Bounty of Desire: A Must See Show This Fall
Swivel Gallery a 5,000-square-foot space located at 396 Johnson Ave Brooklyn, New York founded by Graham Wilson. The exhibition “Bounty of Desire” properly curated by Sadaf Padder is intellectually stimulating causing the viewer to exit the bustling New York headspace upon entry to the gallery. Introducing five overhead themes Healing, Sweetness, Beauty, Intoxication, and the most important Control. The relationship between human and plant are displayed within multiple artworks but the conversation between the artworks was apparent in the manner they were displayed. Bounty of Desire brings the viewer to discuss thoughts of human gratification; a natural human urge of temporary pleasure that can induce temporary satisfaction in discussion of these five themes.
Healing
Herbal remedies have a long history and lineage of use within cultures and communities. Healing is a biochemical reaction that all humans must endure, ways for humans to heal have been observed, studied, and therefore exploited by capitalism. Healing is a theme I find very interesting as I looked around the exhibition; when I think of healing, I not only think of the physical state of the body, but the mental and subconscious. With each artist pulling from their generational inheritance; the epigenetics that make us who we are, I became enamored by the thought that went into the creation of this exhibition.
A Loved One Symbolized As A Flower (Home As Healing) by Lujan Perez (b.1991) is a meticulous sculpture made of Pine Tree, Kitchen Cabinets, 1800s Flooring Nails, Subfloor Legs, and Pine Tree Wood Chips displaying a portrait of performance artists Marina Abramovic and Frank Uwe in their film “Relation In Time” where the two performers were tied to each other by their hair for an excess of 16+ hours is painted with oil and acrylic upon the vase inspired by Spanish ceramic’s that Lujan’s family has collected over generations; the carved pine tree used to create the sculpture was sourced from the artist home and the carved flowers chosen to be inside of the vase, show not only connection to the artist themselves but the loved one lost. A connection that not only binds you physically but environmentally.
Sweetness
Human bodies need sugar to survive, specifically glucose; throughout history, humans have found fruits and other organic ways to gratify this need. Abhishek Tuiwala (b.1994) in Gujarat, India currently lives and works in New Jersey; displayed a sculpture titled Man-Goes, 2022 constructed of brass and wood shaped in the form of a mango.
Abhishek Tuiwala is displaying a connection to his place of birth, while mango is just a fruit the cultural and religious linage don’t go unnoticed. Mango’s have been used as of currency and an aid to create ties within diplomacy as the exchange has become a ritualistic process dating back to the Mughal Empire (founded in 1529). Labeled the king of fruits the mango tree is categorized as a Kalpa-vriksha and the Tree of Life a symbol of abundance and prosperity. The leaves are often used to decorate the room of a newborn baby or the entrance for an occasion such as a wedding.
Abhishek Tuiwala’s effort of using minimal space to show an expansive history of heritage embodies the layers of substance to be uncovered; displaying a portion of the peel stripped and placed alongside the stem shows that this isn’t a mango you find at your local supermarket that doesn’t have its natural stem attached. It has been picked directly from the tree, and the weight and color of the brass provide the significance of the value of this fruit to Tuiwala.
Beauty
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, when this is said the beholder tends to be a second party who is casting judgment on what they define as beauty; but if the individuals themselves become the beholder and notice the beauty within themselves. Nobody’s opinion other than the key individual’s opinion should matter to the individual. This thought brings me to reflect upon Todo Lo Que Tengo Está Dentro De Mí, an artwork created by Hilda Palafox (b. 1992).
Todo Lo Que Tengo Está Dentro De Mí translated in English is Everything I Have Is Inside Me. Displaying a human figure entangled and digesting a plant attached to its vine in conjunction with the title this canvas provided insight into life as we know it; taking a moment to take a step back and examine what matters.
Do the possessions we own, the clothes we wear, or the status matter if we aren’t taking time to support and maintain the one value that affects us? Our bodies and our health, not the physical but the internal, parts of us that we can’t see from an external view. Palafox intentionally displayed the figure consuming the plant to paint the narrative that not only should we be focusing on the body, but the items in which we consume and the impact on the body through what we consume.
Furthering the notion that stripping external values from a person and choosing to acknowledge the beauty within yourself should be our main priority as humans.
Intoxication
Humans have studied the psychological effects of how plants affect neurological systems and the brain receptors that are activated upon consumption. An intoxicant can bring forth an altered state of consciousness and a release of dopamine which presents as gratification and pleasure in humans and animals alike but sometimes upon consumption, the altered state of consciousness can also draw negative side effects such as stress and anxiety although most people use substances to subdue those exact feelings.
Mad Honey Vision created by Chitra Ganesh (b.1975) speaks on the ancient mad honey grown in mountainous regions of Nepal and regions surrounding the black sea, mad honey is a natural psychedelic substance produced by bees that pollinate rhododendron plants. The earliest knowledge of this substance dating back to 401 BC; comes from a student of Socrates. Xenophon of Athens describes Greek soldiers stealing honey while passing through Turkey. After consumption, the soldiers experienced nausea, vomiting, and loose bowel movements.
Throughout the years mad honey has been cultivated as medicine, known to relieve hypertension and for its energy-producing qualities. Ganesh’s iconography of South Asian history and culture through this artwork, centered presents a human figure with multiple limbs ( six arms and two legs) and a purple butterfly replacing the head; the figure is ascending while protected by a bubble. The deliberate symbolism is subtle but cannot be ignored, purple chosen for the butterfly shows aspects of transformation and rebirth. As for the six arms, four stemming from behind the figure outlined in neon show a direct connection to the bees that pollinate the Rhododendron species of plants as we see the bottom two arms interacting with the plants. As mentioned earlier the bubble is aiding the protection of the figure inside of it.
From what?
The background displays a dark yet vibrant landscape including the mountain ranges in South Asia. I’m going to guess that the mountain’s color is a mix of a royal azure or lapis. Whatever color it is, I love it. The dark clouds and blowing wind suggest that something is happening, a storm is occurring externally rather I believe the storm displayed is internal. Zooming out of the focal image in the border each corner has the rhododendron plant dripping mad honey. The information shown within this artwork can easily go unnoticed at first glance but upon deeper inspection, the title Mad Honey Vision fits the artwork very well.
Now on to one of my favorite artworks within the show, The Reader by Caroline Absher (b.1994) an artwork displaying a person reading a book. While the background is abstract on the right side of the canvas I notice a growth of plants along the feet with a tiny mystical figure. This artwork is not only large but captures your attention. The abstract surroundings complement but enforce focus on the figure almost causing the viewer to lose track of time. I wish I brought a foldable chair to the gallery because I would sit in front of this work for hours and hours maybe even days if the gallery would allow it. We can call it a performance ** I laugh to myself** but seriously someone needs to purchase this artwork, it’s stunning.
Control
The previous topics I’ve discussed having incorporated the internal being, there is something so interesting about the conversation of control. Control can be thought of as an internal mindset; as the thought of one displaying self-control. But as we know, humans enjoy indulgence and while the aspect of self-control can seem gratifying to some, the external concept of control can bring some humans unbelievable gratification, I believe the thought of control can drive people mad and destructive as the need for control grows, which brings me back to the thought of just because a person feels temporary gratification does not insure they are satisfied, which is why I said the most important topic was control.
Three thought-provoking artworks created by artist Bhasha Chakrabarti (b.1991) are displayed within this show, while they are all heavily detailed, I will only discuss two as they complement each other. Exhaustion Of The Labor, 2023 sheds light upon the exploitive and imperialist expansion brought upon India throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Altering the economy and introducing networks of opium trade and smuggling Britain needed to “balance” their checkbooks because their beloved import, tea which was cultivated and sold by China.
Chakrabarti presents transparent images on silk displaying illustrations of opium smokers in 19th century China; while not forgetting the history of how opium arrived in China.
Placed on the top left with vertical positioning is an image of colonial ships at sea and arriving at docks. Beneath the image of the ships is an Indian man carrying a rather large box that displays the text “Patna Opium” Within Patna the capital of the Magadha Empire was a main factory site for examining opium, mixing, rolling, drying, and the final step stacking before being sent to auction in now Kolkata although history records may display the anglicized name Calcutta.
Chakrabarti does an amazing job of providing detail and transparency of the situation. Reference images used within Exhaustion Of The Labor, display the construct of power dynamics. While Indians were workers and Chinese were consumers, they equally played the part of being “workers” as Britain held control and exploited the poppy seed plant which then directs your eyes to the second artwork by Chakrabarti.
Intoxication Of The Flower continues the conversation of the opium trade displaying Antique Maps of trade routes between London, India, and China also during the nineteenth century. These two artworks complement each other within the discussion of control while showing the relationship between humans and plants. Directly displaying how no matter the situation animals depend on plants, and trust me there are a ton of reasons.
I left the exhibition Bounty of Desire unlocked my bike and thought to myself “Woah, the substance and curatorial execution by Sadaf Padder was undeniably layered with not only substance but references and context to support the artworks, handmade sculptures to antique maps showed the thought and dedication provided by the artist who participated.” I would like to acknowledge that this is not a sponsored post and I didn’t provide an analysis of every artwork displayed, trust me there are really good artworks left out of this article. I highly encourage art enthusiasts to visit Bounty of Desire on display at Swivel Gallery. The exhibition closes on November 11th and I wouldn’t miss it if anything I would view it again.