Judy Glantzman at Betty Cuningham Gallery

judy-glantzman.jpg

Judy Glantzman

Judy Glantzman
Untitled, 2004
Oil on canvas
90 × 80 inches
[installation and detail views]

We visited this show a couple of weeks ago, but I just now had time to write about it. We are lucky to have two small drawings by her.

I found it interesting that the press release talks about Bosch and Picabia. When I saw this painting, particularly the faces at the bottom, I thought of the use of skulls as necklaces in the Tibetan work I've seen recently at the Rubin Museum of Art.

rma-Chakrasamvara.jpg

Mandala (Center and Circumference)
Chakrasamvara
Central Tibet
1600 - 1699
54.61×44.45cm (21.50×17.50in)
Ground mineral pigment on cotton

This is a detail. I don't know if the link will work for every browser, but here is the page for it.

The New York Times article on the opening of the museum explains the symbolism of the skulls:

SKULLS AND SEVERED HEADS -- Lacking soil for graves or wood for funeral pyres, Tibetans practice sky burial: bodies are left on a charnel ground for vultures. Senior monks meditate there overnight, contemplating impermanence. Skull necklaces are tokens of struggle in the war with Mara, the demon king.

Related: James on the show.

[image of Mandala from the Rubin Museum's web site]

Monthly Archives

Powered by Movable Type 5.2.13

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by published on May 15, 2006 7:00 PM.

Linkage was the previous entry in this blog.

Art and test screenings is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.