Danger Dogs from Nepal – Folk Art from the Himalayas

www.NepalDog.com Visit the blog at NepalDog.typepad.com

Nabin

Nabin is a good businessman. Of all my artist studios, his is the one that I can count on

to have a few extra signboards waiting for me to buy. He will make more than one

version of the same dog knowing he has a sucker ready and willing to buy.

And over the years, his paintings of the Danger Dogs has morphed from realistic to more

cartoonish as the original photo recedes into memory. I can trace the metamorphosis of

one dog in particular – Mick Jagger.

I know Nabin does not paint the signs himself anymore. I believe he is a talented artist

who has become more of an administrator with the passing years.

At the first exhibition of the Danger Dogs in Kathmandu, in November 2007, Nabin was

one of two studio owners who said, separately, that ‘If I had known what you were doing,

I’d have done a better job’. Having said that, the work that comes out of his studio is

charming, and unique. Even though it is obvious to me that they are done by different

artists, the style or feel of Nabin’s studio’s art remains the same.