Govinda Sah Azad's solo art exhibition in London

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Jan. 23: October Gallery, London, is showcasing ‘Journey to the Heart of Light’, the fifth solo exhibition of Nepalese artist Govinda Sah ‘Azad’, running through January 24, 2026. The exhibition features Sah’s latest large-scale oil and acrylic paintings on canvas alongside a selection of smaller works, marking an important milestone in his evolving international career.

Currently based in Margate, UK, Sah’s new body of work reflects a profound dialogue between geography, memory and inner consciousness. Born in Rajbiraj, Sah began his artistic journey amid Nepal’s dramatic landscapes before moving to London to study at Wimbledon College of Arts. Though seemingly distant in character, the towering Himalayan peaks and Margate’s turbulent seascapes converge in Sah’s imagination through shared atmospheric phenomena—clouds, shifting light and fleeting moments of revelation.

Light remains the central protagonist in Sah’s paintings. Deeply inspired by the expressive radiance of J. M. W. Turner, particularly the seascapes painted around Margate, Sah develops his own visual language through intensely detailed surfaces and layered mark-making. His canvases reveal shafts of illumination piercing through dense clouds, suggesting both physical landscapes and metaphysical states of being.

The artist’s fascination with light extends beyond visual effect into emotional and philosophical inquiry. By translating changing environmental conditions into reflections of his ‘inner landscape’, Sah explores subtle psychological and spiritual transformations. His method involves building dense layers of oil and acrylic paint, turning the repetitive act of painting into a meditative process. Sah describes this as a continual dialogue with the canvas, through which ideas and insights emerge organically.

While earlier series by Sah addressed cosmic themes and intergalactic visions, the works in Journey to the Heart of Light move fluidly between macro and micro worlds. Viewers encounter coastal tide pools, submerged coves and intricate rock formations that appear to shift between material presence and abstraction. Philosopher Anthony Blake has described Sah’s paintings as “windows into primordial worlds and the mystery of how nothing becomes something.”

This exhibition affirms Govinda Sah ‘Azad’ as one of Nepal’s significant contemporary artists on the global stage. ‘Journey to the Heart of Light’ offers audience a compelling glimpse into an artistic practice that seamlessly unites nature, consciousness and the enduring search for illumination.