A Premier Exhibition of Three Contemporary Tibetan Artists Old Soul, New Art, a groundbreaking exhibition of contemporary Tibetan art, will open at Tibet House, New York, featuring three distinguished artists in the emerging field of contemporary Tibetan art: Gonkar Gyatso (London, England), Karma Phuntsok (Sydney, Australia), and Losang Gyatso (Boulder, Colorado).
Visitors to the exhibition will be the first-ever audience to see these three Tibetan artists-in-exile exhibit together. The exhibition will consist of approximately 12 works from each artist – varying from photographic prints that explore the many aspects of Tibetan identity, to reinterpreted paintings of Buddhist deities in extraordinary circumstances, to new paintings that explore the Tibetan soul. This exhibition is also the inaugural project for the newly formed Mechak Center for Contemporary Art based in Boulder, Colorado.
“‘Mechak'” is Tibetan for an iron-edged tool used to create sparks,” says Losang Gyatso, director of Mechak Center. “It is the mission of Mechak Center to promote and cultivate contemporary Tibetan art that has the potential to ignite a renewal of Tibetan culture.” Started in June 2004, Mechak Center is but a recent accomplishment for Gyatso as an artist and contributor to the Tibetan community in exile. Having studied art in the US and worked as an Art Director in New York for 15 years, Gyatso’s work reinterprets both pre-Buddhist and Buddhist worldviews and symbols, drawing particular inspiration from the Shang Shung rock art of Tibet.
Gyatso is joined by two equally inspired and inspiring Tibetan artists working in a contemporary vein. “My paintings are mostly experiments, interweaving traditional techniques and symbols with modern inspirations,” explains Karma Phuntsok. An incredibly prolific painter, Karma’s works are notable for classically rendered Buddhist deities and symbols staged in incongruous, modern settings, such as floating above parking lots or subway trains, or emerging out of distinctly Australian landscapes where Karma now calls home and keeps his studio.
In his latest works, Gonkar Gyatso “explores the theme of cultural relationships to his own hybrid experience.” From initial training at the Central Academy of Nationalities in Beijing, to grassroots involvement in creating a new Tibetan art that sought a return to ancestral land and culture in Lhasa in 1985, to directing the Sweet Tea House Contemporary Tibetan Art Gallery in London, this short list of Gonkar’s artistic career embodies many complex cultural relationships. Negotiating these relationships has become the inspiration behind Gonkar’s myriad artistic explorations of self and Tibetan culture.
After its run at Tibet House, Old Soul, New Art plans to exhibit in London during the summer of 2005. And while Mechak Center hopes to tour this particular exhibition beyond New York and London, it is concentrating its efforts on a larger, more comprehensive exhibition that will feature artists from both inside and outside Tibet.
Open Gallery reception at Tibet House 1-4PM, Sunday, February 27, 2005 The three artists will be present to share insights and stories about their art work with visitors. A special invitation will be made to the Tibetan communities of New York and New Jersey to attend.
Admission is free and open to the general public as well.
Tibet House, 22 West 15th Street (between 5th and 6th Ave), New York City Artists Discussion at Latse Contemporary Tibetan Cultural library on 1-4PM, Saturday, February 27, 2005 Artists Gonkar Gyatso, Karma Phuntsok and Losang Gyatso will be joined by scholars in the field of Tibetan art, society and history to discuss different aspects of contemporary Tibetan art.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Latse Contemporary Tibetan library, 132 Perry Street, Greenwich Village, New York City
