Phoenix Art Museum presents striking photographic works of Hindu deities by Manjari Sharma

Oct, 25, 2023

PhotographyModern and Contemporary ArtAsian Art

Phoenix Art Museum presents striking photographic works of Hindu deities by Manjari Sharma

Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen from the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama places contemporary works in conversation with historical objects to explore connections between art and religious faith

PHOENIX (October 25, 2023) – This winter, Phoenix Art Museum presents Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen, showcasing the remarkable, large-scale work of global contemporary artist Manjari Sharma. Organized by the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama, the exhibition features Sharma’s intricate photographic portraits from her Darshan series, paired alongside historical sculptural objects from the collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art, many of which are on view for the first time. Together these works explore issues of identity, multiculturalism, and personal mythology. Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen will be on view from December 16, 2023 through April 14, 2024 in the Katz Wing at Phoenix Art Museum.

“Phoenix Art Museum is proud to present Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen as the inaugural exhibition in a newly renovated temporary exhibition space located on the third floor of the Katz Wing,” said Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “This exhibition will acquaint our visitors with Manjari Sharma, an outstanding contemporary artist who is taking classic Hindu images and reimagining them through the photographic medium, in conversation with a selection of sculptural objects from the Birmingham Museum of Art collection. Expanding Darshan further illuminates our institutional approach of pairing historical works of art with modern and contemporary works, thus deepening connections and relationships with diverse and multi-generational communities. Expanding Darshan is accompanied by a robust series of arts-engagement programming, highlighting the tenets and cultural practices of Hinduism, the third largest religion worldwide.” 

Based in Los Angeles, Sharma was born and raised in Mumbai, India, and creates work rooted in photographic portraiture that addresses issues of identity, multiculturalism, and personal mythology. The series’ name refers to the Sanskrit word Darshana, which means “sight,” “vision,” or “appearance.” In the Hindu faith, ‘darshan’ refers to the experience of seeing or witnessing a deity, spiritual object, or holy person in either real or imagined form. True darshan is not simply a voyeuristic relationship—it is a mutual interaction between viewer and subject that results in a powerful form of worship.

To bring her Darshan series to fruition, Sharma worked across continents to organize and manage a large team of models and craftspeople, including prop builders, makeup artists, art directors, painters, carpenters, jewelry experts, and assistants, whose labor and expertise informed her photographic recreations of nine Hindu deities in temple settings. These images were created with custom fabrication and have been featured in The New York Times, Vice Magazine, and Los Angeles Times, among others.

“My practice is shaped by my cultural curiosity about the inner landscape of the human mind and its inextricable, elemental, and sacred relationship to ritual and mythology,” said Sharma. “I use my lens of introspection to conceptually collage from scriptures of yesterday juxtaposing them with how they transpire into everyday narratives of today. Darshan was the culmination of my deep-seated interest in studying, questioning, and celebrating these epic states of human imagination, history, performance, and transformation.”

In dialogue with these contemporary images, the exhibition presents much earlier sculptural objects from the collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art, many of which are on view to the public for the first time. These works date as early as the 7th century and offer waves of stylistic and regional iterations—from both South and Southeast Asia—of these same nine Hindu deities. Together with Sharma’s works, they amplify ongoing conversations about the inextricable relationship between art and religion, and how each generation of contemporary artists continues to cull inspiration from their personal experiences, individual cultures, and spiritual practices to refresh and re-envision images from an earlier history.

“Amplified by Sharma’s extraordinary photographs, this exhibition demonstrates—over centuries—a larger sphere of exchange throughout South and Southeast Asia of magnificent shared visual and textual sources not only for Hinduism, but also for Buddhism, Jainism, and even aspects of Islamic religious traditions as practiced throughout the regions,” said Katherine Anne Paul, PhD, the Virginia and William M. Spencer III Curator of Asian Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue featuring photographs by Sharma and historical works from the collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art. The publication serves as an accessible primer to the arts of Hinduism by introducing nine of the most significant deities of the Hindu pantheon and their contemporary relevance in art and faith. The book also places Sharma in conversation with renowned curator Bridget Bray of Asia Society Texas Center, content that provides insight into the contemporary thoughts, challenges, and opportunities Sharma generated through her Darshan series. Angela May contextualizes other forms of contemporary artistic practice in Angkor, Cambodia, which respond to the UNESCO world heritage site. Finally, select case studies offer insights into institutional transparency, connoisseurship, and provenance for specific works featured in the volume.

High-resolution photography can be downloaded here. To request interviews, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at 602.257.2117 or samantha.santos@phxart.org.

About the Exhibition
Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen is organized by Birmingham Museum of Art. The exhibition’s presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is coordinated by Janet Baker, PhD, Curator Emerita of Asian Art, and Rachel Sadvary Zebro, associate curator for collections, at Phoenix Art Museum, in collaboration with Katherine Anne Paul, PhD, the Virginia and William M. Spencer III Curator of Asian Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen is made possible through the generosity of Men’s Arts Council, with additional support from E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation and Vermaland, LLC.

All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum Exhibition Excellence Fund, founded by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional major support provided by Joan Cremin.

Admission is free for Museum Members; veterans, active-duty military, and their immediate families; youth aged 5 and younger; and Maricopa County Community Colleges students. Entrance into the exhibition is included in general admission for the public. Visitors may also enjoy reduced admission to the exhibition during voluntary-donation times on Wednesdays from 3 – 9 pm, made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix. For a full breakdown of general-admission prices and hours, see phxart.org/visit/.

About Phoenix Art Museum
Since 1959, Phoenix Art Museum has provided millions of guests with access to world-class art and experiences in an effort to ignite imaginations, create meaningful connections, and serve as a brave space for all people who wish to experience the transformative power of art. Located in Phoenix’s Central Corridor, the Museum is a vibrant destination for the visual arts and the largest art museum in the southwestern United States. Each year, more than 300,000 guests engage with critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions and the Museum’s collection of more than 20,000 works of American and Western American, Asian, European, Latin American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design. The Museum also presents a comprehensive film program, live performances, and educational programs designed for visitors of all ages, along with vibrant photography exhibitions made possible through the Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.