MASTER BRUSHWORKS
My style is about freedom, flow. You can always tell a great artist by the freedom of the figures and composition in their work.
July 05, 2024—August 06, 2024
Kapoor Galleries presents Master Brushworks, showcasing new and previously shown paintings by Brooklyn-based Tibetan artist Pema Rinzin. This will be Rinzin’s fourth solo exhibition in New York and his first with Kapoor Galleries, featuring twelve paintings rendered in ground mineral pigments, sumi ink, and gold.
Throughout a career spanning more than three decades, traveling and living in India, Germany, and Japan, Rinzin—a master in the art of traditional Thangka painting—seeks to demonstrate the
essence of Tibetan art through his striking contemporary practice. The artist’s work carries a modern aesthetic, while simultaneously incorporating the techniques of centuries-old traditional Thangka painting. Unlike classical Thangka paintings, which traditionally depict Buddhist deities, scenes from the life of the Buddha, and mandalas, Rinzin’s work incorporates contemporary elements, informed by his crosscultural experiences and influences from Western and Asian art.
The works in Rinzin’s exhibition embody selfexpression and attention to detail. As the title of the exhibition suggests, the artist’s works emphasize brushwork and drawing - the foundations of Thangka painting and the first skills he developed during his artistic training. Rinzin’s work is influenced by his years living in Japan, where he was exposed to Chinese, Korean, and Japanese traditions of brushwork, especially the work of Hokusai and the Kano school. “Master brushwork means you can see depth and color in the black and white of sumi-ink art. If you pay attention to the brushwork of Tibetan art, it is the same. Drawing and brushwork are the essence of Tibetan art.”
The artist’s works depict various species of birds, marine life, stylized clouds, flowers, and gems. All of these are motifs that recur throughout the history of Thangka painting, elements of nature that represent peace, joy, and prosperity. Rinzin has taken them out of the background of traditional Thangkas and brought them into the forefront of his contemporary style. “A master artist’s style is defined by their self-expression. When I paint birds and fishes, I don’t think of them as animals, I portray them with human-like expressions. They are sentient beings like us after all, and each one has character, just like every person has a unique personality. When I paint, my emotions are reflected in their faces, in the motion of the fish and the flight of the birds.”
“My style is about freedom, flow. You can always tell a great artist by the freedom of the figures and
“Master brushwork means you can see depth and color in the black and white of sumiink art. If you pay attention to the brushwork of Tibetan art, it is the same. Drawing and brushwork are the essence of Tibetan art.”
Wings of Joy II, 2016
Sumi ink, ground mineral pigments and gold on canvas
72 x 60 in (182.9 x 152.4 cm)
composition in their work,” Rinzin elaborates. This conception is powerfully displayed in the Wings of Joy series. Flocks of birds in black sumi and orange cinnabar ink perch atop golden spheres; rendered in dynamic brushstrokes they seem to fly across the canvas. Rinzin also showcases his signature style in Bird Mandala (Orange). The artist adopts a pattern of concentric circles as seen in traditional mandala paintings, using various ground mineral pigments and gold. Each circle is overlaid with throngs of pheasants, cranes, owls and parrots delicately illustrated in Sumi ink.
With the importance of self-expression and the individual artist’s style in mind, Rinzin hopes that people take a look at Tibetan art with a new perspective. “Tibetan art is not just about Buddhas and bodhisattvas, it is about the artist’s selfexpression. Traditional Thangka painters focused on brushing each line like it was an entire painting. They made their colors from minerals that came from the earth under their feet. My work shows that level of care, and hopefully it helps you to notice that level of care in the exceptional thangka collection of Kapoor Galleries.”
[On right]
40 x 30 in (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
Around White Flowers I, 2017
Ground mineral pigments and sumi ink on canvas
Life Around Fishes I, 2017
Ground mineral pigments, natural dye and sumi ink on wood
30 x 20 in (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Life Around Fishes II, 2017
Ground mineral pigments, natural dye and sumi ink on wood
30 x 20 in (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Life Around Fishes III, 2017
Ground mineral pigments, natural dye and sumi ink on wood
30 x 20 in (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Life Around Fishes IV, 2017
Ground mineral pigments, natural dye and sumi ink on wood
30 x 20 in (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Cloud Cosmos Light Blue I, 2022
Ground mineral pigments and sumi ink on wood
24 x 24 in (61 x 61 cm)
ABOUT PEMA RINZIN
Born in 1966 in Tibet, Pema Rinzin grew up in Dharamsala, India, where he trained with master Thangka painters including Kalsang Oshoe, Khepa Gonpo, and Rigdzin Paljor from 1979 to 1983. Rinzin received a degree in traditional Tibetan Thangka Painting and Fine Art from both the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) painting school and the studio of master Kalsang Oshoe. The artist subsequently taught Renaissance, Impressionist, Abstract Expressionist art, and cartoon drawing for eight years at the TCV School in Dharamsala. This multidisciplinary experience early on in Rinzin’s career has had a lasting influence on his work as a contemporary artist.
Rinzin was the first Tibetan artist in residence at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, where his contemporary style art gained prominence after his work was exhibited in the Rubin Museum’s 2010 group exhibition Tradition Transformed; New York’s first museum exhibition of contemporary Tibetan artists. In 2007, Rinzin founded the New York Tibetan Art Studio (NYTAS), the only school in New York committed to teaching and preserving the classical art of Thangka painting. NYTAS has received recognition from Tibet House US and the Office of H.H the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala as an institution preserving Tibetan culture.
The artist’s work is held in numerous public and private collections most notably H.H. Dalai Lama, the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, and The Shoko-ji Cultural Research Institute, Nagano, Japan.
Selected solo exhibitions include Wings of Joy, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York (2016), Abstract Enlightenment, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York (2014); Compassion Transformed, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York (2011); Tibetan Fine Art Exhibition, Villa Dessauer, Bamberg, Germany (2005).
Selected group exhibitions include Light of Summer (2023) at Active Space, Brooklyn, NY; The Ten Year Anniversary Show (2018) and Your Favorite Artist’s Favorite Artist (2014), both at Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY; New Voices, Active Space, New York, NY (2014); Tibet. Art. Now, Palazzo Nerucci, Castel del Piano, Italy (2011); Tradition Transformed (2010) and Big! Himalayan Art Exhibition (2008), both at Rubin Museum of Art, New York, NY.
[On right]
Dreams and Offerings, 2023
Ground mineral pigments, sumi ink and gold on canvas
72 x 48 in (182.9 x 121.9 cm)
Wings of Joy III, 2019
Sumi ink, cinnabar ink, ground mineral pigments and gold on canvas
30 x 20 in (76.2 x 50.8 cm)
Bird Mandala (Orange), 2016
Ground mineral pigments, gold, natural dye and sumi ink on canvas
40 x 40 in (101.6 x 101.6 cm)
