PAINTING IS MY EVERYTHING
ART FROM INDIA’S MITHILA REGION
SEP 7 — DEC 30, 2018
With precise skill and bold artistic vision, the 17 contemporary artists included in this exhibition, many of them women, employ a centuries-old regional styles to express personal experiences and viewpoints. They paint traditional subjects such as Hindu gods but also use their brushes to document and comment on everyday life as well as national and global events.
Mithila style painting, characterized by visually striking compositions, stylized images, delicately detailed surfaces and vibrant colors, was originally practiced exclusively by women on the walls of their homes. In the wake of a severe drought in the 1960s, this mural tradition was transferred to paper, a format that could be sold to bring much-needed income to rural villages.
Painting continues to be a catalyst of economic growth and social change in Mithila. For many women, artistic success has translated into financial independence and community respect. Dulari Devi, a woman from a lower caste community who had been a housemaid before earning her living as an artist, declares, “Ever since I started painting, I do it like worship . . . painting is my everything.”
Image: Women's Power (detail), 2017, by Shalinee Kumari (Indian, b. 1985). Ink and colors on paper. Asian Art Museum, Museum purchase, Mortimer-Harvey Fund, 2018.8. © Shalinee Kumari. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.
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ART FROM INDIA’S MITHILA REGION
SEP 7 — DEC 30, 2018
With precise skill and bold artistic vision, the 17 contemporary artists included in this exhibition, many of them women, employ a centuries-old regional styles to express personal experiences and viewpoints. They paint traditional subjects such as Hindu gods but also use their brushes to document and comment on everyday life as well as national and global events.
Mithila style painting, characterized by visually striking compositions, stylized images, delicately detailed surfaces and vibrant colors, was originally practiced exclusively by women on the walls of their homes. In the wake of a severe drought in the 1960s, this mural tradition was transferred to paper, a format that could be sold to bring much-needed income to rural villages.
Painting continues to be a catalyst of economic growth and social change in Mithila. For many women, artistic success has translated into financial independence and community respect. Dulari Devi, a woman from a lower caste community who had been a housemaid before earning her living as an artist, declares, “Ever since I started painting, I do it like worship . . . painting is my everything.”
Image: Women's Power (detail), 2017, by Shalinee Kumari (Indian, b. 1985). Ink and colors on paper. Asian Art Museum, Museum purchase, Mortimer-Harvey Fund, 2018.8. © Shalinee Kumari. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.
PAINTING IS MY EVERYTHING
ART FROM INDIA’S MITHILA REGION
SEP 7 — DEC 30, 2018
With precise skill and bold artistic vision, the 17 contemporary artists included in this exhibition, many of them women, employ a centuries-old regional styles to express personal experiences and viewpoints. They paint traditional subjects such as Hindu gods but also use their brushes to document and comment on everyday life as well as national and global events.
Mithila style painting, characterized by visually striking compositions, stylized images, delicately detailed surfaces and vibrant colors, was originally practiced exclusively by women on the walls of their homes. In the wake of a severe drought in the 1960s, this mural tradition was transferred to paper, a format that could be sold to bring much-needed income to rural villages.
Painting continues to be a catalyst of economic growth and social change in Mithila. For many women, artistic success has translated into financial independence and community respect. Dulari Devi, a woman from a lower caste community who had been a housemaid before earning her living as an artist, declares, “Ever since I started painting, I do it like worship . . . painting is my everything.”
Image: Women's Power (detail), 2017, by Shalinee Kumari (Indian, b. 1985). Ink and colors on paper. Asian Art Museum, Museum purchase, Mortimer-Harvey Fund, 2018.8. © Shalinee Kumari. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.
read more
ART FROM INDIA’S MITHILA REGION
SEP 7 — DEC 30, 2018
With precise skill and bold artistic vision, the 17 contemporary artists included in this exhibition, many of them women, employ a centuries-old regional styles to express personal experiences and viewpoints. They paint traditional subjects such as Hindu gods but also use their brushes to document and comment on everyday life as well as national and global events.
Mithila style painting, characterized by visually striking compositions, stylized images, delicately detailed surfaces and vibrant colors, was originally practiced exclusively by women on the walls of their homes. In the wake of a severe drought in the 1960s, this mural tradition was transferred to paper, a format that could be sold to bring much-needed income to rural villages.
Painting continues to be a catalyst of economic growth and social change in Mithila. For many women, artistic success has translated into financial independence and community respect. Dulari Devi, a woman from a lower caste community who had been a housemaid before earning her living as an artist, declares, “Ever since I started painting, I do it like worship . . . painting is my everything.”
Image: Women's Power (detail), 2017, by Shalinee Kumari (Indian, b. 1985). Ink and colors on paper. Asian Art Museum, Museum purchase, Mortimer-Harvey Fund, 2018.8. © Shalinee Kumari. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.
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