Catalogue / Shakibul Islam
Shakibul Islam
Eden Gardens 1
Three bodies hold each other while a dark figure watches
The floor is red and warm under bare knees.
Gold lines turn and turn behind them, a thumbprint the size of a wall.
One body kneels. One bends over him like a roof.
Hands rest on heads with no hurry.
Blue shapes grow at the edges like coral.
Far back, a dark man stands and does not look away.
The colour stings. Stay.
The work
Eden Gardens 1 is oil on canvas, 121.92 × 91.44 cm. Shakibul Islam painted it in 2025. He studied at Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design, Mumbai. A nude man kneels on a red floor. Another figure bends over his back. A third face leans in close. A dark figure stands alone and watches. Islam uses the brightest colours he can. People look away from bright colour, he says. He has seen them look away from queer people in the same way.
- Theme
- Queer love under watch
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 121.92 × 91.44 cm
- Year
- 2025
- Edition
- 1
- Framed
- No
- About the artist
- Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design, Mumbai
- From
- Mumbai
- Code
- RC-649
- @realshakibulislam
In the artist’s words
My practice operates at the intersection of identity formation, corporeality, and sociocultural regulation, with a sustained focus on queerness as both lived experience and critical framework. I grew up within patriarchal and homophobic environments, where I observed how queer bodies are celebrated in ritual yet ridiculed in daily life. These early experiences of bullying, exclusion, and performative inclusion continue to inform my work. My first painting on LGBTQIA+ identity was made during my BFA, responding to a mythological assignment through the story of Swami Ayyappa and queer adoption rights in the Indian Constitution. Since then, my work has expanded to address personal experience, rights, intimacy, and the social position of…
Meet the artist
