After visiting Koudelka's photography exhibit, I came across the Southeast Asian exhibit, where I explored the unique aesthetics of ancient Southern Asian Art. The exhibit was held on an open floor with red accents. Also of note was the fact that the exhibit floor was constructed in such a way that also serves as an intermediary between two different sections of the museum.
This was the largest statue in the exhibit. It was an Indian relief of the Buddha. The most remarkable thing about this statue (sculpture) of Siddhartha Gautama is the amazingly flat back that this sculpture has. this flat back represents the tenets of meditation. It demonstrates great ability to maintain posture. When believers observe this particular statue, it may motivate them to achieve the same standards of rigidity. While the usage of a white base is not uncommon in museums, it gains new significance when placed underneath the Buddha sculpture. This is actually more of a bronze sculpture, likely created using a mold. The ability of the sculptor to create the details on this sculpture is meticulously brilliant. Obviously, close attention was paid towards the material - much of the details remains intact after hundreds of years. Overall, this sculpture really only served as a starting point for Buddhist bronze sculptures.
This one has many of the same elements as the previous large Buddha sculpture, but this one has far more detail. Because bronze cannot be carved, the amount of detail present in this bronze panel of the Buddha and his followers are astonishing. It requires the artist to make a mold for this. Considering the age of this panel, it reflects the remarkable ability of the artist to create fine details. Another artistic mechanism is present in this sculpture: namely the juxtaposition of size to indicate relative importance. Even though the human form of Buddha is human sized, his importance to Buddhism meant that he is the largest figure present in this sculpture. Another thing that is also notable was the sense of hierarchy present in this sculpture. The Buddha not only sits on the upper level, but he is also centered. This dutifully lays out the order of importance. These two artistic techniques would remain relevant for years to come.
This is the emblem of the Hindu god Shiva. This may be the most simplistic sculpture in the entire gallery, but it conveys something deeper. Namely, it can be interpreted as the amazing power of the god Shiva. From some infinite circle, it evolves into the octagon and then finally takes a concrete shape as the object created. Without religious implications, this sculpture demonstrates a very nice progression between different shapes. It invokes sense of transfiguration in a stationary object.
This is interesting, because the statues in question are not placed at eye level. Instead these heads were elevated to what I believe represents the height of the sculpture as if it retained the body. This is a masterstroke on part of the museum, not only for security purposes, but also for aesthetic purposes. I really like this implementation.
This is probably the most well known sculpture in the entire gallery. I've seen this in the art history textbooks before. This is a surprisingly symmetrical bronze sculpture featuring the God Shiva triumphing over demons. The graceful pose of this sculpture can be reflected in many traditional Hindu dances. I was surprised by how small this sculpture seemed. I was expecting this to be slightly larger. Considering this sculpture's size, I'd imagine it to be used to mark an small scale altar. To see it in person is truly different from seeing it from a textbook. This was certainly the highlight of this gallery so far.
I liked the South/Southeastern Asian gallery because it represents the earliest Buddhist artwork. In addition, I got to see bronze sculpture skills truly diversify from only utility purposes. In other words, bronze working was confined to utensils, weapons, ornaments, tools until the expansion to religious motifs. However, as I've mentioned, this entire gallery was almost exclusively based on bronze sculptures; There was one tapestry with everything else made of bronze. I'd like there to be more diversity in this gallery, but the quality is certainly stupendous.
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