It’s easy to think of Modernism as a cultural movement only belonging to Western society—those are the images that are popular and recognizable. But do we ever think of Modernism in the East? The Rubin Museum of Art, an institution dedicated to the art of the Himalayas, is currently exhibiting the first installment of a three-part Modernist Art from India series. The museum’s current exhibition, The Body Unbound, is collection of figurative art from the early 1940s to the mid-1980s.
The works celebrate India’s tradition in the representation of the human figure while exploring the country’s post-colonial modern era. The show contains works by twenty-three 20th century artists, including the influential painter B. Prabha, who mostly dedicated herself to depicting rural women, and the now 89 year old artist S.H. Raza, who broke all records in 2010 when his abstraction Saurashtra sold for $3.49 million in the Indian art market. The Body Unbound will be on display through April 9, so in the meantime, it could be an alternative to seeing Picasso and De Kooning while in the city.
DZI: The Voice 