseen, Shoa was trying to convey in mythic language, the whole Covid period, BLM movement, from the perspective of a person of colour.

Shoa’s works often explore profound themes of nature, humanity, and time, blending traditional influences with bold, contemporary provocations. His drawings capture the enduring spirit and resilience of natural forms while engaging in critical dialogue with art history, including its more taboo or overlooked elements.
Mum, 1988
Pencil on Paper
21 x 15 cm
Statue Drawing, 1993
Pencil on paper
42 x 29.9 cm
Collection of V&A Museum, London

Path in Klil, 1997
Pencil on paper
​21 x 15 cm
Garden Square, 1997
Pencil on paper
​21 x 15 cm

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Couple posing, 2004
Pencil on paper
​59.4 x 42 cm

Women in room, 2004
Pencil on paper
​59.4 x 42 cm

Skull, 2007
​Pencil on paper
​59.4 x 42 cm
Skull posing, 2007
​Pencil on paper
​59.4 x 42 cm
Cigarette Cross, 2009
Pencil on paper
​59.4 x 42 cm

Holy Smoke, 2009
Pencil on paper
​59.4 x 42 cm

Consumer love, 2012
Pencil on paper
​59.4 x 42 cm

Third-party mediator, 2012
Pencil on paper
​59.4 x 42 cm

Picture
Lovers, 2013
Pencil on paper
84.1 x ​59.4 cm

Homo Erectus, 2014
Pencil on paper
​59.4 x 42 cm

YBA, 2014
Pencil on paper
​59.4 x 42 cm

Wane, Seen and unseen, 2022
​Coloured pencils on paper
​42 x 29.7
In the shadows, 2022
Coloured pencil on paper
​22 x 15 cm

Holland Park, Oak, London, 2018
Pencil On paper 
​42 x 29.7 cm

Kensington Gardens, Planes trees, 2018
Pencil On paper 
​42 x 29.7 cm

Ancient Spanish Olive tree, 2019
Pencil On paper 
​42 x 29.7 cm

Spanish Olive, 2019
Pencil On paper 
​42 x 29.7 cm

 Article by Isobel Johnstone Curator of the Arts Council Collection 1979 - 2004
Paradise Lost: Figures in Nature
Exhibitions
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