In dialogue with the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room at the center of the gallery, artists Shiva Ahmadi, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, and Tsherin Sherpa each reinterpret traditional and religious iconography and practices through sculptural installation, painting, and video.
Shiva Ahmadi (b. 1975, Tehran, Iran)
Shiva Ahmadi references the miniature painting and iconography of various religious traditions and contemporary cultural events to reflect on universal human conditions. Her video Ascend (2017) poetically reflects on the global refugee crisis, while Lotus (2014) features imagery from a watercolor by the artist and two Buddha sculptures from the Asia Society Museum, New York.
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950–2020, b. Manchester, England)
Artist, musician, and cultural provocateur Genesis Breyer P-Orridge traveled to and worked in Nepal for nearly 30 years, and h/er engagement with philosophical and spiritual aspects of Himalayan cultures spans even longer. Touching of Hands (2016) is a life-size bronze casting of the artist’s arm. Its title refers to the artist and mystic Brion Gysin’s remark to Breyer P-Orridge that “wisdom can only be passed by the touching of hands.”
Tsherin Sherpa (b. 1968, Kathmandu, Nepal)
Following the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, Tsherin Sherpa returned to his home city of Kathmandu and created Wish-fulfilling Tree (2016). He worked with local craftsmen to create a seven-layer bronze mandala. Both a memorial to the destruction wrought by the earthquake and a wish for the future, the mandala is surrounded by rubble, debris, and found objects. In tandem, he continued his longstanding painting practice, represented by two works from the series UFO (Unidentified Fettering Organization) (2016).
Beth Citron was previously the curator of modern and contemporary art at the Rubin Museum of Art. Her exhibitions for the Rubin Museum included Genesis Breyer P-Orridge: Try to Altar Everything (2016), Francesco Clemente: Inspired by India (2014), Witness at a Crossroads: Photographer Marc Riboud in Asia (2014), and the three-part exhibition series Modernist Art from India (2011-13). She completed a PhD in the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania, and has taught in the Art History Department at New York University, from which she also earned a BA in Fine Arts.
Shrine Room Projects: Shiva Ahmadi / Genesis Breyer P-Orridge / Tsherin Sherpa is supported by Ann and Matt Nimetz, Lois and Bob Baylis, and contributors to the 2019 Exhibitions Fund.
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