Biren De (1926-2011), February '88, 1988, oil on canvas, 52 x 32 in. (132.1 x 81.3 cm.)

Tantra On the Edge: Inspirations and Experiments in Twentieth Century Indian Art DAG
The Claridges, New Delhi
Now on view through June 27

DAG presents this pioneering effort to exhibit works by Indian modern artists. The exhibition showcases the inspirations and experiments of these trailblazing artists and their relationship with tantra philosophy, its vivid abstract sacred symbols and its spiritual illuminations.

The word tantra derives from the Sanskrit root tan, and holds that it is a revelatory science of expanding human consciousness based on the intrinsic belief in the divinity of the self that has the potentiality to attain alternate states of super consciousness. Curated by Madhu Khanna, each artist on display shows how elements of tantra philosophy or its pictorial language are woven into their individualistic creations. The selected artworks are a product of the encounter and a resurgence of a personal quest for artists to find their severed cultural roots, a triumph free from the servitude of Eurocentric models of expression and self-rule of the creative spirit in the truest sense of the word.

Read more and see the exhibition artworks online, click here