A Nepali Great
Kiran Manandhar, Aatma (Soul) II, 2016, acrylic on canvas, (image from eartsnepal.com)
I can’t stop looking at this image. This is the feeling I get during a good meditation, when the universe expands to infinity and I feel blissfully, joyously connected. I was mesmerised even before seeing the title, Aatma, the Hundu word for soul and the concept of the true or eternal self.
When I read that the Rubin Museum in New York is closing its location (alas, having lived across the street from it for 2 years while in NYC, I never once found the time to enter while managing to visit the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris on several occasions - it is always the things closest to you …), with an exhibition of contemporary Himalayan art, I wanted to know more about contemporary art in that region.
That is how I discovered the work of Kiran Manandhar (1957 Kathmandu, Nepal), hailed as a pioneer who transformed Nepali contemporary art - previously constrained by strict iconographical rules - while staying true to his cultural roots.
Kiran Manandhar, Ganesh, acrylic on canvas, (image from eartsnepal.com)
There is something so peaceful and alive about the image of Ganesh, above. Movement and repose, energy and calm, in perfect balance.
Manandhar’s style is shaped by his life: his childhood in Kathmandu, Nepal; a Master in Fine Arts from Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India; and his years in a Parisian art residency, where he was inspired by abstract and abstract expressionist works by creative giants such as Kandinsky and De Kooning.
Kiran Manandhar, Spontaneous Expression, 2007, mixed media on canvas, (image from Nepal Art Now)
Manandhar’s art retains the culture and philosophy of traditional Nepali arts - the mandalic motifs, the iconic tradition of deities, and the emphasis on reflection and meditation. Yet, the subject matter is expressed in a unique and harmonious blend of abstract, expressionist and traditional forms amidst an explosion of colour.
Kiran Manandhar, Aatma (Soul) Series, 2016, acrylic on canvas, (image from eartsnepal.com)
In addition to themes of enlightenment and love, Manandhar loves to capture the female form, famously saying “I love women … I like beauty. I don’t actually know how to draw men.”
His women are fish-eyed, sharp-nosed, and drawn in silhouette. A concept that might be lost on us in the West, growing up with a somewhat different ideal of female beauty!
Kiran Manandhar, Love and Passion I, 2021, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, (image from eartsnepal.com)
According to Manandhar, the inspiration for these unusual features came from alto-relievo (high relief) carvings which he saw in his youth on the walls of India’s Khajuraho temples, a complex built between 9th and 11th centuries. He says that the eyes “are inspired by fish and fish are lively [sic?], just like the eyes of a woman”. (quote from Kathmandu Post).
Kiran Manandhar, Aatma (Soul) VI, 2017, acrylic on canvas
Over the past five decades, Manandhar has become an iconic figure in Nepal, with works in the Museum of Nepali Art. He was Chancellor of the Nepal Academy of Fine Arts until 2014, and continues to inspire young generations of artists.
FB page (despite the odd misspelling in the link, it works): https://www.facebook.com/contemporarypaimtimg
It seems that the greatest concentration of Manandhar’s works is at the Modern and Contemporary Nepali Arts website, https://eartsnepal.com