The South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art auction at Christies achieved a total of $11,978,670.
The top lot of the sale was Manjit Bawa’s Untitled (Durga), which realized $1,980,000, a new global auction record for the artist
Browsing: Durga
“Diwali is one holiday I sorely missed when I lived in the US. I remember visiting the Indian stores in the neighborhood to buy my earthen ‘diyas’ (lamps), calling my cleaning service to come and give our home a professionally cleaned look, buying sweetmeats from wherever it was possible.
But I also remember being alone while performing these rituals. I would sheepishly light the diyas on my deck, the window ledges, and the house entrance, guilty that it was against the rules for being a fire hazard!” Guest Blog – Chatty Divas
The phone line crackled across the Atlantic Ocean. I was in New York, and renowned artist Sakti Burman was in his country house in Anthe, near Toulouse, 650 km from his home in Paris. Thanks to satellite communications, the dialogue was as crystal clear as if we were sitting in the same room. Burman, 74, told me his 13-year-old grandson was with him, while his wife and the other grandchildren had gone for their daily walk.
Goddess Lakshmi sits resplendent on a lotus; Lord Shiva strides atop a vanquished demon; there is Ma Kali, fierce and blood-thirsty, garlanded with the skulls of evil-doers; and Ganesha, calm and peaceful with a bowl of ladoos in his hand.
These are familiar images of Gods and Goddesses that Hindus have worshiped since childhood, and have seen in sacred texts, in temples, in homes, in bazaars and in calendar art.
Now what if I was to tell you that these are not paintings at all but life-size photographs of living human beings in the guise of Gods and Goddesses? That the ferocious Ma Kali is really an artist in real life, Hanuman is a body builder who works in a gym, Ma Saraswati is a television anchor and Lord Brahma is an architect? That Goddess Lakshmi went on to compete in the semi-finals of Miss India 2014, winning the titles of Miss Beautiful Smile and Miss Beautiful Hair?
Who has ever seen the face of the Almighty? Does He wear a peacock feather in His hair or perhaps a coiled snake around His neck? Is the Omnipresent a many-armed powerful Goddess with green eyes or a gentle, golden Madonna and Child?
East and west blend in the surreal works of Brazilian artist Roberto Custodio in which blue-eyed Gods and beauty queen goddesses preside, and the flora and fauna of many continents merge. He creates magic worlds from found materials and paper clippings, discarded consumer magazines which he recycles to create his own truths.
(Photo: Amal Biswas)
Ever wondered why Hindu Gods and Goddesses have multiple heads, limbs and eyes?
Word as a vehicle of expression of thought is a powerful instrument – but its adequacy is limited to the phenomenal world. That is why an individual’s personal spiritual realization is inexpressible in its totality.
Mythology is an offshoot of this inefficacy of word while dealing with celestial events. The saintly scholar in Hinduism is seized with the problem of adequately narrating a superhuman extraordinary event, and tends to exaggerate. He needs to respond to his inner clamor to bestow the highest glory to the Lord with love, respect and adoration.
This has inevitably resulted in the Hindu pantheon having Gods and Goddesses with multiple heads and hands, but then so do cosmic evil forces too. There is a deep philosophical significance in this.
– Guest blogger Tapas Mukherjee
Would you like to import an elephant or a rhino perhaps? Ornaments of jade, lapis lazuli, crystal and carnelian?
We may think of global trade as a modern day invention but way back in the ancient world there was a brisk trade and rich cultural exchange going on between far-flung countries. ‘Arts of Ancient Viet Nam: From River Plain to Open Sea’ is an intriguing new exhibition at The Asia Society in collaboration with Museum of Fine Arts Houston, which shows the interconnections which existed between Viet Nam and many countries, including India.