SOHAN QADRI
GALLERY MISSION Established in 2000, Sundaram Tagore Gallery is devoted to examining the exchange of ideas between Western and non-Western cultures. We focus on developing exhibitions and hosting not-for-profit events that encourage spiritual, social and aesthetic dialogues. In a world where communication is instant and cultures are colliding and melding as never before, our goal is to provide venues for art that transcend boundaries of all sorts. With alliances across the globe, our interest in cross-cultural exchange extends beyond the visual arts into many other disciplines, including poetry, literature, performance art, film and music.
new york • hong kong • singapore
BEYOND CANVAS I remember well visiting Sohan Qadri’s studio in Copenhagen many times in the decade before his untimely death in 2011. It was white and minimal in typical Scandinavian style, and as warm and unpretentious as Sohan himself. We’d spend hours there drinking tea while poring over his finely wrought, vibrantly colored paper paintings. Inevitably, we’d start out talking about whatever new work he’d produced since my last visit, and end up deep in conversation about Indian philosophy. It was a subject over which he had a masterful grasp and an equally masterful gift for distilling its complex tenants into simple but powerful language (not surprising, I suppose, since that’s exactly what he did in his paintings, too). And no studio visit was complete without a meal—either home-cooked in his small apartment or at his favorite café overlooking Copenhagen’s picturesque harbor. Sohan was a dear friend, and it’s been my honor to represent him internationally since the late 1990s. During those years, I never failed to be moved by the gravity of his work—so minimal, yet so rich. A poet, painter and Tantric yogi, Sohan was, without a doubt, one of the world’s preeminent spiritual artists. The paintings in this show represents the last great body of work Sohan Qadri produced before his death. I’ve held fast to these pieces, only releasing key paintings to museums, including, most recently, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum, to insure that his legacy continues to grow. But now, it’s my great pleasure to share these paintings with our collectors. This carefully curated selection represents the very best of his available work—and the current prices for these pieces do not yet reflect the latest museum acquisitions or the dwindling number of works in impeccable condition and with pristine provenance. We hope that our collectors will appreciate and treasure these last works as much as we do. —Sundaram Tagore, New York, 2013
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Avici III, 2010, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Puja III, 2006, ink and dye on paper, 39 x 27 inches
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Antara VI, 2005, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Uma IV, 2010, ink and dye on paper, 39 x 27 inches Previous page: Untitled, 2010, ink and dye on paper, 49 x 78.5 inches
Avara, 2007, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Puja V, 2010, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Kama II, 2007, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Loka II, 2005, ink and dye on paper, 39 x 27 inches
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Amrita II, 2008, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Agamas, 2008, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Ambor IV, 2010, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches Previous page: Patha, 2007, ink and dye on paper, 27 x 39 inches
Arti III, 2007, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Dhyana V, 2006, ink and dye on paper, 39 x 27 inches
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Ananda XII, 2008, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches Previous page: Sambodh VI, 2007, ink and dye on paper, 39 x 55 inches
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Agni V, 2008, ink and dye on paper, 39 x 55 inches
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Sriti V, 2008, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Kalinda, 2007, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
Adya II, 2008, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Ananda XIII, 2009, ink and dye on paper, 55 x 39 inches
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Sakti IV, 2010, ink and dye on paper, 27 x 39 inches
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CURRICULUM VITAE Born in 1932, Phagwara, Punjab, India; died in 2011, Toronto
EDUCATION 1951 1955-60 1988
Initiated by Guru Bhikham Giri in yoga, meditation, dance, music Master’s Degree in fine art, Government College of Art, Shimla, India Writers Workshop, Calcutta, India
AWARDS 1982 1968
IAPAA award, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Award in painting, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 2013 2012 2011 2010-11 2010 2009 2008
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Tapping the Third Realm, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles Surface Tension, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Installment 1, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Beyond Canvas: Paintings on Paper and Metal, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore and New York Inside Out: A Group Show, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore Installment 2, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Confluence: Sohan Qadri and Zhang Yu, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong and New York Installment 1, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong and New York Asian Group, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Beverly Hills Spectrum: East/West/Beyond, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Continuum, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Constellation, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Facing East: Contemporary Asian Art, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Rasa: Contemporary Asian Art, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Beverly Hills and Hong Kong Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto Mirrors of Continuous Change, curated by Fré Ilgen, Heungkuk Life Building, Seoul Rasa: Contemporary Asian Art, Sundram Tagore Gallery, Beverly Hills Drishti: A New Vision, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York The Reason for Hope, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York The Reason for Hope, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Beverly Hills The Reason for Hope, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Seer: The Art of Sohan Qadri, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York East Meets West, G20 Days and Hours, Michael Berger Gallery, Pittsburgh Seer: The Art of Sohan Qadri, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Festival of India, Lotos Club, New York
2007
Presence of Being, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Turner Caroll Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Galerie Natalie Seroussi, Paris Florence Biennale, Italy Colors, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Inner Journey, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery, Moscow 2006 Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Gallery II, New York Next Level, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York East/West, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Indigo Blue Art, Singapore Kumar Gallery, New Delhi The Dot & the Dots, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York 2004 The William Benton Museum of Art, Storrs, Connecticut Dissolving Contours, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York 2003 Tibet House, New York Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York 2002-03 The Rye Arts Center, Rye, New York 2002 Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York 2001 Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York A. Jain Marunouchi Gallery, New York 1999 Art and Deal, New Delhi 1995 Gallery 7, Mumbai 1994 Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi Gallery 7, Toronto, Ontario Gallery Shades, Singapore Gallery 7, Mumbai Alliance Française, Nairobi 1990 Court Gallery, Copenhagen 1980 Gallery United, Los Angeles Lyngby Kunstforening, Copenhagen Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi 1978 Galerie International, Stockholm 1977 Chemould Gallery, Mumbai 1976 Galerie Gilles Corbeil, Montreal 1975 Basel Art Fair, Basel Court Gallery, Copenhagen Surya Galerie, Freinsheim, Germany 1974 Taidemuseo, Tampere, Finland 1973 IKI, Dusseldorf, Germany Gentofte Kunstbibliotek, Copehagen Galerie Glaub, Köln, Germany Edition Klingmann, Hannover, Germany 1972 Galerie Rubin & Magnussen, Copenhagen Essex 3 Art Gallery, Los Angeles Picture Loan Gallery, Toronto Galerie 93, Ottawa, Canada Galerie Gilles Corbiel, Montreal 1971 Galerie Rubin & Magnussen, Copenhagen Galerie d’Arte Moderne, Helsingborg, Sweden Galerie Musarion, Basel Gladsaxe Kunstkreds, Copenhagen
1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963
Punjab University Fine Arts Museum, Chandigarh, India Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi Anthony Mellor Gallery, Huddersfield, UK Ars Studio, Aarhus, Denmark Salon International, Paris Commonwealth Institute, London Compedium Gallery, London Ars Studio, Aarhus, Denmark Galerie Stenzel, Munich, Germany La Formiere Galerie, Zürich Galerie Arlequin, Zürich Galerie Junge Generation, Vienna WDK Galerie, Zielona Góra, Poland Paa Ya Paa Gallery, Nairobi New Stanley Gallery, Nairobi Galerie Romain Louis, Brussels AIFACS Gallery, New Delhi Kumar Gallery, New Delhi Sirdharani Gallery, New Delhi Punjab University, Chandigarh
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Ajit Mukherjee, New Delhi Art in Embassy Program, Washington DC Bodo Glaub Museum, Köln, Germany Cirque du Soleil, Montreal Dr. Mulk Raj Anand, Bombay Guy Laliberté, Ibiza Heinrich Böll, Köln, Germany Hitachi Capital, New York Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, New Jersey Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi Neuberger Berman Corporate Collection, New York Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts Pierre Jeanneret, Paris Punjabi University, Patiala, India Remo Galli, Bern, Germany Robert Thurman, New York Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto Rubin Museum of Art, New York Sir Anthony Bamford, UK Slupsk Museum of Modern Art, Slupsk, Poland State Museum and P.U. Museum, Chandigarh, India Svenska Banken, Stockholm Taj Hotel Group, Bombay Target Corporation, Minneapolis Tibet House, New York
SELECTED REVIEWS 2010 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 1999 1995 1995 1990 1987 1978
“Luminous, Dye-Infused Works on Paper by Sohan Qadri at Sundaram Tagore Gallery,” artdaily.org “Meditation Man,” Baccarat magazine, Hong Kong “Seeing Is Believing,” HKstylebook magazine, Hong Kong “Modernism Beyond Modernity,” Asian Art News magazine, Hong Kong “Inner Journey,” Asian Art News magazine, Hong Kong “Do We Need God?” Resurgence magazine, UK “Ahead of the Curve,” Art & Antiques magazine, New York “International Fairs,” Orientations magazine, Hong Kong “East West Dialogue,” Asian Art News magazine, Hong Kong “Art Sourcing,” Forbes Asia “Off The Wall,” Hong Kong Tatler “At the Fair,” Art & Auction magazine, New York “The Seeker,” Resurgence magazine, UK “Portrait of a Tantric as an Artist,” The Telegraph, Calcutta “Creating Illusions,” The Indian Express, New York “Sohan Qadri at Tibet House,” Asian Art News magazine, New York “Sakshi, The Seer,” Art & Deal magazine, New Delhi AntarJoti, Punjabi Sutras, Nav Yug, New Delhi Aforismer, Danish translation of English Sutras,” Omens Forlang, Denmark Boond Samunder, Punjabi Sutras, Amritsar, New Delhi, India The Dot & the Dots, English Sutras, Writers Workshop, Calcutta Mitti Mitti, Punjabi Sutras, Nava Yug, New Delhi The Dot & the Dots, Poems & Paintings, Stockholm
SELECTED AUCTIONS 2008 2007 2006 2006 2005 2003
Asia Art Archive, China Club, Hong Kong Sakhi for South Asian Women, New York Sotheby’s, The Indian Sale, London Sotheby’s, Indian Art including Miniatures and Modern Paintings, New York Sanskriti Foundation, New York Sotheby’s, The Indian Sale, London Sotheby’s, Indian and Southeast Asian Art, New York Christie’s, Indo-American Arts Council, New York Sotheby’s, Indian Art including Miniatures and Modern Paintings, New York Pace Wildenstein, selected by Kiki Smith, New York World Education and Development Fund, New York Tibet House Charity Auction, New York
MEDIA 2007 2007 1980 1979
Talk Asia, CNN International, Hong Kong Middle East Business Report, BBC News, London Journey into Silence, documentary film by Doordarshan (Indian TV) Tantra –The Ancient Art of Energy, TV2, Sweden
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new york new york hong kong singapore
547 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001• tel 212 677 4520 fax 212 677 4521• gallery@sundaramtagore.com 1100 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10028 • tel 212 288 2889 57-59 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong • tel 852 2581 9678 fax 852 2581 9673 • hongkong@sundaramtagore.com 01-05 Gillman Barracks, 5 Lock Road, Singapore 108933 • tel 65 6694 3378 • singapore@sundaramtagore.com
President and curator: Sundaram Tagore Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey Director, Hong Kong: Faina Derman Designer: Russell Whitehead WWW.SUNDARAMTAGORE.COM Text and photographs © 2013 Sundaram Tagore Gallery
Art consultants: Teresa Kelley Bonnie B Lee Sarah Miller Deborah Moreau Mairead O’Connor Benjamin Rosenblatt Melanie Taylor
All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Cover: Prana VI, 2006, ink and dye on paper, 39 x 55 inches