Important Notice

The bindi is the leitmotif in Bharti Kher's works which are usually composed of surfaces entirely covered in large and small bindis. "For the world at large, the 'dot' on the forehead singles out women as Indian. But Bharti subverts this 'exotic' symbol and thereby the outsider's gaze to talk about more pressing women's issues. For her the paradox lies in the fact that the bindi with its traditional and spiritual connotations of... The bindi is the leitmotif in Bharti Kher's works which are usually composed of surfaces entirely covered in large and small bindis. "For the world at large, the 'dot' on the forehead singles out women as Indian. But Bharti subverts this 'exotic' symbol and thereby the outsider's gaze to talk about more pressing women's issues. For her the paradox lies in the fact that the bindi with its traditional and spiritual connotations of the third eye, proudly flashed on a women's forehead, does not in any way empower her to 'see' her oppression in a largely male dominated society. Instead, the bindi has been robbed of its bite and rendered a toothless symbol of consumer fashion or as Kher would put it "a religious token gone secular." (Meera Menezes, Is she Fish or Fowl, Art India, Q4 2002, p. 52)

The present lot has similarities to a series of wall-mounted panels created by Kher in 2006. Comprised of multi-coloured bindis like the lot on auction, they were exhibited at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York, in 2007. "Employing the bindi as a central motif in her work, Kher Shainman Gallery in New York, in 2007. "Employing the bindi as a central motif in her work, Kher abstract designs created by the bindi swirl together to form extraordinary textured surfaces... and the visually arresting compositions of the paintings." ("Bharti Kher", An Absence of Assignable Cause, November 15 - December 22, 2007, Jack Shainman Gallery website)

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