Tantra Song
10 Sep - 10 Dec 2011
Anonymous, Sanganer, 2001
mixed media on paper
9.25 x 11.75 inches
courtesy of Franck Andre Jammé, Paris
mixed media on paper
9.25 x 11.75 inches
courtesy of Franck Andre Jammé, Paris
TANTRA SONG
Contemporary Tantric Paintings from Rajasthan
10 September – 10 December, 2011
Tantra Song: Contemporary Tantric Paintings from Rajasthan is a collection of 39 rare, abstract drawings, jewel-like in color from India, where they were made by adepts and used in private spiritual practice. East and West, spiritual and aesthetic, and the ancient and modern converge in this exhibition, on view at the Santa Monica Museum of Art from September 10 to December 10, 2011.
The small, concise, anonymous paintings are made in tempera, Gouache, and watercolor on salvaged paper and were at one time pinned up for use in private meditation. They embody codified images that express specific ideas in tantrism and meditating on them stimulates the eye and mind toward a particular mystical experience.
Tantric art evolved from hand-written, illustrated religious treatises from the 17th century, which were then copied over many generations. The contemporary result is a distinct visual lexicon used to awaken heightened states of consciousness. The forms include a vast range of familiar geometric forms, like circles and triangles, and each form is imbued with specific spiritual meaning—spirals and arrows for energy, an inverted triangle for Shakti, or empowerment. In their formal make-up, the works have great affinity with much of twentieth-century abstract art.
The works in Tantra Song will be published simultaneously by Siglio Press in an eponomous volume with writings by Franck André Jamme, an introduction by Lawrence Rinder, an essay by André Padoux, and an interview by Bill Berkson.
Contemporary Tantric Paintings from Rajasthan
10 September – 10 December, 2011
Tantra Song: Contemporary Tantric Paintings from Rajasthan is a collection of 39 rare, abstract drawings, jewel-like in color from India, where they were made by adepts and used in private spiritual practice. East and West, spiritual and aesthetic, and the ancient and modern converge in this exhibition, on view at the Santa Monica Museum of Art from September 10 to December 10, 2011.
The small, concise, anonymous paintings are made in tempera, Gouache, and watercolor on salvaged paper and were at one time pinned up for use in private meditation. They embody codified images that express specific ideas in tantrism and meditating on them stimulates the eye and mind toward a particular mystical experience.
Tantric art evolved from hand-written, illustrated religious treatises from the 17th century, which were then copied over many generations. The contemporary result is a distinct visual lexicon used to awaken heightened states of consciousness. The forms include a vast range of familiar geometric forms, like circles and triangles, and each form is imbued with specific spiritual meaning—spirals and arrows for energy, an inverted triangle for Shakti, or empowerment. In their formal make-up, the works have great affinity with much of twentieth-century abstract art.
The works in Tantra Song will be published simultaneously by Siglio Press in an eponomous volume with writings by Franck André Jamme, an introduction by Lawrence Rinder, an essay by André Padoux, and an interview by Bill Berkson.