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Introduction to American Thangka
Two artists drawn to the southeastern United States from different backgrounds and artistic traditions come together to bring you an original take
on an ancient art object, the American Thangka.
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American Thangka No. 1, oil on canvas with fabric and dowels, 2022
Thangka is a Sanskrit word for a painted or a written "scroll". As a portable precursor to the "book" or modern digital tablet, it is a literary device different from
stained glass windows or carvings on a wall. This NEW format carries a literal message that a simple landscape, figure, or still life composition would not sit comfortably in this kind
of eastern frame - as opposed to western style wooden frames, or inside illuminated manuscripts. There is also a kind of freedom in a post-modern world where two artists can combine these ancient art
forms to re-create, in a contemporary vehicle for contemplation, an ancient device that transcends todays' technology in beauty and in grace: American Thangka.
Curated by Aaron Pomerantz at StudioA in Washington DC, who introduced a textbook and started a conversation about Tibetan Buddhism many
years ago with these artists, after much exploration and study - the graphic storytelling format is here translated by the painter, Jorge Perez-Rubio
and reinterpreted by fabric artist and quilter Dawn Targee in these series of thangka inspired works of art: American Thangka.
Although the content of the paintings have direct parallels in multicultural, interfaith, or spriritual art, the presentation also ranges from Tibetan
thangkas to Japanese scrolls, from Indian Pichwaii paintings to early European tapestries with a hint of Art Nouveau: American Thangka.
Excellent craftsmanship, brilliant imagery and content aside, this is one more step in a long
time effort by many people in the United States that have been open to receiving transmissions from the East; messages that have accelerated
just in the last century in the West. These "bridges" connecting Eastern traditions in Art to modern Western sensibilities, from the introduction of incense and myrrh
to contemporary interpretations of yoga and meditation practices, they all form part of the Kali Yuga Age apocalypse documented in many of the stories
in this art series of thangka inspired books. Some are manuals on meditation, and some declare philosophies or evoke sentiments that are not new - simply told in a modern vernacular: American Thangka.
American Tangka is an effort to act on one of these transmissions from the Far East and present it from
the East Coast of the United States in an attempt to further transmit these stories and formats to an audience
without regard for boundaries, of East and West, and to enlighten and delight the human experience.
American Thangka will be on exhibit at StudioA in Washington DC in 2024.
Seven Thangkas and One Mandala
#1 American Thangka
( Interfaith Landscape )
#2 American Thangka
( Qberts' Wheel of Life )
#3 American Thangka
( Paradiso delle Gato )
#4 American Thangka
( Aller Retour a New York )
#5 American Thangka
( On the Origin of Covid19 )
#6 American Thangka
( 9 Steps of Meditation )
American Thangka #7
#7 American Thangka
( Avalon and the Green Man )
American Thangka #8
Washington DC Mandala
Seven Thangkas and One Mandala
A collaboration by painter Jorge Perez-Rubio and fabric artist & quilter Dawn Targee curated by StudioA
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