Shibu Natesan, born in 1966 atThiruvananthapuram, Kerala studied painting and printmaking at the, Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S.University Baroda. In 1966 he was selected for a two-year residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldemde in Kunsten, Amsterdam, which was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. In addition to winning several regional and national awards and scholarships, he has also won the Uriot prize at the Rajksasamie. He has held several solo shows: 1987 - Fine Arts Gallery, Trivandrum; 1995 - Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda and Sakshi Gallery Mumbai.; Linkage at Gallerie Nanky De Vreeze Amsterdam; 1998 Fine Arts Gallery, Baroda and New Delhi; 1999 - Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai. He has also had numerous group shows in India and abroad. 1990-Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai; 1991 Images and Words by Sahmat; 1993 - Fine Arts Gallery, Baroda; 1995 - Deutsche Bank, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, 1996 - Sixth Bharat Bhavan Biennial of Contemporary Art, Bhopal, Open Studio Show, Rijksakademie, Amsterdam; 1997 - Gallerie Serieuse Zaken, Amsterdam, Netherlands Art History Institute, Leiden, Rijksakademie, Amsterdam, Gift for India by Sahmat; 1998 - Stockholm Sweden, Amsterdam, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, New Delhi; 1999 - the Guild Gallery, Mumbai. Shibu Natesan currently resides in the UK. STATEMENT Natesan-s paintings.... "can assume the form of a museum diorama as in the portrait of the romantic painter Casper David Friedrich, who features prominently in Natesan's pantheon of heroes. But in this rendition, ironically enough, the painter of mysterious cosmic landscapes is shown in an interior space, the only intimation of the cosmos being the bland sky framed in a high window behind him", comments art cultural theorist Ranjit Hoskote..... ExC The Saffronart Online Auction, May 2002. (5/12/2002)