Past Exhibitions
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Library Photos by Aaron Araki
Auditorium Photos by Matthew Ward |
The Eye is the First Circle by Charwei Tsai | Curated by Haema Sivanesan
Opening Reception: Sunday, November 21, 2021, 1-5pm PT, Free and Open to the Public
Closing: Saturday, March 19, 2022, 4-8 pm PT
Exhibition Runs: November 21, 2021-March 19, 2022
Public Programs: Selected video works on view in auditorium every Friday; A conversation with artist and curator Tuesday, March 1st at 7pm PT
Regular Exhibition Hours: Tuesday-Friday 12-6pm, and by appointment (library@prs.org)
PRS is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in Los Angeles by internationally acclaimed visual artist, Charwei Tsai (Taiwan), The Eye is the First Circle.
The Eye is the First Circle features new works based on the artist's research conducted at the PRS Library in 2019 on the mandala and its relationship to practices of pilgrimage. Tsai utilized Manly Palmer Hall's collection of tantric buddhist texts and artwork, and reflected on his writings on the thousand year old rituals and traditions at Koyasan tracing his own steps during her pilgrimage to Mount Koya, Japan. Taking its title from the opening sentence of Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay on spiritual growth Circles (1841), Tsai explores how artistic research coordinating with everyday interactions in life and nature are experienced as opportunities for personal growth and transformation, where the world itself is regarded as the manifestation of divine power.
The exhibition consists of a series of inter-connected bodies of work that explore the idea of the mandala, often described as a ritual circle. The central installation of the exhibition is an installation made of mirrors and ashes titled The Womb and The Diamond – Seed Syllables (2021) referring to two important mandalas in the tantric buddhist tradition Shingon. A series of five scroll paintings elaborate on this theme, invoking the Five Tathagatas or buddha principles that aid in transforming afflictive emotions into wisdom. Set among these scrolls are beautiful scripted shells and wooden blocks, along with a program of video works that elaborate on the artist’s engagement with tantra. A selection of relevant books and articles from the PRS Library collection provide insight into the artist’s research and background context for these works. Taken together, the exhibition transforms the space of the PRS Library into a mandala.
A new publication on the artist’s recent work, The Womb & The Diamond (Taiwan: Live Forever Foundation, 2021) is now available at the PRS Bookstore.
Charwei Tsai is preoccupied with the human/nature relationship. Her work meditates on the complexities of cultural beliefs, spirituality, and existential transience. Her multi-media practice is highly personal yet universal in her exploration of geographical, social, and spiritual motifs, encouraging viewer participation beyond passive viewing.
Her recent exhibitions include: Lines Tell Everything about the Universe at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2021); Biennale Jogja #5 Equator (2019); Power of Intention: Reinventing the (prayer) Wheel at Rubin Museum, New York (2019); Water at Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia (2019); Charwei Tsai: Bulaubulau (solo) at Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA), Manchester, UK (2018); Minimalism: Space, Light, Object at Art Science Museum in collaboration with National Gallery Singapore (2018); Hear Her Singing, commissioned by Hayward Gallery at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London, UK (2017) Water Moon (solo) at Institute of Contemporary Art, Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, France (2017) and Biennale of Sydney The Future is Already Here (2016). Tsai also publishes a curatorial journal Lovely Daze, since 2005. The complete set of journals is in the library collections of MoMA, Tate Modern, Pompidou Center, and MACBA, Barcelona. Tsai graduated from Rhode Island School of Design (2002) and completed the postgraduate research program, La Seine, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris (2010).
Curator: Haema Sivanesan is Chief Curator of the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB Canada. Her curatorial work typically focuses on art from South and Southeast Asia and its diasporas, with an interest in non-western, post-colonial and transnational art histories, world views and practices. She is the curator of the major exhibition and publication project, In the Present Moment: Buddhism, Contemporary Art and Social Practice (forthcoming, 2022-23).
Closing: Saturday, March 19, 2022, 4-8 pm PT
Exhibition Runs: November 21, 2021-March 19, 2022
Public Programs: Selected video works on view in auditorium every Friday; A conversation with artist and curator Tuesday, March 1st at 7pm PT
Regular Exhibition Hours: Tuesday-Friday 12-6pm, and by appointment (library@prs.org)
PRS is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in Los Angeles by internationally acclaimed visual artist, Charwei Tsai (Taiwan), The Eye is the First Circle.
The Eye is the First Circle features new works based on the artist's research conducted at the PRS Library in 2019 on the mandala and its relationship to practices of pilgrimage. Tsai utilized Manly Palmer Hall's collection of tantric buddhist texts and artwork, and reflected on his writings on the thousand year old rituals and traditions at Koyasan tracing his own steps during her pilgrimage to Mount Koya, Japan. Taking its title from the opening sentence of Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay on spiritual growth Circles (1841), Tsai explores how artistic research coordinating with everyday interactions in life and nature are experienced as opportunities for personal growth and transformation, where the world itself is regarded as the manifestation of divine power.
The exhibition consists of a series of inter-connected bodies of work that explore the idea of the mandala, often described as a ritual circle. The central installation of the exhibition is an installation made of mirrors and ashes titled The Womb and The Diamond – Seed Syllables (2021) referring to two important mandalas in the tantric buddhist tradition Shingon. A series of five scroll paintings elaborate on this theme, invoking the Five Tathagatas or buddha principles that aid in transforming afflictive emotions into wisdom. Set among these scrolls are beautiful scripted shells and wooden blocks, along with a program of video works that elaborate on the artist’s engagement with tantra. A selection of relevant books and articles from the PRS Library collection provide insight into the artist’s research and background context for these works. Taken together, the exhibition transforms the space of the PRS Library into a mandala.
A new publication on the artist’s recent work, The Womb & The Diamond (Taiwan: Live Forever Foundation, 2021) is now available at the PRS Bookstore.
Charwei Tsai is preoccupied with the human/nature relationship. Her work meditates on the complexities of cultural beliefs, spirituality, and existential transience. Her multi-media practice is highly personal yet universal in her exploration of geographical, social, and spiritual motifs, encouraging viewer participation beyond passive viewing.
Her recent exhibitions include: Lines Tell Everything about the Universe at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2021); Biennale Jogja #5 Equator (2019); Power of Intention: Reinventing the (prayer) Wheel at Rubin Museum, New York (2019); Water at Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia (2019); Charwei Tsai: Bulaubulau (solo) at Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA), Manchester, UK (2018); Minimalism: Space, Light, Object at Art Science Museum in collaboration with National Gallery Singapore (2018); Hear Her Singing, commissioned by Hayward Gallery at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London, UK (2017) Water Moon (solo) at Institute of Contemporary Art, Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, France (2017) and Biennale of Sydney The Future is Already Here (2016). Tsai also publishes a curatorial journal Lovely Daze, since 2005. The complete set of journals is in the library collections of MoMA, Tate Modern, Pompidou Center, and MACBA, Barcelona. Tsai graduated from Rhode Island School of Design (2002) and completed the postgraduate research program, La Seine, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris (2010).
Curator: Haema Sivanesan is Chief Curator of the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB Canada. Her curatorial work typically focuses on art from South and Southeast Asia and its diasporas, with an interest in non-western, post-colonial and transnational art histories, world views and practices. She is the curator of the major exhibition and publication project, In the Present Moment: Buddhism, Contemporary Art and Social Practice (forthcoming, 2022-23).
Selected films: 1. Incense Mantra (2013) 8.00 2. Alba’s Pilgrimage (2012) 10.46 3. Bulaubulau (2018) 12.37 4. Songs of Chechupati Camp (2017) 17.03 5. Root of Desire (2018) 7.07 6. Bardo (2016) 5.30
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SACRED ORNAMENTS BY MALADO BALDWIN
Opening: Saturday, June 22nd, 2019 - 5pm-8pm
Closing: Saturday, August 31, 2019
*Inner Light Embroidery sculpture and Talisman Charm were donated by the artist and are permanently on display in the PRS Library
Malado Baldwin (b. Malado Francine Baldwin-Tejeda) is an American artist based in Los Angeles. The daughter of Peace Corps volunteers and development workers, she spent her childhood in West Africa. Her diverse cultural and genetic background becomes a rich source for her telling of personal narratives as presented through larger cultural myths and histories. Highly researched and richly textured, Malado's work draws us into stories where symbolic artifacts from one culture can be reworked by another. New meaning is created in objects by allowing cultures to mix in surprising ways. The artist’s curiosity about her roots began a journey of exploration and discovery, and years of research into symbolic ornamentation across diverse cultures and religions. She began her research at the PRS Library, so it is fitting to see her work displayed in this context, exemplifying PRS' mission of the diversity of wisdom.
INNER LIGHT EMBROIDERIES (embroidery on fabric) 2018
The embroidered textile collars were made in the style of contemporary Senegalese embroidery. The designs are based on representations of sacred “inner light,” or “divine presence,” sometimes depicted as halos or rays of light in Christian, Buddhist, and other religions. By flipping the imagery and turning them into vibrantly-colored ornamental wearables in collaboration with Muslim tailors, they become newly symbolic works of art. They are presented encased as in a jewelry display, as objects to ponder.
PECTORAL (3D print) 2018
The "wind breastplate" of the “feathered serpent" -a Mesoamerican iconic image of Quetzalcoatl’s pectoral is rendered as a 3D print as a "ghost image" in white of a disappearing artifact. Traditionally the pectorals were made of conch shells and worn by priests throughout the region of various religions, and through generations. As original artifacts, few remain. In Nahuatl, the neckpiece is called the ehecailacacozcatl, meaning the wind before a rainstorm, or the “spirally voluted wind jewel.” As the multi-faceted God of wind, air, and learning, the planet Venus, of arts, crafts, and knowledge, Quetzalcoatl is depicted as a benevolent God who taught humans science and invented the calendar.
HALO / CROWN (3D print) 2019
This 3D-printed “ghost image” of a halo, crown, or laurel, is based on depictions of the Virgin Mary in Mexican and Italian sculptures. Halos often represent a circle of light around a holy person or saint. It is a modern “pop” interpretation, which includes snakes, daisies, and moons. With thirteen extended rays carrying flowers, the Chinese lucky number symbolizes ‘assured growth’ and ‘vibrancy’.
TALISMANS / CHARMS (3D prints) 2019
In these jewelry-like 3D-printed objects, versatile symbolic talismans are fashioned in multiple mediums in geometries of colored plastic and plated metals. They recall Tuareg veil weights, or veil fasteners worn by the nomadic women in the African desert to keep their head scarfs from flying off in the wind, also called “assrou n’ swoul”, or, “the key which is thrown over the shoulder”. Made as wearable pendants or charms, they are intended to bring good luck and to unlock wishes.
Closing: Saturday, August 31, 2019
*Inner Light Embroidery sculpture and Talisman Charm were donated by the artist and are permanently on display in the PRS Library
Malado Baldwin (b. Malado Francine Baldwin-Tejeda) is an American artist based in Los Angeles. The daughter of Peace Corps volunteers and development workers, she spent her childhood in West Africa. Her diverse cultural and genetic background becomes a rich source for her telling of personal narratives as presented through larger cultural myths and histories. Highly researched and richly textured, Malado's work draws us into stories where symbolic artifacts from one culture can be reworked by another. New meaning is created in objects by allowing cultures to mix in surprising ways. The artist’s curiosity about her roots began a journey of exploration and discovery, and years of research into symbolic ornamentation across diverse cultures and religions. She began her research at the PRS Library, so it is fitting to see her work displayed in this context, exemplifying PRS' mission of the diversity of wisdom.
INNER LIGHT EMBROIDERIES (embroidery on fabric) 2018
The embroidered textile collars were made in the style of contemporary Senegalese embroidery. The designs are based on representations of sacred “inner light,” or “divine presence,” sometimes depicted as halos or rays of light in Christian, Buddhist, and other religions. By flipping the imagery and turning them into vibrantly-colored ornamental wearables in collaboration with Muslim tailors, they become newly symbolic works of art. They are presented encased as in a jewelry display, as objects to ponder.
PECTORAL (3D print) 2018
The "wind breastplate" of the “feathered serpent" -a Mesoamerican iconic image of Quetzalcoatl’s pectoral is rendered as a 3D print as a "ghost image" in white of a disappearing artifact. Traditionally the pectorals were made of conch shells and worn by priests throughout the region of various religions, and through generations. As original artifacts, few remain. In Nahuatl, the neckpiece is called the ehecailacacozcatl, meaning the wind before a rainstorm, or the “spirally voluted wind jewel.” As the multi-faceted God of wind, air, and learning, the planet Venus, of arts, crafts, and knowledge, Quetzalcoatl is depicted as a benevolent God who taught humans science and invented the calendar.
HALO / CROWN (3D print) 2019
This 3D-printed “ghost image” of a halo, crown, or laurel, is based on depictions of the Virgin Mary in Mexican and Italian sculptures. Halos often represent a circle of light around a holy person or saint. It is a modern “pop” interpretation, which includes snakes, daisies, and moons. With thirteen extended rays carrying flowers, the Chinese lucky number symbolizes ‘assured growth’ and ‘vibrancy’.
TALISMANS / CHARMS (3D prints) 2019
In these jewelry-like 3D-printed objects, versatile symbolic talismans are fashioned in multiple mediums in geometries of colored plastic and plated metals. They recall Tuareg veil weights, or veil fasteners worn by the nomadic women in the African desert to keep their head scarfs from flying off in the wind, also called “assrou n’ swoul”, or, “the key which is thrown over the shoulder”. Made as wearable pendants or charms, they are intended to bring good luck and to unlock wishes.
