Commentary / GEDUN CHOEPHAL

‘Sacred face’
(part of a series)

The face of a woman and the profile of a chiru, the endangered Tibetan antelope, gaze out in wrapt curiosity from this painting by artist Ang Sang. Against an overwhelmingly grey background, their wide eyes are strikingly bright and open. What are they watching that so holds their attention? The woman wears a Nike swoosh on her hat; and the chiru, that mascot of indigenous culture, sports a Playboy bunny. These logos, the bright red symbolism of which screams from the page like a noisy new entrant, seem to partake in their wearers’ viewership. What is the relationship here? Woman and antelope fix their gaze on a common object. What they are watching must be truly beautiful, or truly repugnant, to so fascinate both human and beast. But the searing colour of the corporate logos has started to invade the whites of their eyes.

This is part of a regular series of Himal’s commentary on artwork by artists with the Lhasa-based Gedun Choephel Artists’ Guild. Woodblock with brushwork, mineral pigments. 50 cm x 50 cm.