ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates Eyes of Time (2014–2015) at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and The Scorpion Gesture (2018–2019) at the Rubin Museum, where Brooklyn-based visual artist, Chitra Ganesh (b. 1975) creates fantastic feminine iconographies that connect with permanent collections in provocative ways. In Eyes of Time, her mural – a science fictional version of the consortless goddess, Kali – towers over a vitrine of artworks curated by Ganesh that highlight moments of feminine power and representation (from sculptures of the ancient Egyptian goddess, Sekhmet, to Louise Bourgeois’s iconic Eye drawings). Similarly, Ganesh creates digital animations for The Scorpion Gesture that feature feminine figures in speculative form (for example, Maitreya, the Second Buddha). These are exhibited within the permanent collection and mostly comprise manuscripts, paintings, and objects depicting Hindu and Buddhist mythology dating back 1,500 years.
Eyes of Time and The Scorpion Gesture mobilize the feminine form in order to contemplate the future of museological display and conceive an alternative relationship to the ideological apparatus of the museum – one grounded in co-presence. By placing new works in dialogue with established collections, Ganesh dares to imagine otherwise, making possible a different narrative about the history of art.
