Stephane Delapree, A Very Very Good Man, acrylic on canvas, 90 x 90 cm, 2015

One can encounter many buddhas. However, there is only one Gautama Buddha. In the same spirit, there may be many exhibitions in a year, but only one Gnani Arts blockbuster exhibition. 
Gnani Arts, in an absolutely positive spirit, is all set and ready to present its blockbuster exhibition of the year – ‘The Enlightened One: Images of Gautama Buddha in Contemporary Art’. Under my curation, it has been scheduled to be staged at the ION Art Gallery (Singapore) from 18 to 24 May 2015. This significant showcase celebrates an irrefutably powerful anthropomorphic representation of a subject that entails great art historical emphasis and that embodies an international reputation for its profound metaphorical and philosophical symbolism. 

The dynamic team of artists for this exhibition has been provided with the intriguing option of personalising and/or localising the image of Gautama Buddha, within an informed context that is visually-legitimate, in view of the pre-conceived notions of the visual representation of the image. With a conscious sincerity towards the curatorial trajectory, every artist of the exhibition has been urged to pursue an ‘inner’ research. As a creative being, the artist contextualises and formulates every artwork of the exhibition. The devoted participation of the artist is never to be underrated as the artist is absolutely valuable and is of utmost importance, as he/she plays an integral role in establishing a deliberately-individualised, artist-specific manifestation of my curatorial and conceptual intention. The artist thinks. The artist feels. The artist re-creates the image of Gautama Buddha and attempts to realise what it conveys to him/her, as the artist senses the pulse of the image, beyond its inevitable historical, religious, sociological and geographical connotations. Technique is imperative, no doubt. But narrative is as important. And so, the artist endows his/her image of Gautama Buddha with a story that will effortlessly engage the viewer, a salient but silent story that beams with the joy and challenge of embracing the subjective degrees of reverberating appreciation on the viewer’s part.

The principle collection of the exhibition will feature paintings by senior and emerging artists from Singapore, Cambodia, India and Sri Lanka, including Alpana Ahuja, Alphonso Doss, Anila Ayilliath, KV Dhilna Amar, Gauri Gupta, P. Gnana, Harshini Sudarshan, Ika Forssell, Jayatri Saha, J. Kalidass, Kavita Aras Rajput, Mona Singhania, Raja Segar, Revati Rao, Sachin Kedari, Shalini, Sheena Bharathan, Sheetal Agarwal, Sonali Mohanty, Stephane Delapree, Sunaina Bhalla and the late M. Suriyamoorthy.

The Enlightened One: Images of Gautama Buddha in Contemporary Art will allow you to indulge in yet another realm of aesthetic improvisation, under the fascinating and all-encompassing hood of creative contemporaneity. Get ready for 18 May 2015, to celebrate the many personalisations and localisations of one single image that assertively represents the Buddhist universe within the acceptable dichotomy of the sacred and the secular.

Exhibition: The Enlightened One: Images of Gautama Buddha in Contemporary Art
Dates: 18 – 24 May 2015
Venue: ION Art Gallery
Contact: gnani_arts@yahoo.com.sg or visit www.gnaniarts.com