In the magazine shop in Grand Central Terminal, the cover of issue 63 of ArtAsiaPacific caught my attention with its visual overload of branding logos, typography, and recognizable cartoon characters. The artwork on the cover is a detail of The Shambala of the Modern Times by Gonkar Gyatso. I like Gyatso's clever integration of pop culture icons and references within the shapes of Buddhist iconography. It wasn't until I delved deeper into the magazine that I realized this juxtaposition. The feature article on the artist entitled Contours of Identity, provides fascinating insight into the cultural, political, and spiritual influences which helped shape the artist's view today.  Born in Lhasa in 1961, he studied traditional Chinese ink-and-brush painting in Bejing. He is the founder of Sweet Tea House, a contemporary Tibetan art gallery. Currently, Gonkar Gyatso lives in London.

"Having lived in Tibet, China, India and the West, Gyatso's art proposes insightful statements on cultural hybridity of globalization as well as the sea change of the world yet to come." —artist bio

Gonkar Gyatso will be a participating artist at the upcoming 53rd International Art Exhibition: Fare Mondi // Making Worlds. The piece shown here will be included with his more recent body of work for the show.

credit for artwork above (plus detail scans): Gonkar Gyatso, The Shambala of Modern Times, 2008, stickers, paper cuttings and pencil on treated paper, 200 x 219 cm. (larger images via flickr)

Topic: Fine Art