Frieze Viewing Room: Spiritual Architecture

7th October, 2020 - 16th October, 2020

Spiritual Architecture

Two intellectually stimulating and ground-breaking exhibitions recently opened in London: ‘Tantra: Enlightenment and Revolution’ at the British Museum and ‘The Botanical Mind’ at the Camden Arts Centre, to which our gallery has contributed; these shows explore the themes of spirituality within the organic and inorganic as well as the power of objects to transform religious, cultural and political thought.

In keeping with these thematic approaches, Prahlad Bubbar is delighted to present: ‘Spiritual Architecture’ for Frieze Viewing Room. Moving from interiority and a spiritual space into the world at large, the artworks chosen for our exhibition in this year’s frieze masters document this transcendental passage from medium to eye, and function as conduits for wonder, illusion, introspection and reflection.

A remarkable 17th century altar head of the Hindu goddess Gauri epitomises the divine feminine energy that characterised Tantra as it inspired the dramatic rise of goddess worship in medieval India, while a late 18th century North Indian white marble fountain with Kufic design magnificently embodies the Islamic garden as a place where body and mind find realisation in the dialogue between terrestrial life and the divine. A rare and superb vintage gelatin silver print of 1925-26 by Constantin Brâncuși of his bronze ‘Bird in Space’ challenges the notion of what is medium and what is spirit as, through this image, the celebrated sculpture takes flight into the heart and soul.