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Lot Essay
Chitra Ganesh utilizes collage, assemblage and digital media to make her provocative paintings and prints. Borrowing imagery from the campy 1970s Amar Chitra Katha comic series, which imparted historical and religious texts in easily digestible form for children, Ganesh subverts their popular stories from the Mahabharata and other famous Hindu epics by inserting a feminist, sexual and political iconography into scenes with enigmatic dialogue and narrative.
"I continue to be obsessed by how memories, dreams, and their repression shape personal and social crises, be it between lovers or global empires. My work is largely inspired by Hindu and other mythologies, lyric poetry and song lyrics (both Bollywood and girl rock), the logic of dreams, and present-day imperialism and queer politics. I'm fascinated by how traditional mythology/folklore celebrates sex and violence, but only to instill notions of appropriate behavior and gender expression by punishing those who attempt to transgress societal norms." (Excerpt from Chitra Ganesh's artist statement, One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now, Asia Society, New York, 2006).
"I continue to be obsessed by how memories, dreams, and their repression shape personal and social crises, be it between lovers or global empires. My work is largely inspired by Hindu and other mythologies, lyric poetry and song lyrics (both Bollywood and girl rock), the logic of dreams, and present-day imperialism and queer politics. I'm fascinated by how traditional mythology/folklore celebrates sex and violence, but only to instill notions of appropriate behavior and gender expression by punishing those who attempt to transgress societal norms." (Excerpt from Chitra Ganesh's artist statement, One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now, Asia Society, New York, 2006).