Manaku of Guler: Asking Her To Leave Her Noisy Anklets And Go

Oh, those noisy anklets! Well, art can be about anything especially when you have Krishna sitting on one side. Who knows the problems those anklets were causing? I suspect this woman was drawing a little bit too much attention to herself. We all know that’s not where it’s at. Well, I guess we all don’t know that and that’s why we need art. It’s not the moral reminder that lifts me up here, but the gorgeous sense of decorum and the sense that our moral failures, which occasionally exceed noisy anklets, can indeed be corrected.
This exhibit’s a feast for the eyes and mind—the rich colors, the incredible detail, the uninhibited eroticism, the sense of story. There are 123 paintings from India at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on loan from the permanent collection at the San Diego Museum. I love the sense of design and order in Indian miniatures. The paintings are often depictions of stories from one of many religious traditions in India but they all have the same sense of order. Even when a devlish god is thrown to the lions he meets his end with decorum. Like western art these paintings from the 14th to the 19th century often reflected religious beliefs or depicted scenes from court life. Unlike western art Indian paintings are small but less repressed when it comes to the naked body and luscious scenes of love. There’s a joyous sense of the high life and higher life. And they don’t look that different. A real treat.

October 27th, 2006 | Category: Some Good News | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL