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In two recent gallery shows in New York female artists of Indian heritage emphasized the universal appeal and power of female Hindu deities. In India， taking such artistic license can stir controversy over crossing a religious line. When the Indian ad agency Taproot released an "Abused Goddesses" campaign in India in September， Jaine Wahi， an American curator of Indian descent， had a two-part reaction. First she liked it； the世俗艺术与激进主义并存由专注毕业论文与职称论文的www.udooo.com提供,转载请保留.n she didn't. In the campaign， photographs are taken of women dressed according to depictions of Hindu goddesses， but marred by bruises and open wounds. "Pray that we never see this day，" reads the accompanying message. "Today， more than 68 percent of women in India are victims of domestic violence. Tomorrow， it seems like no woman shall be spared. Not even the ones we pray to." "Initially I liked the campaign because it brought to light a lot of the social hypocrisy，" Wahi said in a recent phone interview. "Butthen when I thought about， the less I liked it. It removes autonomy from women and makes the issue male-centric. They are targeting the abuser. They are saying： This is what you're doing to our women. This message further objectifies women and the ads weaken the goddess figure." The subject of who can tap Hindu goddess imagery and for what reasons has been stirring rising discussion， particularly in India， where some female artists are invoking goddess power in a year of notoriously brutal gang rapes. Here in New York， Wahi and artist， Manjari Sharma， recently held overlapping gallery shows that removed the Hindu goddesses from sacred religious ceremonies and invited the universal appreciation of anyone who walked in.
At Wahi's exhibit， "The Least Orthodox Goddess，" held at Gallery 151 in Manhattan， white walls were dotted with contemporary paintings， word-art and a solid white box with a hole， that if looked into， revealed an old-fashioned Hindi film actress， mid-song， with a cathedral in the backdrop.
A few blocks away， at the ClampArt gallery， Sharma produced a very different atmosphere in her show "Darshan，" a Sanskrit word used to describe a connection between a deity and a mortal. Vedic verses， texts extracted from Hindu holy scriptures， permeated the air and were punctuated by the anecdotal crackling of oil lamps. Vibrant photographs depicting Hindu deities--four gods and four goddesses--occupied their own dark gray walls where the shadows of the flames are enhanced. The eight god and goddesses were chosen by Sharma herself， according to her own darshan， or idea of the personality and appearance of the god or goddess. In a phone interview， Sharma said that the relics that she used in the show are "meant to inspire moments of greatness from within us."世俗艺术与激进主义并存由优秀论文网站www.udooo.com提供,助您写好论文.
At Wahi's exhibit， "The Least Orthodox Goddess，" held at Gallery 151 in Manhattan， white walls were dotted with contemporary paintings， word-art and a solid white box with a hole， that if looked into， revealed an old-fashioned Hindi film actress， mid-song， with a cathedral in the backdrop.
A few blocks away， at the ClampArt gallery， Sharma produced a very different atmosphere in her show "Darshan，" a Sanskrit word used to describe a connection between a deity and a mortal. Vedic verses， texts extracted from Hindu holy scriptures， permeated the air and were punctuated by the anecdotal crackling of oil lamps. Vibrant photographs depicting Hindu deities--four gods and four goddesses--occupied their own dark gray walls where the shadows of the flames are enhanced. The eight god and goddesses were chosen by Sharma herself， according to her own darshan， or idea of the personality and appearance of the god or goddess. In a phone interview， Sharma said that the relics that she used in the show are "meant to inspire moments of greatness from within us."世俗艺术与激进主义并存由优秀论文网站www.udooo.com提供,助您写好论文.