Baby Krishna, poster	Nek Chand, mosaic sculpture

"Popular" is used as a term in Indian art which actually approximates what we call "Folk Art."

Nek Chand's sculptures transport the wonderment of the Rock Garden that he constructed in Chandigarh, India over a period of more than forty years. The genesis of this world-renowned site is the collection of the detritus of twenty-three villages razed in 1947 to build the new capital of Punjab — Chandigarh. He collected shards on his bicycle for seven years and then started to make concrete figures using them. Soon, he included all kinds of random waste in his sculptures and from them he created the Rock Garden, which now encompasses 25 acres of complex environments — animals, people (both lay and clergy), waterfalls, bridges, swings and even rocky mountains. We will be showing some prime examples of his vast output.

Nek Chand's work is currently on view at the American Folk Art Museum's Concrete Kingdom: Sculptures by Nek Chand through the 24th of September.

The works made by the Women of Bihar have evolved from domestic ritual painting, "This tradition is practiced and transmitted from generation to generation by non-professional women artists who paint on the floors and walls of their homes to make daily life and special events auspicious...," Religious deities and nature are represented along with the "narration of myths and personal events and histories." The bold colors, use of negative spaces and graphic lines straddle the traditional and modern aesthetics creating an accessible yet complex visual language.(quotes from Barbara Rossi's, From the Ocean of Painting 1998)

As a very special treat the gallery is also offering a few other Indian paintings and a few textiles as well. We hope you enjoy our show.