These small paintings on found paper are made anonymously in India (especially in Rajasthan) by practitioners of Tantrism—some of whom are artists—to represent and embody fundamental aspects of Tantra, a vast and complex spiritual and philosophical practice. Viewing or meditating on these reductive and essential images stimulates specific mental and/or spiritual experiences that are part of Tantra’s teachings. While the images are centuries old with highly codified forms and colors, the paintings are packed with such a high level of the artists’ intentionality that they continually appear fresh and alive. Despite their didactic function, they also have a history of being coveted, both in India and in the West, as decorative objects and abstract art. Feature Inc. began exhibiting these anonymous Tantra paintings in 1998, as a result of the gallery’s research into contemporary Indian artists and art.

Connected is a concurrent exhibtion of works on paper by five artists not represented by Feature inc., all of whose work has been influenced by the type of Tantra paintings that Feature exhibits (there are other kinds of Tantra paintings that are very different). The five artists are: Ben Berlow, Mel Bernstine, Léonie Guyer, Bobbie Oliver, and Sherman Sam.

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