The Palette of the Body

I am a devoted yogi and art lover. For me, a visit to a museum can inspire me in the same way a fully immersive yoga practice can. And as I delve into the teachings and philosophies of yoga, my knowledge of art, artists, and art history informs and colors my understanding of yoga.

[paletteofthebody]

Lotus Pose on a Lion’s Throne

Digambara Sect. Image of the Jina Rishabha, 9th century. Bronze, 9 1/4 × 4 1/2 × 2 3/4 in. (23.5 × 11.4 × 7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, 34.146. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 34.146_PS11.jpg)

[paletteofthebody]

An Encampment of Yogis, ca. 1660, India (Deccan, Aurangabad?), Ink and opaque watercolor on paper, 5 7/8 x 4 1/4 in. (14.9 x 10.8 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Cynthia Hazen Polsky, 1985, 1985.398.15

[paletteofthebody]

An Elephant’s Bakasana

Frederick George Richard Roth (American, Brooklyn, New York 1872–1944 Englewood, New Jersey), Performing Elephant, 1902, cast ca. 1906, Bronze, 6 x 4 3/4 x 3 in. (15.2 x 12.1 x 7.6 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1906, 06.402

[paletteofthebody]

Purvottanasana in Ancient Egypt

Statuette of a Female Acrobat, ca. 1938-1630 B.C.E. Limestone, 4 × 2 × 7 in. (10.2 × 5.1 × 17.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 13.1024. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 13.1024_profile_PS2.jpg)

[paletteofthebody]

Hercules in a Warrior Pose

Terracotta Amphora, signed by Andokides (potter), ca. 530 B.C., Terracotta, H. 22 5/8 in. (57.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1963, 63.11.6

[paletteofthebody]

Brooklyn Museum

Workshop: Art of Yoga

April 22, 2017

9:00–11:00 a.m.

Beaux-Arts Court, 3rd Floor

Bring some relaxation to your weekend with monthly yoga classes brought to you by Flavorpill, presented by renowned teachers from around the country.

Tickets are $10–25 and available at flavorpill.com. A limited number of tickets include Museum admission.

[philamuseum]

In many cultures the sun is considered an incredibly powerful entity. Surya, the Hindu solar deity, is depicted here holding open lotus blossoms: flowers that bloom in the light of the sun and close in darkness.

“Surya, the Sun God,” c. 12th century, West Bengal, India or Bangladesh

[publicartfund]

From last week’s preview of Martin Creed: Understanding at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Visit and enjoy the work in this week’s much nice weather! 

[philamuseum]

For all you Taureans: Celebrate your birthday with the noble Nandi. Generally placed within Hindu temples, this sacred bull conveys the presence of the god Shiva.

“Nandi, the Sacred Bull of Shiva,” c. 1200–1250, India

[paletteofthebody]

If you’re painting, you’re free from worry. If you’re painting, you’re happy.

Hilary Page

[paletteofthebody]

Happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurt the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all.

Ovid

Seated monkey, Italian (Naples), 18th–19th century, Polychromed terracotta body; silver collar and chain, H. 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm.), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Loretta Hines Howard, 1977.271.6

[paletteofthebody]

Stupidity can win for a moment, but it can never really succeed because the nature of humans is to seek freedom. Rulers can delay that freedom, but they cannot stop it.

Ai Weiwei

[mtaartsdesign]

Eureka, it’s a new project!

Dan Funderburgh’s aluminum at Metro-North Railroad’s Fordham Station in the Bronx depict the plants and trees of the nearby New York Botanical Garden and are reminiscent of many Gothic details found in the surrounding architecture of Fordham University. Eureka (2016) is Funderburgh’s homage to Edgar Allan Poe’s 1848 “prose poem” of the same title, written in his cottage in the Bronx, about the origins of the universe. The four rose windows are designed to evoke four botanical “big bangs”: succulents, orchids, bonsai, and cactus.  

[paletteofthebody]

Until I saw these photographs, I had never thought about the similarities between Gothic rose windows and mandalas, but in considering Dan Funderburgh’s Eureka and his conscious references to Poe’s poem about the beginnings of the universe, I am struck by how both intricate, circular art forms reference a divinely interconnected and harmonious existence.

[whitneymuseum]

Every artist should focus on what they’re passionate about if they want to make good work.

Laura Poitras via New York Magazine (via whitneymuseum)

[windhorse]

Ancient Buddhist art, Shwe Inn Dain Pagoda, Northern Myanmar

[natasianart]

“Why had no one in the art world known about these extraordinary paintings?” asks Debra Diamond, Freer|Sackler curator of South and Southeast Asian art, in a new piece for @smithsonianmag. Read about the year she spent in India researching “giant masterpieces” that reminded her of works by Rothko and Turrell—though they predated the Western artists by nearly a century.

[beingblog]

Make things useful. Make them beautiful. Turn them to purposes you’ve considered and claimed. Enjoy what is given and share it. Stretch every muscle and faculty of mind. It’s a good list. It’s worth revisiting from time to time, like old houses, to be reminded of what it might take to stay awake, alive, humble, and humane.

Marilyn McEntyre (via beingblog)