‘Vishnu: Hinduism’s Blue-Skinned Savior’ in the US

'Vishnu: Hinduism’s Blue-Skinned Savior' is a significant show that takes place at Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, USA.

Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior is among the first major museum exhibits to focus on Vishnu, one of Hinduism’s three major deities. Over 170 paintings, sculptures and ritual arty objects between the fourth and 20th centuries provide a brief survey of the then Hindu art styles and an examination of god-worshipping traditions.

Known as a gentle god, Vishnu is recognized in paintings by his blue skin, reflecting his calm demeanor and his associations with the natural elements of sea and sky. A very interesting figure in his primary form, the complexity of his character becomes evident when the deity assumes new forms, or avatars, in order to save the planet from various dangers. Vishnu’s ten avatars, comprising Rama and Krishna, are a pointer to the multiplicity of ways one can envision and interact with the divine force. The exhibit is accompanied by an illustrated catalog from Mapin Publishing.

A curatorial note to the exhibition elaborates: “Hinduism is the world’s third-largest religion. It was first codified in the country around 1000 BCE and has been practiced there since then, perpetually absorbing new approaches and beliefs, even while continuing to recognize the older traditions’ sanctity. Each of the three important Hindu deities—Vishnu the Preserver, Devi the Great Goddess, and Shiva the Destroyer - is believed by his worshippers to be solely responsible for creating as well as maintaining the cycle of life, and also to be a portal to ultimate salvation.”

To his contemporary worshippers, Vishnu is the ultimate embodiment of light, truth, and power. He is a formless entity well beyond human comprehension. Vishnu: Hinduism’s Blue-Skinned Savior is organized thematically, opening with ‘Images of Vishnu’, an exploration of his fundamental traits, introducing the god in his primary form—human in shape through some exquisite sculptures in material like sandstone, granite, bronze etc; and in aesthetic - from simple to intricate carving.

The mystic of powerful Hindu god explored

The mystic of the powerful Hindu god explored is in a show, entitled ‘Vishnu: Hinduism’s Blue-Skinned Savior’ at Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, USA. Here is an introductory note to the show:

Following the introductory ‘Images of Vishnu’ section, the exhibition moves on to an expansive section devoted to the god’s avatars. Although these figures share some of Vishnu’s characteristics, they are limited manifestations. Less glorious, with finite bodies, they sometimes display human weaknesses and are usually mortal. When Vishnu descends from the heavens in the form of an avatar, it is as if he were reaching down with his hand: the hand may be Vishnu, but it is not the god in full.

Hindu texts differ on how many times Vishnu’s avatars have come to Earth. These are explored in ‘The Avatars of Vishnu’. This section begins with an introduction to the avatars as a group, shown in objects ranging from a two-sided stone plaque from the eleventh century that includes images of the ten primary avatars; to an early-eighteenth-century pendant that, although only about two inches square, also depicts the ten avatars; a fragment of a seventeenth-century textile made of dyed and undyed silk; and a variety of sculptures and watercolors.

‘Vishnu: Hinduism’s Blue-Skinned Savior concludes’ with ‘Worshipping Vishnu’. Here, watercolor images of worshippers and the places in which they pray to Vishnu or his avatars, as well as a selection of ritual objects, provide an overview of some of the many Vaishnava rituals and sectarian traditions. Highlights include exquisite miniature objects made for use on domestic altars, including a gold throne and a silver and gold swing, both from around the nineteenth century.

‘Worshipping Vishnu’ ends with a selection of objects from the modern era. Ranging from a twentieth-century papier-mâché pageant mask, to a selection of early-twentieth-century popular religious prints, to a pair of Bollywood posters, these demonstrate the enduring popularity of Vishnu and his avatars, as well as the ways in which Vaishnava traditions continue to evolve with the introduction of new media and new trends in devotional practice.

Archiving memories and nostalgia

A host of digital archiving initiatives are underway to preserve India’s art & visual history. The process has acquired a new meaning in the modern era of information explosion marked by a vastly networked and interconnected society. The issue is how would really this play out in the future?

The Internet is not always a reliable source of information owing to lack of authenticity and accuracy of data hence recording and meticulously storing our legacy becomes even more critical. Archiving denotes the custodianship of collective memory, as an expert point out. But who will gather and legitimize it? These concerns are equally relevant to the domain of art. Today, archiving is broadly related to it in two ways—one, as a subject for all artists to work with; and two, as a discipline vital for preserving the knowledge of practice and history.

The Hong Kong-based Asia Art Archive (AAA) recently did a project to digitize critic Geeta Kapur and Vivan Sundaram’s personal archives. This was the institute’s first such project in India, involving Kapur and her artist husband that took almost a year. According to a researcher with AAA, Sabih Ahmed, plans are underway to digitize many other personal artists’ archives.

The Sundaram/Kapur archive of modern & contemporary Indian art comprises rare exhibition catalogues/ brochures over five decades; slides of roughly 4,000 works; the critical writings and lectures etc. Most of it will be digitized and hosted publicly for free access. According to Sundaram, their archival material is currently Delhi-specific. However, it also includes a lot of what came to the capital city from other parts of the country.

Something as basic as an invitation card to a show printed years ago packs a valuable ancillary information and detail. The visual texture of it does inform your brain, as the artist notes, drawing attention to the kind of printing, and the graphic five decades ago… A keen researcher, writer, or historian will see vital clues in some ephemeral material. And from the detail one may construct memory and fathom history.

Apathy to archiving in the domain of art

A symposium along with an event ‘Another Life: The Digitised Personal Archive’ of Vivan Sundaram and Geeta Kapur was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi in February.
An exhibit held earlier this year at LKA in Delhi, entitled ‘Against All Odds: A Contemporary Response to the Historiography of Archiving, Collecting and Museums in India’ was another recent example of archiving as a theme. It was comprised of photos, sculptures, installations, paintings, and new media works by several leading contemporary Indian artists.

A fine blend of fantasy and fact was in evidence in the show. According to its curator Arshiya Lokhandwala, the title denoted the fact that art practice and artists have survived and thrived in India against all odds, in spite a poor maintenance of running museums, archives and public art collections.

Sarnath Banerjee, in spotlight for his graphic novel ‘The Harappa Files’, states that he sees himself as an archivist who authors his reality but who also records. Another instance is Bose Krishnamachari’s ‘LaVA: Laboratory of Visual Arts’ that comprised his personal library of audiovisual material and books, DVD players, lifted whole—shelves etc.

Subodh Gupta’s installation presented in all its grimy glory was another apparent jab at the bureaucracy. Other works explored the deeper link existing between memory - individual and collective - and different ways in which they can be preserved. Pushpamala N.’s tableaux ‘Motherland: Where Angels Fear to Tread…’ was inspired by museum dioramas. She termed the work as an ‘archive of images of Bharat Mata or Mother India

The show was interpretation of archives, the whole process and its form as opposed to the content. A very stark comment was Vivan Sundaram’s ‘if one were to fall’. For him, the idea (behind private archives) is to inform a certain location as well as a historical period that transforms it into an island of data. The crux of such initiatives is to remove the prevailing apathy to archiving in the domain of art. A beginning has already been made…

Pooled art assets is the new trick for funds

Art lovers have long considered themselves to be belonging to a more elite category than stock market speculators. Now though, their worlds and identities are apparently colliding with a new segment of financial entities worldwide keen to sell shares in pools of artworks, according to media reports.

It makes for a real odd combination. Many investors favor transparency, dealers generally prefer secrecy. If the former are tilted towards asset gathering, art dealers rely on exclusive holdings. As the prices of major works have gone up, niche portfolio managers are bringing out art funds, hoping their underlying works and shares will both appreciate in value.

What makes art experts a touch nervous is the fact that these funds bear similarities to opaque investments like asset-backed securities and derivatives that suffered during the global financial crisis. Bang in the middle of this debate are proponents, such as the art research firm Skate's, looking to legitimize the emerging trend by influencing new art investors.

The pooled art assets’ transparency and valuation are two key issues that impact art securitization. Thanks to volatile stocks and bond market, wealthy overseas investors are turning to tangible assets like art. Alert financial firms are capitalizing on that shift of interest. Through these funds, investors can own artworks sans the large fees and taxes generally associated with full ownership. A few money managers promise returns as high 20 percent.

The domain, with roughly $300 million in assets, is small albeit fast growing. The theme behind these art funds is rather simple: A group of big investors put up funds to help a money manager purchase paintings. Smaller investors will buy ownership units, their values tied to the underlying art. For the privilege, they are asked to pay fees of 5% of the assets and 20% of the profits.

It’s a private market! When an investor wants to cash out, he or she has to trade the stakes. This is a historically unregulated arena. Some experts feel that art funds, popular in markets like India, Russia and China, will draw the wrong element, keen to keep money out of bank accounts.

Talented contemporary Indian artists in ‘Concurrent India’

‘Concurrent India’ at Helsinki City Art Museum in Finland along with Kulturhuset, Stockholm features works by Archana Hande, Chitra Ganesh, Gigi Scaria, Hema Upadhyay, Nalini Malani, Pushpamala N, Reena Saini Kallat, Riyas Komu, Sheba Chhachhi, Shilpa Gupta, Thukral & Tagra etc. Their key themes include the status of women and the life of the weakest members of society or of those detached from it altogether.

Chitra Ganesh highlights alternative lifestyles and figures omitted from official histories and mythologies. Pushpamala N terms her photographs ‘photo romances’ that she herself stages and directs. The figures in them are based on popular imagery. Sheba Chhachhi has snapped images of holy female ascetics across India for close to a decade.

Reena Saini Kallat highlights in her art the fates of individuals, while simultaneously addressing the traumas of entire communities. Her installation ‘Preface’ shows the preamble of the Indian constitution in Braille (to underscore the constitution’s promise of equality). The text projected on the book was made from frozen donated blood samples.

Hema Upadhyay recounts stories in which a person is searching for one’s place and roots. In the works ‘Killing Site IV’ and ‘Sleep–Dream–Sleep’, threatening mood and violent horror combine with the beauty of traditional Indian ornamentation. The recurring themes in Nalini Malani’s oeuvre are the oppressed status of women, war, economic exploitation and the environmental degradation, whereas Shilpa Gupta's art revolves around terrorism, human rights, religion, social classification and resultant insecurity. Archana Hande’s ‘www.arrangeurownmarriage.com’ makes a quirky comment on the marriage institution worldwide.

Gigi Scaria explores the connections between urban location and social class. Riyas Komu’s works contain a strong political message. Terror, war, chauvinism and exploitation form their core. The installation ‘Escaped! …while I Was Cooking’ by Thukral & Tagra is about bitter disappointment and sad fates. Vivan Sundaram’s practice takes a stand on environmental issues as well as on behalf of the disadvantaged. The sculptures of Valay Shende bear a resemblance to luxury goods, yet their topic is the everyday worries of people in an urbanizing India.

A solo show by Rashid Rana

A solo show by Rashid Rana at London based Lisson Gallery highlights large-scale photographic works that he considers ‘unpacking abstraction’. From a distance, they appear akin to richly textured, patterned abstract compositions. However, on closer inspection, each of them is revealed to be formed from thousands of smaller context specific digital images that offset the perceived serenity of the larger image.

His works revolve around a subtle simultaneous exploration of media and identity – both bound by a sharp political edge as he satirizes pop culture and looks to reinterpret varied elements of art and cultural history. It deals with everyday issues encompassing a wide range of themes from urbanization and popular culture to faith and tradition. His new media projects are a visual commentary and parody of socio-political scenarios.

The artist often employs video installations and still photography. A case in point is his series of composite photomontages in which each main image is constructed out of countless smaller photos of diametrically opposite subjects. The viewer confronts a moment of sudden withdrawal after moving closer to the picture when one becomes aware of the many miniature images that constitute the larger one. He does not like to be tagged as a photographer, sculptor or video-artist. He explains: “I trained as a traditional painter, but I like the freedom to use any kind of medium. I don’t like hard divides.”

As part of his new show, a photographic sculpture ‘Books’ (UV Inkjet print on aluminum) features images of books layered on blocks that themselves resemble books. It both maps and manipulates the distance between idea and object, representation and reality. Here the artist challenges our understanding of three-dimensional forms through the use of pixilated imagery. The shift between two and three dimensionality is further explored in a large-scale stainless steel cube sliced through with a photographic mosaic of image fragments.