Available Tantra Paintings June 2018

AVAILABLE TANTRA PAINTINGS JUNE 2018
GALERIE HERVE PERDRIOLLE
PRICE LIST ON REQUEST: contact(at)galerieherveperdriolle.com
+33 (0)687 35 39 17

While they invoke the highly symbolic cosmology of Hindu Tantra, these contemporary, anonymous paintings from Rajasthan are unlike the more familiar strands of Trantric Art. The progeny of hand-written, illustrated religious treatises from the 17th century, copied over many generations, these paintings have evolved into a distinct visual lexicon used to awaken heightened states of consciousness.

Made in tempera, gouache, and watercolor on salvaged paper, they are pinned to the wall for use in private meditation. Possessing uncanny affinities with a range of 20th century abstract art, the paintings also have a vibratory beauty that inspires acute attention even in the uninitiated.

True to the tantric spirit, it seems that the precise meaning and symbolism of the designs is not fixed. However, some general guidelines were codified long ago and transcend this specific tradition, and so are readily recognizable: for example, ovoids represent linga (hence Shiva), spirals give a form to energy, any set of three can depict the three gunas, and the colour blue symbolizes the pure sky of consciousness which contains all phenomena and experience.

From Tantra Song by Franck André Jamme Publisher Siglio Los Angeles 2011

CHOMU 2015 38.2x32.4 CM - 15.04x12.76 IN
HAVING CIRCLED THE SKY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, THE GODDESS SUDDENTLY ARRIVES AT HER SOURCE, HER CENTER: HER SEX. THE TIP OF ENERGY'S ARROW, POINTED TOWARD THE CENTER. A VARIANT, MORE EXPLICIT: THE TIP OF THE ARROW IS REPLACED BY A TINY GOLDEN TRIANGLE. OR PERHAPS THIS TOO: THE GREAT MASK OF THE DIVINITY WITH HOLLOW EYES.
SOLD

CHOMU 2016 34.5x30 CM - 13.58x11.81 IN
THE PURER THE CONSCIOUSNESS, THE BLUER AND CLEARER THE SKY.

JAIPUR 1993 39x25,5 CM - 15.35x10.04 IN EACH QUADRIPTYC I-II-III-IV
A QUARTET: THE EXPANSION AND EVOLUTION OF THE BINDU, THE POINT, THE FIRST DROP THAT CONTAINS, IN REPOSE, ALL MANIFESTATION. AFTER SLOWLY EXPANDING, ALL WILL EVENTUALLY END BY CONTRACTING BACK INTO THIS VERY DROP. THIS CYCLE FOREVER REPEATING. THE SECOND SHOWS THE THREE GUNAS. THE THIRD IS THE MARRIAGE OF THE FIRST TWO. THE FOURTH, DISSEMINATION: GENERAL POLLINATION.
SOLD

JAIPUR 2016 38,5x31 CM - 15.16x12.2 IN
BURGUNDY CIRCLE WITH A GOLDEN POINT, WHICH IS A BINDU, THE DROP OF CONCENTRATED ENERGY CONTAINING THE ENTIRE WORLD

JAIPUR 1993 41,2x33,5 CM - 16.22x13.19 IN
A STRANGE LINGA WITH A CORDIFORM PROW, OR BROW. ONE PHASE IN THE MOVEMENT OF THE WORLD: THAT OF "THE DANCE". IN LIGHT OF THE ANCIENT TANTRAS, AN ALLIANCE TOO, IF NOT CONNIVANCE, OF SHIVA AND VISHNU.
SOLD

JODHPUR 2015 35,2x28,4 CM - 13.86x11.18 IN
THE TWENTY-EIGHT DAZZLING TONGUES OF KALI. (IN THE VEDAS, KALI IS ALSO THE SEVEN TONGUE OF THE GOD AGNI, FIRE). KALI EXTENDS HER RED TONGUE, ITS REPETITION INDUCING A TRUE INTOXICATION.
SOLD

NEAR SANGANER 2013 39x32 CM - 15.35x12.6 IN
A MNEMONIC PAINTING FOR APPRENTICES. THE ELDER TANTRIKA, DAY AFTER DAY, HIDES TWO OF THE THREE CIRCLES WITH A CLOTH, SO THAT THE NEW DISCIPLE GRADUALLY LEARNS TO RECOGNIZE, WITHOUT ERROR OR HESITATION, WHICH OF THE THREE IS REVEALED. EVENTUALLY, THE APPRENTICE ACHIEVES THE GOAL "TO KNOW THE COLORS", THUS SHARPENING HIS VISION SO THAT HE CAN IMPRINT IN HIS MIND THE SPECIFIC AND FINEST FEATURES (NOT ONLY THE COLORS AND SHAPES, BUT EVEN THE ACCIDENTS AND FLAWS IN THE PAPER ON WHICH IT IS DRAWN) OF WHICHEVER PARTICULAR PIECE MUST BE "PRACTICED" OR CONTEMPLATED IN ORDER TO VISUALLY RECALL IT WHENEVER DESIRED, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.

NEAR UDAIPUR 1997 22,8x43,4 CM - 8.98x17.09 IN
POWER AND VASTNESS. THE BLOOD OF ENERGY FLOWING IN THE WORLD AND OF COURSE WITHIN US. AS TANTRA HAS NOTHING AGAINST INVERSION, THE COLORS OF THE RIVER AND THE LAND CAN ALSO BE REVERSED IN WHICH CASE THE LIQUID FIRE (OR BURNING WATER) OF ENERGY APPEARS MORE SAND OF LIGHT THAN FLOW OF BLOOD. SHOULD IT HAVE A NAME, MAY BE THEN "THE TRAVERSED".

UDAIPUR 2015 39,2x28,6 CM - 15.43x11.26 IN
EGG OR ALMOND OR LARGE EYE. OR A MASK WITH A ROGUISH STARE. ALMOST CHEERFUL. AS IF THE MEDITATION SUDDENLY ASSUMED A CERTAIN INSOLENCE AND LOOKED ENERGY STRAIGHT IN THE EYES - JUST LIKE A CHILD.
SOLD

GALERIE HERVE PERDRIOLLE OUTSIDER ART FAIR NEW YORK 2015

'ANONYMOUS TANTRA PAINTINGS' With their simple geometric shapes and quirky details (spirals, dots, arrows) these works invite analogies with Western painting. (Malevich and Klee come immediately to mind.) But they are not intended foremost as art and may or may not be made by artists; they are created as aids to meditation rituals, tools for the pursuit of enlightenment offered to followers of Tantrism, in this context a subcategory of Hinduism. That these rituals involve aspects of heightened awareness, visualization and resonance circles back to something like art. ROBERTA SMITH NEW YORK TIMES 2012

AVAILABLE TANTRA PAINTINGS JUNE 2018 PRICE LIST ON REQUEST: contact(at)galerieherveperdriolle.com

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