Deep Unknown: From Dunhuang to the Himalayas

Tanya Minhas featured in group exhibition, Deep Unknown: From Dunhuang to the Himalayas

Walter Arader Himalayan Art Gallery, New York

March 14 - 23, 2019

Deep Unknown: From Dunhuang to the Himalayas: Press Release

"W. MING is honored to present “Deep Unknown: From Dunhuang to the Himalayas,” a contemporary Himalayan art exhibition, at Walter Arader Himalayan Art Gallery (1016 Madison Avenue, New York). The show will be open to the public for Asia Week New York, from March 13th to 23rd, 2019, and will open to visitors by appointment after March 23rd, 2019.

This exhibition presents over 40 works by 20 outstanding artists living all around the globe (India, Nepal, Pakistan, Tibet, Shanghai, Beijing, USA, UK, France, Italy, etc.). The works on view, spanning three decades (1987-2018), are created with diverse media and demonstrate a wide range of subjects and styles. The multiple dimensions of this exhibition make it a unique one 2 among other similar group shows from recent years. By showcasing contemporary Himalayan art with Asia Week New York as our platform, we display how contemporary art and social culture in the Himalayas opens infinite possibilities of development for the region at large.

Many of the artists featured in this exhibition have received years of rigorous training in classical Thangka painting and have also been deeply influenced by western art. The sophistication of their painting techniques is fully expressed in their works, embodied in each line, each color, and each composition. Many of the works show a juxtaposition of traditional Buddhist art and contemporary Western art, both worlds beautifully merging with one another. Seemingly contradictory visual elements — history and modernity, religion and secularity, solemnity and humor — nonetheless come together on canvas in harmony. In contrast to the way traditional religious art presents sacred and mysterious themes, the works exhibited reveal to the audience the artists’ critical thinking in a more delightful and affective way."

Minhas, Tanya. Deep Unknown: From Dunhuang to the Himalayas, Walter Arader Himalayan Art Gallery.

Installation View Images: Photo by Ken Lee, Courtesy of W.MING.