Detail: Untitled Identity, an exhibition of new works by the Tibetan artist Tsewang Tashi, will be held by Rossi & Rossi in the gallery Mayfair, London from Thursday 29 October to Thursday 26 November 2009. This is part of a series of solo exhibitions devoted to the work of contemporary Tibetan artists over the past two years.
Tsewang Tashi is a founding member of the Gedun Choephel Artists’ Guild in Lhasa, a group of artists, all born in the turbulent 1960s and ‘70s, who came together in 2003 through shared experiences and common interests. Their work combines a desire to be part of a vibrant contemporary art scene while continuing to respect and value the traditional aspects of Tibet’s unique cultural heritage. Tashi uses his physical environment, real people and contemporary life, as a source of inspiration. He avoids incorporating elements in his work that would perpetuate the myth of Tibet as Shangri-La and believes that contemporary art cannot be created when contemporary life is ignored.
Untitled Identity will be accompanied by a catalogue containing an essay by Kabir Mansingh Heimsath, a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at the University of Oxford who has been studying and working in Lhasa on various projects since 1996. He writes: “Tsewang Tashi’s career defies any preconception of Tibetans isolated on account of mountains, faith or politics. Somewhere within the matrix of his administration, teaching and research, Tsewang finds the space to create shimmering portraits of young Tibetans – photographed, computerized, processed and painted onto massive canvases – potent with stillness.” Fifteen of these haunting works will be offered by Rossi & Rossi for prices ranging from $5,000 to $15,000.