Spectacular Diversions - Chila Kumari Singh Burman: part 1, printmaking

 

Spectacular Diversions - Chila Kumari Singh Burman at Compton Verney

Burman is a Punjabi-British artist whose work explores cultural identity and the experiences and aesthetics of Asian femininity. Over the last 40 years her practice has encompassed printmaking, drawing, painting, installation and film to explore the intersection of feminism, race and representation, placing alternative perspectives of Britishness within art history.

The exhibition consists of prints, drawings, paintings, collage, sculpture, film, and installation. Burman explores these media to draw out recurring themes that are ongoing preoccupations in her work including her Hindu Punjabi heritage and upbringing in Liverpool, feminism, activism and the relationship between high art and popular culture.

The first part of the exhibition which will be covered in this post explores printmaking.  Burman often combines multiple processes in single works and brings together a wide range of imagery and textual elements from sources including magazines, family photographs, posters, comic strips, advertisements, protest flyers and badges, She uses this material to create complex and meticulously planned compositions.

As you can see in the picture above, Burman has embellished the entrance of Compton Verney with her art, covering the temple-like neoclassical facade in neon sculptures of Hindu gods and goddesses.

My friend, 2023, (fibreglass, mixed media)

looking closer

Mint, 2024, (inkjet print)

Burman spent countless hours working in her father's ice cream van. She has adopted her father's trademark tiger as a mascot - both the technicolour treats sold in the van and the tiger have become recurring motifs in her work.

Rage and Treats, 2006-8, (mixed media)

Burman's art has been described as 'beguiling surface with a hidden sting', her vivid colours and visually appealing imagery are often used to convey hard-hitting messages. In this work, imagery of Indian warrior queen Jhansi ki Rani going into battle is juxtaposed with an oversized ice lolly, which looms over her. Burman sometimes uses the ice lolly as a metaphor for the objectification of women - their phallic shapes are used to comment on the ways in which women are reduced to objects of desire.

Let's Take You Higher, 2022, (inkjet print, faux gems and rhinestones on paper)

Here, Burman has juxtaposed imagery of a Hindu deity with a detail from the work Shipboard Girl by Roy Lichtenstein, which has been covered with embellishments.

Electric Joy Aka Indian Cinderalla, 2023, (24 thermoplastic monotypes)

Here, images of the artist's drawings and collages were screen printed onto plastic sheets, which were then moulded around three-dimensional objects including toy ice cream vans, sweet packaging and animals in a vacuum to form a plastic shell. An exploration of consumer culture: vacuum formers are used to mass produce a range of products.

The Smile you Send Returns to You, 2024, (steel, LED lights, plastic embellishments, graphic vinyls, fibreglass, carbochon stones and sound system)

This year Burman was one of seven artists shortlisted for the Fourth Plinth commission in Trafalgar Square. This maquette for her proposed sculpture tells of her father's voyage to the UK from India on board MS Batory. It presents a turbo-charged reimagining of his ice cream van complete with her signature motifs including embellished tigers and sweet treats. In the windows, we see Bollywood film stills and the figure of Burman's father. The title could be interpreted as a call for kindness amid a fractious world.

The Other Side of Paradise, 2024, (collage and mixed media on paper)

looking closer

looking closer

Embelished Works, 2022-24, (stickers, bindis, faux gems, glitter, letter transfers and pen on paer)

These works highlight Burman's delight in materials that would usually be considered disposable - in her hands inexpensive adornments are transformed into glittering works of art.

These works are also inspired by her ongoing exploration of the visual culture of Asian femininity. 'The feminism I have long assumed as a matter of course is now rubbing shoulders with the playful feminity associated with trinkets, baubles, tinsel, sequins....henna patterns and bindis'.  Many of these works originagted as line drawings of female figures, which have then been covered in embellishments to create 'ironic ex-votos to woman-as-image revelling in [the]specious glitter of kitsch as a perverse element of female embellishment and empowerment'.

Bindi Girl Doing a Poo, 2022, (stickers, bindis, faux gems, glitter, letter transfers and pen on canvas)

looking closer

Parvati, Hindu Goddess, 2022, (inkjet print embellished with faux gems, bindis and stickers)

Kaleidoscopic Self-Portrait Doing Shotokan, 2023, (embelished collage)

The surface of this work is richly embellished with sequins, faux jewels and bindis. In the centre, Burman has included an image of herself performing a high kick from the Shotokan form of karate. Outlined in electric blue, the figure conveys a sense of energy similar to Burman's neon sculptures (see next post) whilst projecting an image of power.

Tiger, My Jaan, 2021

Parks and Gardens in Bath

Sydney Gardens:

Sydney Gardens is at the back of Holburne Museum so after seeing the exhibition we decided to explore the gardens.

The gardens are the only remaining 18th century pleasure gardens in the country. They are Grade II listed. They were laid out in the 1790s to plans by Thomas Baldwin and they included a maze, grotto, sham castle and an artificial rural scene with moving figures powered by a clockwork mechanism.

The layout was affected by the construction of the Kennet and Avon Canal in 1819 and the Great Western railway in 1840 which pass through the park. The gardens later fell into decline, but in 1908 the site was bought by the local council and reopened as a park. 

The Sydney Hotel, which was built with the gardens, was the centre for entertainment. It is now the Holburne Museum.

As always in Bath, you can see views of the hills that surround the city

Zooming in

Not a good photograph, but there is an extensive playground for kids in the park

with a nice castle for the kids

We walked towards the bridge

Minerva's Temple on our left

We saw the gate for the canal and decided to walk along the path for a bit

It was a nice canal walk but there so much to do in Bath

so we retraced out steps 

walked through Sydney gardens again, and started walking towards the Royal Crescent which was the next destination on our list for that day.

Parade Garden:

We got our first glimpse of the Parade Garden whilst walking along the Grand Parade.

I loved the shape of the topiary in the middle, and the bees, of course.

The Gardens started as a bowling green in 1770 and it wasn't until around 1880 that a bandstand was built and a lawn, used for pleasure and relaxation.

So we went down the steps to investigate.

We walked to the topiary first, which is in the middle of the gardens

Then, walked through the middle of the topiary ensemble

Past the statue of King  Blalud and his pig. King Blalud is acknowledged as the founder of Bath 1,000 years before the Romans. A famous legend surrounds Blalud, who as rightful king of the Britons, was unable to inherit the throne as he has lepsory. Banished from the royal palace as swineherd, he roamed the countryside with his herd of pigs.

Close to the place we now know as Bath, the pigs were cured of scurby and other skin conditions, after rolling in the hot mud around some springs. Bladud did the same and he too, was cured.

On becoming king he founded a city at Bath, dedicating the healing power of its springs to the Celtic goddess Sul. 900 years later the Romans called the city Aquae Sulis - the Waters of Sul.

From the Gardens one gets the finest views of Pulteney Bridge and Weir. Pulteney Bridge was built in 1774 bo Robert Adam's design. Lined with shops on either side, a pair of pavilions were constructed at either end.

Looking closer.

From here you can also get a partial view of the beautiful, terraced, V shaped weir. It was completed in 1972 as part of a flood alleviation scheme, together with the sluice gate on the other side of the river.

We saw some ruins on the edge of the gardens so went to investigate. They are all that remain of a mill that existed in the 13th century when the Abbey owned this land. 

Walked past the bees

Next, the statue of Mozart

Finally, the bandstand

In 2018, Bath-based charity National Heritage Ironwork Group (NHIG) staged a public forging event in the Parade Gardens involving teams of blacksmiths from all over the country and thousands of Bath city residents.

The focal point of this collaborative event was the live creation of a new balustrade for the bandstand. The musical score balustrate was forged in the fire by master blacksmiths from around the UK, who each designed the unique music-themed panels interspersed throughout the score. Alongside them, school children from all over Bath forged the treble clefs which adorn the finial on top of the bandstand.