Nahem Shoa (/ˈnɑːhəm ˈʃoʊə/, born 1968) is a contemporary London painter best known for his series of portraits, collectively called Giant Heads, which were painted at up to 15 times life size.

[4] He had noted that Black people were portrayed there almost exclusively in the historical context of slavery or servitude,[4] and complained that, "in Tate Modern there isn't a single [B]lack image and the same can be said of many major collections".

[11] His own culturally-diverse Jewish parentage, stemming from an Adenite Jewish father with "some Ethiopian blood" and a Russian-Scottish mother[11] — combined with a London upbringing in the multicultural Notting Hill neighborhood notably characterised in the London novels of Colin MacInnes — fostered Shoa's early sensitivity to ethnic, gender and cultural injustices.

[4] A 2015 article by Isobel Johnstone, past curator of the Arts Council Collection,[8][18] discussed the significance of the donation: Portraits of [B]lack subjects are rare in galleries even today and Shoa's picture makes a strong point by its very existence here.

It also reveals Shoa's painting skills — strong structure that is the legacy of Cézanne and Cubism, and vibrant colour created from a palette devoid of black and earth pigments.

Isobel Johnstone, Arts Council's London Collection curator from 1979 to 2004, described Shoa's painting Kiki and Helen as being "of a lesbian couple one naked the other clothed.

The frontal posture of the naked figure echoes Henri Matisse, even Stanley Spencer, but for Shoa a more appropriate comparison would be with Rembrandt's The Jewish Bride because of the way in which the hands touch.

[2] In 2006, Shoa's work was included in an exhibition he curated at Hartlepool Art Gallery, alongside paintings by Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud and Robert Lenkiewicz.

[12][25] The heads were 15 times larger than life, eliciting this reaction from Culture24 art critic Kay Carson: "[D]espite the grandiose scale, the mood is quite the opposite: muted, dignified and very personal.

"[12] In 2007, he featured in the group exhibition True To Life at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum,[26] with his work alongside that of fellow Realist painters Frank Auerbach, David Bomberg, Lucian Freud, and Robert Lenkiewicz.

[27] In April and May 2010, Shoa's Giant Head of Ben was included in In Thy Face I See, a group show at Hartlepool Art Gallery focused on portraiture.

[30] David Whetstone, writing in The Journal, called Shoa's work "extraordinary", characterized him as "approach[ing] the planes and gradients of the face as a landscape painter would an appealing view" and noted his commitment to artistic representation of cultural diversity.

[37] The Ben Uri Gallery hosted an exhibition from 26 September–14 December 2008 titled Robert Lenkiewicz — The Self-Portraits (1956–2002),[38] as a part of which Shoa gave a lecture entitled "Under The Influence".

[8] In 2014, Shoa gave his lecture "Paradise Found" at Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery[40] as part of the exhibition Detached and Timeless,[4][41] which included paintings by David Bomberg, Prunella Clough, Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon, and Clare Woods.