Bharti Kher: Chimeras

‘I like the word ‘unpleasant’’ says UK-born, Indian contemporary artist Bharti Kher, whose heterogeneous oeuvre of work comprises painting, sculpture and installation.

She works primarily with representations of the female body and plays with the varied roles of women in society and culture. In her work from the last twenty years, time and again we see the motif of the bhindi, the dot painted on the forehead between the eyebrows that comes from Hindu tradition.

Chimera, the title of the exhibition at the Kunsthaus Pasquart in Biel, can be understood in relation to mythology as well as genetics. Bharti Kher sees her artistic practice as the search for the chimera, and in her works she hovers on the dividing line between reality and illusion.

Her monumental pieces encompass ideas of identity, social roles and gender. In interplay with clear references to the anatomy of humans and animals, they trigger strong emotions in observers such as alarm, confusion, shock or amusement.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition, Bharti Kher: Chimeras at Kunsthaus Centre d’art Pasquart Biel/Bienne (26 June – 28 August 2018).

Written by Aveek Sen, Susan Silas, Chrysanne Stathacos
176 pages
Published by Kunst
Hardcover

7.8 x 10 inches