Khenpo Appey (1927-2010)

It is again, within two weeks, with a very sad heart that I announce that Khenpo Appey has passed away, December the 28th, 2010. I first met Khenpo Appey in 1975 in Rajpur India during the Lamdre Tsogshe given by Sakya Trizin. It was there that I had an opportunity to spend time with Rinpoche, ask questions and learn that he was truly one of the great living Sakya masters - a Dzongsar Khenpo in the true spirit of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Chokyi Lodro.

It is also fair to say that of all the great Tibetan teachers to come out of Tibet it was him that I found most intimidating - it was in front of him that I felt I always had to be on my best behaviour.

Gorampa himself would be proud of the accomplishments of Khenpo Appey - Sakya College, Rajpur, India and International Buddhist Academy (IBA), Kathmandu, Nepal. He was the foundational rock for Sakya scholarship for the last 50 years and has tirelessly prepared the way for innumerable scholar practitioners of the future. Bravo to a life well lived in the service of others.

(See Khenpo Appey at International Buddhist Academy)

(See Khenpo Appey at Rigpawiki)

(See Khenpo Appey at Tsadra)

New York Times - Gene Smith

See the New York Times article about Gene Smith.

Compassion Transformed - Pema Rinzin in Chelsea

The First Tibetan Contemporary Solo Show in Chelsea, New York.
Opening: Jan 27th 2010 ( 06:00 PM to 09:00 PM)
Location: Joshua Liner Art Gallery
Artist: Pema Rinzin
Title: Compassion Transformed.

For those of you who were at the first showing of Pema's work at the Joshua Liner Gallery in March of 09 and those who were also at the Rubin Museum of Art for the Tibetan Contemporary exhibition in the Spring - Get Ready! This new solo exhibition will blow the roof off. It is a must see. Mark it in your calendars and tell your friends. It will be a happening not to be missed. See you all there.

--- Jeff

The text below is copied from Artlog:

"Joshua Liner Gallery is pleased to present Compassion Transformed, an exhibition of new paintings by the New York-based Tibetan artist Pema Rinzin. Making his solo debut in New York, this is Rinzin’s first one-man exhibition at Joshua Liner Gallery. A master in the art of Thangka painting, Pema Rinzin has adapted... Read more

Joshua Liner Gallery is pleased to present Compassion Transformed, an exhibition of new paintings by the New York-based Tibetan artist Pema Rinzin. Making his solo debut in New York, this is Rinzin’s first one-man exhibition at Joshua Liner Gallery.

A master in the art of Thangka painting, Pema Rinzin has adapted the techniques and mystical motifs of this centuries-old Buddhist tradition to create spellbinding abstract works of contemporary art. Originally used in scrolls that depict the life of the Buddha, other deities, and religious figures, traditional Thangka featured the use of ground mineral pigments and gold applied to paper or silk cloth, as well as works in embroidery. Thangkas were objects of meditation, stimulation and religious education. The imagery is characterized by great intricacy in decorative pattern and brilliant color, which serve to advance the spiritual objectives of enlightenment and transcendence, while also conveying the artistic vision of individual master painters through unique expressions of style and composition.

In his stunning abstractions, Rinzin demonstrates how the individual artist can place his own stamp on a traditional form—he both transforms and transcends classical Thangka, while preserving its ancient artmaking techniques. His Peace and Energy series includes four large works on canvas that present a compelling image for contemplation: in each, a dynamic embolus of layered “handkerchief ” forms hums at the center of each picture against a traditional monochromatic background of bright orange, purple, white, or yellow. The fluttering, interlocking forms are thoroughly contemporary, but each carries a unique pattern derived from the ancient Buddhist traditions, and the whole is shot through with pulsing striped flames of blue, white, black, and gold.

In Rinzin’s Water series of four large works, these flames become an intricate network of liquid-like wave forms. This design is oriented vertically to carry upward an interpenetrating pattern of elaborate decoration, itself suggesting both sea foam and the blossoming of cherry trees. Rinzin’s Lost Portraits, however, take an entirely different tack.This series of three large works foregrounds the contemporary in hard-edged abstractions of classic Buddhist figures, each rendered in hot colors and spattered with sumi ink. Up close, the shattered facets comprising the figures reveal delicate patterns from both traditional Thangka and contemporary design. Compassion Transformed will also feature a variety of smaller works on paper.

As a young painter growing up in Dharamsala, India, Rinzin studied with Kalsang Oshoe, Khepa Gonpo, Rigdzin Paljor, and other master artists, but his work is equally inspired by Western art history, including such influ- ences as Gustav Klimt, Wassily Kandinsky, and William Blake. During his residency at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, Rinzin gained notice with his inclusion in the Rubin’s 2010 group exhibition Tradition Transformed, the city’s first museum exhibition of contemporary Tibetan artists.

“After moving to New York, I was immediately exposed to street- and former graffiti artists,” says Rinzin.“They inspired me in their works with everyday life and raw emotion. Now, my art is really about my own life journey, which I strongly express in my compositions and abstract forms.”

Born in 1966 in Tibet and raised in India, Pema Rinzin received a degree in Tibetan Traditional Thangka Painting and Fine Art from Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) Painting School in Dharamsala, India (where he also taught) and was twice honored “Best Tibetan Thangka Painter” (1979 and 1981); he currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Solo exhibitions of his work include: Tibetan Fine Art Exhibition, Villa Dessauer, Bamberg, Germany (2005); Photo and Color Exhibition, Tibetan Art and Color Studio, Wurzburg, Germany (2001); Tibetan Fine Art Exhibition, Hobbit Theatre, Wurzburg, Germany (1999); and First Tibetan Fine Art Exhibition, Alexander- Schroeder-Haus, Wurzburg, Germany (1996). Selected group exhibitions include: Tradition Transformed, Rubin Museum of Art, New York and The Barnstormers, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York (2010); and Big! Himalayan Art, Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas, TX (2008) and Rubin Museum of Art, New York (2007). His Sixteen Giant Paintings are on permanent display at the Shoko-ji Cultural Research Institute, Nagano, Japan. From 2005 to 2008, Rinzin was artist-in-residence at the Rubin Museum of Art, and in 2007 he founded the New York Tibetan Art Studio, the only studio in the Western Hemisphere dedicated to the teaching and preservation of Tibetan art in both traditional and contemporary forms.

Joshua Liner Gallery, located in New York City’s Chelsea arts district, presents an exciting roster of established and emerging artists from North America, Asia, and Europe."

For more information, please visit www.joshualinergallery.com, or contact Tim Strazza at 212.244.7415 or tim@joshualinergallery.com."

Joshua Liner Gallery
548 West 28th Street,
New York, New York, 10001
Phone: (212) 244-7415
Email: info@joshualinergallery.com
Hours: Tuesday- Saturday 11-6PM

Gene Smith - Icon & Legend

It is with a very sad heart that I announce that Gene Smith has passed away, Thursday, December the 16th, 2010. I have known of Gene through his writings and publications since 1973, visited his home in New Delhi, India, in 1980 and worked closely with him since 2001 to the present in New York City.

What always struck me most about Gene was his drive to not have students undergo the difficulties that he went through in learning and studying Tibetan literature and associated subjects. This is what was close between us and came up most often in conversation, the next generation - the future - making the literature and tools accessible. Gene and I shared a very important teacher, Dezhung Rinpoche Lungrig Tenpai Nyima. Dezhung Rinpoche was maybe the most important influence for what was to become the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, the second crowning jewel of Gene's career. The first great accomplishment, the first great crowning jewel, was of course the publication of thousands upon thousands of rare Tibetan texts and manuscripts while he worked in the New Delhi office of the U.S. Library of Congress.

As just one individual, Gene has been the most important single figure in the last half century working for the preservation of Tibetan literature. Gene has been the singular figure to galvanize the most important Tibetan scholars in the last 45 years in the preservation of Tibetan literature. In a half century, again, Gene has been the most important single figure to tirelessly work for the literary culture of Tibet and the Himalayan regions - to publish, to modernize, to digitize and to electronically archive for the present and future generations. Gene was truly a man suited for his time, an individual that accomplished what he set out to accomplish, responding to the needs of others. His passing is not a time for sadness but a time to celebrate the truly enormous accomplishment of his life that has benefited so many of us and in so many ways.

San Francisco, Berkeley to be Exact!

I'm sitting in a very nice room in a university guest house here in Berkeley and trying out Open Office software. So far I have only tried Presentation but it seems to work just as well with just as many features as Power Point from Microsoft. I'll continue to play with it and give it a test drive.

The weather here is great, sunny, warm, fresh. They say it will begin to turn for the worse tomorrow with cooler weather and rain by the weekend. Oh well, it still feels good to me.

All About Bhutan!

For those of you who are in the New York area and not too busy this Friday afternoon. Upcoming event sponsored by the Columbia University Bhutan Studies Initiative (CUBSI). On Friday, November 19th, 3:30 - 5:00 pm, Ariana Maki, a Ph.D. candidate at Ohio State University, will give an informal talk about her ongoing research on Bhutanese art and architectural history in Room 918 of the International Affairs Building, which is located on the Morningside campus of Columbia University. Ms. Maki is a former Curatorial Fellow at the Rubin Museum of Art, and has been working as part of the curatorial staff of the National Museum of Bhutan since 2009.

Jet Lag

It is 4:00 in the morning and I can't sleep. I did manage to get about 15 minutes a couple of hours ago but that was it. The image above is my idea of jet lag and sleeplessness.

I would have turned the TV on to use that to try and lull me to sleep but alas the box works but the cable has shut off. I fear the bill has not been paid. In the past this was a regular occurrence here in New York up until about three or four years ago. As many as three or four times a year the cable would go off because of lack of payment. No, I don't pay the bill. The cable comes with the apartment. I will have to check into it - pardon the pun. Hopefully the internet won't stop working as well. It and the cable are bundled together. However in the past only the cable TV would go down and the internet would stay running. How curious!

Now I am up and typing. I did a little work already and plan to do more - a few outline pages for HAR and then some cataloguing. I also put up two postings of updates onto the HAR News page this afternoon.

Art Lecture: San Francisco, November 18th, 2010

In conjunction with Himalayan Pilgrimage: Journey to the Land of Snows, on view through April 24, 2011.

- Lecture: Traditional Tibetan Art - Beyond Iconography and Religion
Confusions & Conflicts Regarding Late Tibetan Painting Styles
- Jeff Watt
- Thursday, November 18, 5 p.m.
- Museum Theater: UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
2625 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94720-2250

(Image: Unidentified artist, Tibet: One of seven in a set of thangkas of the great fifth Dalai Lama and his lineage, c. 1815; from the Collection of Veena and Peter Schnell).

"In this illustrated lecture, Jeff Watt, leading scholar of Himalayan art, provocatively proposes that the study of Tibetan and Himalayan art rely more on art history—on artists and critics as well as art historian—than on iconography, religious studies, and even Tibetology. According to Watt, “Cultural objects can be religious icons when looked at as religious icons, ritual objects when viewed as ritually related, and art objects when viewed as art. The subject of Tibetan religion will still remain the domain of religious studies. The study of history will remain the domain of historians, and iconography will remain the domain of iconographers. None of this will change, but to move forward, the study of Tibetan art must change."

"Jeff Watt was the founding curator and leading scholar at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York — one of the largest collections of Himalayan and Tibetan art in North America — from 1999 until 2007. He is the director and chief curator of Himalayan Art Resources, a website and virtual museum that constitutes the world’s most comprehensive resource for Himalayan art and iconography. Watt acquired his prodigious knowledge of Buddhist, Bon and Hindu iconography from a longtime study of Buddhism and Tantra."

Back in New York City

Here we are once again in New York. The flight seemed a little long this time returning from China. The movies on the flight were good. A number of them were new releases that I hadn't yet seen. I really have to space out my flying so that they have time to change the movies. No, I don't sleep well on airplanes. My head stands above the headrest and if I stick my legs out too far then people trip over them and wake me up.

There was a lot of turbulence during the crossing of a certain section of the Pacific. A flight attendant asked the cabin crew about it and was told it was a patch of very high cloud that caused the shaking. I don't mind flying but violent shaking will scare the hell out of anybody. Aside from that it was a smooth flight.

Back from Chengdu - Hong Kong Airport

Well the trip is over. I could have stayed much longer. I had a place to sleep, roof, hot water, food and good company. The China Travel Blog has now been illustrated with some snap shots from here and there. I did very little in the way of photography on this trip - some art. Many collectors didn't want their pieces photographed. There was a lot more conversation on this trip than there was quick action camera play.

I am currently sitting in the Hong Kong airport - Cathay Business Lounge "the Cabin" - watching the planes come and go while I catch up with e-mail and uploading the decorative images to the Travel site. They have three Cathay Business Class Lounges at the Hong Kong airport.

It seems I am flying coach back to NY. I tried to upgrade with air miles but they don't have any openings. Oh well, it will be fine. The exit row aisle seat is actually very comfortable and allows me to stretch my legs out and trip all who walk by - especially after they turn all the lights out.

The image above is one of the buildings within the large Taoist Temple complex in Chengdu. The Panda photo is not mine but rather borrowed from the web. Chengdu is the main city closest to the Panda sanctuaries and also the gateway to Tibet.

Hong Kong Airport

Here again, relaxing in the Cathay lounge known as the 'Wing' listening to Louis B. Armstrong piped through the wall speakers. Just finished my first Dan Dan Noodle of the season. I don't know if Dan Dan Noodles have a season, but when I am traveling in China then that is the season. The first thing I did when I arrived was have a hot shower to freshen up, then eat, check e-mail and telephone. Yes, it is a routine.

The food on the flight out of NY was good and the staff wonderful as usual. However, one of my fears was realized. I had seen most of the movies that were offered. I found some things to watch and was pleasantly surprised by some and had to turn off others. All in all it worked out. I am still not used to the new business class seats and didn't really sleep much at all. The coffin space is really confining and completely unforgiving if you are not of a certain body size range. Outside of that range and you are screwed.

As of tomorrow I will be using the alternate Travel Blog while in China. You know, because of those Google issues: Jeff on the Road.

P.S. So far I have not had any bites from bed bugs. What a refreshing change in quality of life.

Hong Kong Bound

It is time once again to travel east (actually north over the pole) to Hong Kong. I have upgraded my standard coach seating with Asia Miles and will be flying Business Class. The seat will be larger although my shoulders will touch the walls of the coffin like designed cubicle. The seat fully reclines into a horizontal configuration allowing me to extend my feet into the aisle tripping the flight attendants in the dark - oh yes, it gets very dark on those flights. The monitor will be bigger, the food will be noticeably better than coach, and the attendants are very pleasant and willing to get you what ever is needed. It is very important to bring your own noise reduction headphones. This is even more important than flying business class. Once you have tried flying with them you will wonder why you didn't do it before. The greatest invention since flight itself. I use Bose headphones but there are others.

The only real fear (other than the obvious) is that the movies offered for viewing will be films I have already seen on other recent flights. Cathay does try and show some films only on east bound flights and other films only on west bound flights. I do intend to sleep as much as possible, something I don't do easily on planes except if they are sitting on the tarmac or taxing prior to take-off. I do like to sleep through the take-off. Jolted from a sound sleep I realized I was just paged by the front desk at the lounge and that I had been fast asleep. Actually I had been sleeping for a full hour with the computer in my lap. Last night was a late one with only an hours sleep. This was done on purpose to help get into the Chengdu time change as quickly as possible. It is likely that I will sleep right through breakfast on the plane unless I tell them to wake me - which I will.

Boy Believed to be Next Reincarnation....

I thought this was really fun: Boy Believed to be Next Reincarnation.....

Whenever great cultures of the past, for example, Egyptian, Roman, or European Monarchies, start to look towards 'special' children as the divine answer for leadership and cultural guidance then more often than not that culture is heading towards decline and failure.

The increase and frequency of young children from Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist backgrounds (not to mention Western countries) - recognized as the supposed incarnation of so and so - is surely becoming alarming.

The Tibetan Buddhist phenomenon of tulku or trulku appears to have really become common place and widespread in the 17th century. The practice of recognizing a lama of the past as reincarnating into numerous individuals (splitting) appears to be a late 19th century phenomena - embraced and welcomed in the 20th century - popular today.

I think it is time for a level headed, measured, sociological study of the Tibetan practice of 'reincarnate teachers' known as tulku - literally 'emanation body' - the same word used for the Sanskrit word nirmanakaya.

1. What are the statistics showing the number of recognized incarnate children growing up to be educated Buddhist teachers?

2. What are the statistics showing the number of children that grow up to be teachers?

3. What are the statistics showing the number of children that remain Buddhist?

4. How many renounce their 'reincarnate status'?

4. How many take up business, or other secular occupations, as their life path?

5. .....convicted of crimes, etc.?

These are just a few of the basic questions which I think are fair game and worth asking.

The most interesting publication I have ever read on the subject of reincarnate Lamas was by Daniel Barlocher. I recommend it highly. The most interesting interviews come from the most unexpected Rinpoches. Testimonies of Tibetan Tulkus; A Research among Reincarnate Buddhist Masters in Exile. Daniel Barlocher, Opuscula Tibetana, Rikon-Zurich, August 1982.

From the dozens of interviews see two excerpts from the above publication: Puntsok Podrang Dagchen Rinpoche and another conversation with Drolma Podrang Sakya Trizin both of the Sakya Tradition. I chose these only because they are currently available on line.

Back to New York!

My work here in Vancouver is done, Thanksgiving, closing up the cabin for the winter and attending my brother's 20 year clean and sober celebration - in the company of a hundred others. There are no upgrades tonight. I am in coach on Cathay Pacific which is equal to Business Class on any USA carrier in the continental US. It's not a criticism, just an observation.

Monday will be a busy day in New York. There are visitors from China that I need to meet and entertain. It is the last day of the Tibetan contemporary exhibition at the RMA, and, I also have a craving for Basta Pasta. The flight gets in early and I generally try and get a little sleep before going into the office. It will definitely be a long day.

Refuge Field Paintings Anybody?

Check out the Himalayan Art Resources News Page. There are plenty of new items - provided you have a slightly unnatural, overly curious, interest in Refuge Field paintings. These paintings are informed by religious texts, liturgies to be specific, but, and it is a big but, how they appear as paintings is entirely the result of the artists interpretation. What we see as the finished composition does not at all necessarily reflect the description in the liturgical text. That is certainly one reason why these paintings are so interesting.

Home for the Holidays, Thanksgiving!

Once again heading West to sunny Vancouver for the holiday. During the 80s and 90s I generally spent Thanksgiving up in the Thompson Plateau enjoying the cabin and getting ready for winter. The best time of the year in the mountains is April thru June and then September and October. The summer months can be very hot and not conducive to meditating or translating. Mid November is the average point for the first real snow and then after that it can accumulate pretty quickly. I remember one night going to sleep with the outside temperature at 25 F and waking up in the morning thinking the door had somehow come open. The outside temperature was -5 F. A nasty cold front had come through and stayed. Although usually the weather turns cooler and the winds start to come from the North in mid October - watch out past mid November. Thanksgiving is guaranteed good weather - global warming considered of course.

I hope to head up to the cabin on Tuesday or Wednesday morning and spend at least one night with a roaring fire, a gently splashing creek and a big wide starry sky. With luck I will be woken in the night by the howling of wolves or coyotes, maybe the nocturnal visit of a bear foraging in the dark. The water will be cold, there are 11 crossings. At this time of the year some of those crossings are shallow and there are enough large dry rocks to jump onto and cross without getting wet. If it is raining on the way up it is better to stay in the water for the crossings and avoid the slippery rocks. The last crossing is the most treacherous because it is the narrowest and therefore potentially the deepest water. The path must be picked carefully. Past that point it doesn't get any easier as there have been serious rock slides in the last ten years. Steep rock faces on the Western side rise over a thousand feet. Twenty minutes past that and the trail becomes easier although seriously over grown, especially in the last 10 years. The cabin is not so far after that, but if you don't know where it is, it will be very difficult to find.

Yes I have used the Mountain Goat image once before. The first post ever for this Travel Blog was decorated with this photo. I like it, but no it was not taken at the cabin. The largest animal I photographed at the cabin was a female moose and boy was it big. Never get in the way of a moose. The Mountain Goat was photographed several hundred feet above the cabin. I was meditating in a cave when I chanced to look across the gorge and saw a Mountain Goat looking directly at me - probably wondering what the hell I was doing. Snap, I took the photo.

Life in a Plastic Bag

It is now seven months living out of plastic bags. With no end of the problem in sight.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

It has been some weeks since I was last bit by a bed bug. That has now ended. I was bit on the leg at approximately 5:30 this morning. It was the normal feeling. Waking up with a slight discomfort from a sound sleep which I had been enjoying for the last week or so since the flood, the discomfort grew. After a few minutes there was the tell tale raised red welt of irregular shape similar to hives. The honeymoon is over. This has been the longest period of time in the apartment this year, since the outbreak, without being attacked in the night. It must be three weeks since a real certifiable bite, but that doesn't mean the paranoia wasn't there, the sleeplessness and the lack of life quality. Bed bugs are a quality of life wrecker.

Do Bed Bugs Drown? Looking for a Silver Lining.

Well no, I haven't had any bed bug bites for almost two weeks which means of course that I am due any day now. The apartment was sprayed on Saturday the 18th and it usually lasts about two weeks before I start seeing the buggers again and feeling the sting of the bites. They have been spraying my apartment since April and others even earlier.

But, back to my question. Do bed bugs drown? The reason I ask is because I am looking for a silver lining in a leaky roof. I have been up since 3:30 mopping up and placing a bucket where it will do the most good. When your leak is bigger than the bucket there is actually no such thing as 'most good.' It is actually all bad. The roof was replaced over the summer because it was old and leaky - now we have a new leaky roof. The leak last night found a new route and did not follow the paths of the four previous leaks experienced over the previous years and coming to a head (fountain head) in the spring with four simultaneous leaks.

The good news is that because of the ongoing war with the bed bugs all of my belongings are still wrapped in plastic bags. Nothing was damaged in the spring either except for a stained mattress from a leak directly over one corner of the bed. Last night was the same, only wet plastic bags, and a wet floor dripping onto the ceiling of the apartment below.

The worst thing of it all is the not getting any sleep because of either the bed bugs or water dripping noticeably into the apartment. With leaks there always needs to be a concern for electrical outlets, appliances, computers, etc. Luckily there hasn't been a fire in the building for about 6 years. At that time the tenant below me left a pot on the stove to cook and then went and had a nap. The pot cooked, melted, and then caught fire. The entire building was filled with smoke, everybody evacuated. The smoke was later cleared out by the firefighters. It smelled of barbecue for several months. It didn't help with trying to sleep. I slept uneasy for many months knowing I had such neighbours right below me.

The time before that, there was a fire on the 2nd floor of the building next door. The fire was deliberately set by a disgruntled super that had been terminated. That same super had illegally rented the apartment down the hall from me. The tenants took occupancy in the middle of the night. The following day they had surveillance cameras installed and mounted in the hall way. It was nearly a year of drug dealers and hookers up and down the staircase all night long before the illegal tenants were legally evicted.

You know what? It sounds like it is time for a nice trip, or a long restful coma. I think I will choose the trip. China and Tibet sounds good to me.

End of Summer

(WARNING: the image has nothing to do with the content of the post below. It is merely being used to add colour and a sense of importance. The image is from a few years ago in 2008 (?) when the Karmapa from Dharamsala came to visit the Rubin Museum of Art and I was asked to give him a tour even though I no longer worked there since the prior summer of 2007. It was a choice of this image or one with me and Lobpon Tenzin Namdak. I didn't think anybody would know Tenzin Namdak except for those rare Bon followers and scholars. The Karmapa won the contest of recognizability).

Well, it is nearly the end of August and the end of summer according to a school calendar. It has been a very fast two weeks in Vancouver. The real reason for coming was to attend the IATS Conference - International Association of Tibetan Studies - held at the University of British Columbia (UBC). For me it began on Sunday the 15th and ended on the 22nd. It was long, it was grueling, mostly because of the difficult, over-lapping and confusing, schedule along with the required late night socializing - in modern language called networking. There were many people that I new and many people that new me or either the HAR or SRG websites. During the first few days it was easier being anonymous. HAR is very popular with the younger scholars. The Bon scholars were there in force and the Bon panel was excellent bolstered by the likes of Samten Karmey, Tsering Thar and Marc Des Jardins amongst others.

I was able to acquire some new images for the HAR website along with promises from others to send images. Some of the images have already been put up on the site. Check the HAR News page.

As I return to New York I must of course think about bedbugs. Yes, they are still there. The management company sprayed again on the 18th of August. Apparently there have been more complaints from tenants. I can understand as I have been talking about this since February, officially since March. As long as they think they can deal with a porous apartment building with topical applications of pesticide based on the subjective complaints of tenants then the problem will never be resolved. I return armed with good double sided sticky tape. I couldn't find any good tape in New York. The tape is crucial to my plan of survivability in a bed bug infested apartment building.

There have been a number of issues, topics and news items that have come up in the last few weeks that I have not responded to but they are things that I definitely want to react to - pro or con: the King of Shambhala living in Canada, the very harsh review of the Tibetan contemporary show at the Rubin Museum of Art, and various other things that will come to mind at the right moment.

Pre-showing at the Joshua Liner Gallery

Today I had the good fortune of viewing the new art show at the Joshua Liner Gallery. They were busy hanging the remaining paintings and making ready for the official opening tomorrow night. I unfortunately will not be able to attend the opening because of another obligation in another city on the other side of the continent. However, today I was able to see most of the works. First of all, it is a much stronger show than the Barnstormers exhibition this past March. The caliber of art is much higher with a high degree of skill and talent immediately noticeable to the eye. Some amount of care has been given to the curating of the show in general and to the specific location and hanging of each piece. Pema Rinzin's two pieces are excellent and fit in very well adding to the over-all quality and the tremendous variety that this show offers. This opening has fewer pieces than the March exhibition and more space provided for each of the works. It is a real treat to move from piece to piece and explore the individual artist's subject, composition and creativity. There are a number of wildly, brightly coloured, and imaginative pieces that draw the eye and don't let go. You will have to experience that for yourself. This is surely an exhibition for the three general groups of people that attend art openings, the interested public, artists and the connoisseur collectors.

Art Opening - Saturday Night - Aug.14th

Remember, if you live in the New York area, the opening of the Joshua Liner Gallery Summer Group Show is on Saturday August 14th at 6:00 p.m. Pema will have two new works of art on view - abstract fine art. To see three other abstract works by Pema Rinzin visit the Rubin Museum of Art for the Tibetan Contemporary exhibition, closes October 18, 2010.

Joshua Liner Gallery

Joshua Liner Gallery: Summer Group Exhibition 2010, August 14 - September 4, 2010. See two of Pema Rinzin's new works of art at the summer show.

Hijacking Himalayan Art!

A response from the Tricycle Magazine Editor's Blog about Looking at Art on the HAR website and "We Live in Hope" on this Travel Blog.

"We Live In Hope"

What an uplifting article in yesterdays New York Times. I of course never open the newspaper unless a friend recommends an article of importance. Thank you Emma.

Have you ever thought to yourself that some paintings look better than others? I have been waging a personal battle now for several years where I believe that the study of Himalayan and Tibetan art has been hijacked by other academic disciplines such as Religious Studies (and the study of iconography), Anthropology and Ethnography. Here is an article about that exact same fight but in the European art world - data versus aesthetics and connoisseurship. Let the new battle begin.

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs & More Bugs

Yes the bugs are back. I woke up unexpectedly to a slight itching in the palm of my right hand, the ball of my right thumb to be exact. Not a normal location for a bite but yes there it was. As I was slowly rousing from my dream and entering wakefulness with my attention drawn to my hand, and that feeling that now I recognize so well, my eyes opening slowly, I briefly caught site of something, a speck of darkness, moving across my body at stomach level, highlighted against a white T-shirt. The bug, had moved from my hand and was looking for an escape route across my body to the other side of the bed. I immediately wrapped the bug in the folds of the T-shirt and leaned over to my right side, the side table, to grab a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol kept next to the bed, always, always a bottle of rubbing alcohol. The alcohol kills the bugs on contact - stops them dead in their tracks. One shot, two shots, it was over quick, quickly dispatched to the other world.

The unfortunate thing was that I was having a pleasant dream and there were still several hours of sleep left. The good news, if it can be called news, or really anything to look forward to at all is that they, 'THEY', the exterminators, are coming in to spray the apartment again today.

Artist on Art Talk: New York

Pema Rinzin "Tradition Transformed"
Date: Friday, July 16, 2010
Time: 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: Rubin Museum of Art
Street: 150 West 17th Street
City/Town: New York, NY

Description:
Artists featured in the exhibition Tradition Transformed give a guided interpretation of their work and objects - in the exhibition.

Information about the Artist:
Pema Rinzin was born in Tibet in 1966 while his family was in route to India, where he spent his formative years. He studied with Kalsang Oshoe, Khepa Gonpo, Rigdzin Paljor and many other master artists in Dharamsala from 1979-1983. Rinzin taught Renaissance, Impressionist, cartoon and Abstract Impressionist art for eight years at the Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala. Rinzin worked and taught at the Shoko-ji Cultural Research Institute in Nagano, Japan, from 1995 to 2004. From 2002 until 2005, Rinzin divided his time between Japan and Würzburg, Germany where he was an artist-in-residence at the Brush & Color Studio. Beginning in November 2005 through October 2008, Rinzin was an artist in residence at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York. His paintings have been exhibited internationally and are held in numerous public and private collections worldwide, most notably at Shoko-ji Cultural Research Institute in Nagano, Japan, and the Rubin Museum of Art. He has mounted numerous art exhibitions from traditional Tibetan art to contemporary and modern abstract photography, and lectures on Tibetan art. Rinzin lives in New York.

Fundamentals of Tibetan Art

Fundamentals of Tibetan Art (9 week long teaching by Pema Rinzin)
Start Time:
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 6:00pm
End Time:
Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 9:00pm
Location:
Tibet House (Library Room)
Street:
22 West 15th Street
City/Town:
New York, NY

Description
"Fundamentals of Tibetan Art”, a nine week course, will introduce students to Tibetan art and foster an understanding and appreciation of the Tibetan artistic tradition through a series of hands on drawing assignments. The class will also learn about the history of Tibetan painting as well as the traditional techniques and natural materials used to create the masterworks of Tibetan thangka through lectures and discussion.

Intended for all levels.

Individual Sessions:
$20 General/ $18 Members

Entire Series (9 Sessions)
$162 General/ $145 Member


Wednesday, July 14 -September 8, 6-9 pm.


CLASS 1. July 14. Introduction. Historical overview of Tibetan art.
CLASS 2. July 21. Introduction to the different Basic Buddha postures.
CLASS 3. July 28. Discussion of Tibetan mudras.
CLASS 4. August 4. Seated Buddha with 8-10 Arms.
CLASS 5. August 11. Dressed Buddhas: Exploring Drapery.
CLASS 6. August 18. Individual Instruction and Discussion.
CLASS 7. August 25. Nature: Clouds, Trees, Rock, and Water.
CLASS 8. September 1. Composition and space management.
CLASS 9. September 8. Final Class.

List of Required Student Materials:

Sketch Pad (Canson, Classic Cream, 90lb, 14” X 17” Drawing Pad)
One Packet of Mechanical Pencils. (Any brand, 0.5 mm size)
Eraser (prefer “gum” type)
Ruler (minimum 18 inches or 45 mm)
Advanced students will need to purchase a brush, sumi ink and stone at a later date to be announced during the course.

More Bed Bugs

Abercrombie & Fitch store in New York City closed because of a bed bug infestation. New York City has also passed a new ordinance that requires property owners/managers to inform prospective tenants of any bed bug activity, over the passed 12 months, for all rental units.

Oxford Conference

I'm still in Oxford but leaving tomorrow for London to spend three days looking at museum and private art collections. The conference in Oxford was one of the best I have ever attended. The model for the conference is new to me but I believe it works. More on that later......and some photos......

On the Road Again......

Here I am once again sitting in the Business Class lounge at Terminal 7 - JFK. No, I don't fly Business Class. I just fly so much that they always let me use the lounge - free food, free drinks, etc.

London is my next port of call. I arrive at 6:20 in the morning and then immediately catch the bus from Heathrow to Oxford. Most of the conference participants are already there enjoying the Oxford pub life. The conference starts at 2:30 tomorrow which will allow me a few hours sleep before lunch and the opening speeches and lectures. My paper is scheduled for Friday afternoon. The title "Traditional Tibetan Art: Moving Beyond Iconography & Religion." It is actually an updated version of a paper I gave in Beijing this past October. The Powerpoint presentation is full of great art with most of it unpublished. I have also added recently discovered paintings from my last trip to Chengdu and Beijing in March/April.

I don't think I have been back to Oxford since 1970. It has been a long time. The Ashmolean Museum has re-opened and hopefully I will get a chance to see some of their Tibetan paintings. Amy Heller just recently published a book highlighting the Ashmolean's Tibetan sculpture collection. Still, it is the paintings that are of primary interest for me.

A 17th Century Tibetan Contemporary Artist

Probably one of the most famous Tibetan contemporary artists of his time was the 10th Karmapa, Choying Dorje (1604-1674). It is said that he was trained in a traditional Menri Style and then later studied in a Kashmiri style. What is obviously apparent is that the examples of his work that have come down to us today are in a unique style - the style of Choying Dorje. (The first image is by the current contemporary artist Pema Rinzin of New York. The three images of paintings below are by the 10th Karmapa Choying Dorje).

See other works of art by Choying Dorje.

For the multi-faced and armed deity, note the gate-like halo surrounding the main figure. It is created to appear as if water, manipulated and suspended. Also see the throne beneath the central subject, rendered with the same treatment, and added figures supporting the pink lotus.

Probably the most unique set of paintings created by Choying Dorje is the life story of Shakyamuni Buddha. No explanation should be required, all that one need to do is look to see how special it is. Look at the colours, the forms, the composition, the rendering of the human figures, animals and birds.

The 10th Karmapa was also famous for his depictions of animals and birds. Notice in this painting of a yellow goddess how the sow and piglets beneath the deity figure are rendered far more life-like with a richness of detail than the yellow deity herself.

A capital 'C' contemporary artist, although sometimes trained traditionally, is often somebody that breaks the rules and is innovative. Sometimes the artist is copied and a new style is created and at other times nobody can follow where that artist has gone.

Choying Dorje is an example of a contemporary artist that was not followed by other artists. It can't really be said that he was a traditional Tibetan artist either - he was an innovative contemporary artist of his time. I believe that he had a love of art, and of animals - clearly shown in his paintings and biography - and I believe that he created art for art's sake.

A Review by Art Daily News

Pema Rinzin (1966 - ), Peace and Energy 1, 2009. Ground mineral pigments and gold on cloth, 41 x 61 in. Collection of the artist.

"NEW YORK, NY.- There is no Tibetan equivalent for the word “art” as it is known in the West. The closest approximation is lha dri pa, literally, “to draw a deity.” Traditionally, neither the Tibetan language nor the Tibetan cultural framework has recognized art for art’s sake, and an artist’s efficacy rests in his ability to precisely replicate an established visual language and portray the essence of a particular deity." (Artdaily.org).

All I can say is that the above statement is WRONG. It is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Good artists and great artists all over the world from the beginning of time have created art as a statement, and beauty for beauty's sake, quality for quality's sake, and art for art's sake.

From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1600. Juliet:
"... that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;..."

I don't fault the online magazine for this statement above. It is clearly lifted from the gallery catalogue produced to accompany the current Tibetan Contemporary exhibition. It is unfortunate and sad that all things Tibetan must be looked at through the narrow glasses of religion - and Tibetan Buddhist religion at that.

Maybe in this field of Tibetan art, traditional and contemporary, it is time to rely less on religious studies professors, historians, anthropologists, ethnographers and, yes, Tibetologists and rely more on Art Historians and Art Critics. Maybe it is time to rely on the experts who's job it is to discuss and critique the subject of art: technique, skill, style, harmony, colour balance and beauty. The subject of religion will still remain the domain of religious teachers and scholars. The subject of history will still remain the domain of historians. The subject of iconography will still remain the domain of iconographers. None of this will change.

Some of the earliest and most famous Tibetan contemporary artists of their time were Mantangpa(15th c.), Khyentse (15th c.), Choying Dorje (17th c.), Choying Gyatso (17th c.), Cho Tashi (17/18th c.), and Kangdze Lhadripa (18th c.), amongst many, many others. There is a long history of tradition and change in the Tibetan art culture along with tremendous innovation in technique, style and composition. THIS IS NOT NEW!

Please don't put the Tibetan artist back in the cave just for the sake of preserving a - Western conceived - Tibetan Buddhist attitude and monopoly on how to look at all things Tibetan.

Take off the binding chains of religious orthodoxy and oppression.
Let the Artist Go! Free the Tibetan Artists! Free the Tibetan Artists!

A Beautiful Day In Vancouver

It was a beautiful clear day with a bright - deep - blue sky and flowers everywhere, summer flowers, and a bumble bee going about its business. The variations of green were especially soothing to the eye and healthy for the mind.

A Temporary Escape - Vancouver

I have made a quick exit and vacated my apartment while the workmen begin to replace the roof over head. On Friday they installed a temporary plastic ceiling in the apartment to try and catch all the falling debris, dirt and dust. It is not very attractive but hopefully will do the job it is intended for. In the process of closing up the apartment for the week or so that I will be away as they busily work, I noticed new brown water stains on the southern wall above one of the two windows on that side. I now have four known leaks. I have not been visited by any of the small pests since returning from Paris. I did have a red mark on my right arm the first night back, Wednesday, but can't say for sure that it was one of the nasty pests - known in Tibetan as 'demon lice.' I need a break, that's for sure.

The Christie's Auction in Paris on Tuesday was a mad house of activity and I have not yet landed - mentally - enough to begin to talk about it. After my Wednesday night sleep listening to the water drip from the ceiling into a bucket - not much sleep at all - I enjoyed the opening of the Tibetan Contemporary exhibition at the RMA. By the way, in my life, I have never before slept on a wet mattress because of leaks from the roof or ceiling. There was an after party at Merchant's restaurant with over 30 people in attendance. I hesitate to mention any names for fear of getting anyone into trouble. It was a good, no, great time, good friends and good conversations. Any opportunity to spend time with good friends is time well spent.

Tibetan Contemporary Art Exhibition - The Opening

The Rubin Museum of Art is having its 'members opening' tonight, along with invited guests, for the new Tibetan Contemporary Exhibition. This is a perk for members of the museum. For the general public the show opens tomorrow at 11:00.

Why do I care? Well, I have many issues with how Himalayan and Tibetan art is presented and understood in the West and I believe that by also looking at - what is called - Tibetan contemporary art there can be an actual dialogue about art, both old and new. Generally, almost always, any discussion of Tibetan art centers on iconography and religion, or Tibetan-Chinese politics. There is very rarely any discussion about the art itself, the aesthetics, the uniqueness of Tibetan art, brush stroke and colour, let alone the poor forgotten artist that is completely free of ego yet always told what to do by a Lama. Alas, the poor artist, ignorant of what he is doing, yet humble and egoless. That is the traditional Western model of a good Tibetan Artist.

The fact that people still believe this old tired religious model of Tibetan art, teach it and publish it in art & gallery catalogues is amazing yet sad. All of this must change! The field of Himalayan and Tibetan Art History must move into the 20th and 21st century and begin to look at art the same way that art from other great art producing cultures is looked at - uniqueness, beauty, harmony, technique, and aesthetics - not just from a narrow one sided religious perspective. All of this must change.

For those of you in New York the after party to celebrate Pema's first museum exhibition will be at Merchant's around the corner from the RMA at 8:00 in the downstairs room (with the fireplace).

Back in New York

The flight from Paris to New York was pretty good considering the airline I flew only has business class seating. It is called Open Skies. I know, I hadn't heard of it either.

I didn't sleep too well last night in the apartment because of the rain coming through the roof into the bucket right next to my bed, plop, plop, plop. The mattress had already gotten wet by the time I returned from dinner at 9:00 p.m. I pushed the bed away from the new leak making sure to avoid the old leaks. I dried the mattress on the wet side as much as possible and placed a bucket to collect the dripping water. I did not have good dreams.

The workmen come in tomorrow, Friday, to cover the apartment ceiling with plastic sheeting stapled to the walls. The sheeting will hopefully catch and collect much of the roof debris as it falls through. The workers are being told to be careful on the rafters so that they don't inadvertently step and break through the ceiling causing an even bigger mess. Can you believe it! It's like I'm in Bangladesh during a bad year of monsoons - but oh no, this is New York City.

I have booked a ticket to leave NY for Vancouver tomorrow night. Who knows when the roof work will be finished and the apartment cleaned up? Maybe the bed bugs will also leave because it is just too Third World for them as well. Remember, these are not ordinary bed bugs, these are New York bed bugs.

Tuesday in Paris

Yesterday, Monday, was a day spent looking at art, meeting old friends, making plans and hanging out with regular friends, talking and laughing over a glass of good French wine - red - sitting outside, enjoying the perfect sunny weather and temperature.

In the early evening I spent some time looking at a collection of 18th century Moghul miniature paintings of architectural sights in New Delhi. They were very well drawn and very interesting, but alas not my area of study.

For dinner I went out with one of the worlds top map experts and map dealers, a local, although Dutch. He did the inviting and I did the eating. The food was excellent - the best meal in Paris so far.

Tonight, after an afternoon of looking at art, I hope to meet up with Charles R. and go out for dinner and a drink. I leave Paris at 10:30 tomorrow morning, Wednesday, and should be back in New York by 1:30 in the afternoon.

I am looking forward to the opening of the contemporary Tibetan art exhibition at the RMA on Thursday night. The after party is at Merchants - just around the corner. I have reserved the downstairs room for 8:00 p.m. and expect between 20 or 30 people to attend. The party is to celebrate Pema's first showing of contemporary art, three paintings, in a museum exhibition accompanied by a museum art publication. Many of his art students have become RMA members just so that they can attend the opening and celebrate Pema's art. It should be a good time.

Tibetan Style Tattoos

Well I'm not into getting tattoos, piercings or brandings but I love Japanese tattoo art, Hawaiian, Maori, Thai, Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian. Yoni Zilbur, an artist as well as an accomplished New York tattoo artist has studied with Pema Rinzin for several years and now designs his own tattoos based on traditional Tibetan subjects, themes and motifs. Some of the images are really quite amazing. Check out Yoni's webpage to see Pema Rinzin's influence on the New York tattoo scene.

If It's Sunday, It Must Be Paris

I traveled on the airline known as Open Skies, apparently connected or owned by British Airways. The flight was quite comfortable although I always find that there is more turbulence flying to Europe than flying anywhere else. The day is somewhat unscheduled as yet. I need to find out when the Guimet is open and when Christie's is open. I am in a hotel just off the Champs Elysee and can walk to Christie's from here but I don't know where the Guimet is in comparison to the hotel. I will need a map and someone to circle both the hotel and the museum.

The hotel, Rochester Champs Elysee, has wifi internet throughout which is very convenient. Unfortunately the room will not be ready until 11:00. I didn't sleep at all on the plane and am afraid to take a nap as I think that will send a signal to my body and brain to completely shut down for a good eight to ten hours. As some may know, I have not been sleeping very well in the apartment of late. Friday night was also late with little sleep. I was out with a Tibetan painter and and an excellent New York tattoo artist that is a student of Pema Rinzin. I will post pictures as soon as I get some - preferably art, and good art at that.

The entire afternoon was spent at the Mussee Guimet and what a Museum it was. They had an outstanding Gandharan exhibition aside from their world class Cambodian sculpture and the permanent Tibetan and Himalayan galleries.

A Bold Attack & Postponement of Battle!

Last night was a set back for me. After the previous night with no bites last night at approximately 3:30 a.m. there was a definite attack with some force. I received six small bites, two to each leg, and two on my upper right arm. I looked for the bugs on the bed and under but could see nothing. They are likely to be in the infant stage yet big enough to draw blood. They are very difficult to see at this phase of their development. I have been both spraying and cleaning regularly but apparently to no avail as this second or third nesting of eggs has hatched. My gut feeling tells me they are between and under the floor boards.

Once I know when the exterminators are returning again for the third spraying then I can plan on spreading diamataceous dust throughout the apartment floor completely filling the numerous spaces between the floor boards.

Any good commander knows when it is time to back off and change the strategy. A new campaign is opening on Monday morning which will make it difficult to continue the fight against the bugs. The property management company plans to start work on replacing roof above my apartment, I am on the top floor, making it intolerable to remain here in the apartment. Yes, the roof leaks as well. The work will probably last for two weeks.

The worst part of it is that the ceiling in the apartment is not completely closed in and sealed. The edge of the ceiling that butts up against the brick wall is not flush but rather has gaping openings that go directly into the sub-roof. Whenever someone walks on the roof, or roofers are working, then a tremendous amount of dust, sand, dirt, and rock fall directly into the apartment through these openings creating a huge mess. The same debris also falls down through the chimney and out through the fireplace opening.

In preparation most of my belongings are wrapped in plastic bags already because of the bugs, and the remainder of the possessions such as bed and computer, lamps, chairs, telephone, T.V. etc., will need to be completely covered in plastic as well. Once the roof work is finished and before returning back to the apartment it will require a good professional cleaning with an industrial vacuum and a lot of effort.

So, the battle of the bugs is on hold for awhile. In the meantime I have not been offered any kind of accommodations by the property management company and therefore I am on my own with finding a place to stay here in New York or choosing to travel and working from afar. I will share my experience as it unfolds.

Hallelujah, Bed Bugs Be Gone - Damn It All

Hallelujah, an amazing thing happened, I, in frustration, sent a strong e-mail to my boss and cc'ed the property management company responsible for the apartment and building, in which I dwell in New York City. I complained of a lack of communication and a lack of any, I repeat ANY, communication with the property management company, other than dealing with the super. I also cc'ed it to many of the other officials responsible for the ownership of the building - which by the way has an un-controlled BED BUG problem - that is, the whole building.

Hallelujah, I sent out the e-mail at approximately 2:00 p.m. today and by the time I arrived back at the apartment (to find a U.S. Census notification of a non-compliance of not responding to the racist U.S. census, I'M SORRY - RACIST, I turned around at approximately 8:00 p.m.), pushed under my door at 8:00, and there it was. There was a correspondence from the management company, the gold, the treasure, a Rosetta Stone, Magna Carta, it was all there - an acceptance, an acknowledgment of a problem, a faint wish - maybe, to possibly wish to remedy the awful situation.

See the image, the document above, see what was presented after several months of discussion, complaining and bitching. A letter, as if they were on top of it, Ha Ha, what a lark, in control, masters of their domain - HELL NO! They have been pushed into a corner by my e-mail and they are simply responding, reacting, appearing competent. Please don't think there is an end in sight. This is New York, there are winners and losers and nobody has time for anybody who stands in between.

Contemporary Tibetan Art - An Exhibition

I am certainly not knowledgeable nor particularly interested in Tibetan contemporary art but the Rubin Museum of Art in New York is mounting an exhibition that opens in June. An artist represented in this exhibition (with three large canvases) happens to be a very good friend of mine and I would be remiss if I did not take the opportunity to promote him and his art. I think his art is very, very, good.

I for one am quite tired of some contemporary Tibetan art where it is a simplistic tracing of a Buddha image or the overdone juxtaposition of the Buddha and Mao, and I understand that art has always been a vehicle for politics just as literature. However, sometimes I just want to see good art masterfully done, creative, interesting, refreshing and new that makes me smile and engages me visually. I want to see a work of art where the more I look at the piece the more I see, and the more time I spend with the piece, the more time I want to spend - like a visual feast. I want to feel it from the inside and if someone has to explain it to me - then I have obviously missed it, or maybe it wasn't there in the first place. For me, art that has to be explained in order to be understood and appreciated is not great art - it is only a visual-intellectual statement.

Another artist, more familiar with contemporary art than me, I think says it best, "WOW, Pema's painting you included is KILLER! as soon as I saw it (the second one) and started reading your article, I was hoping that it was one of his! A lot of contemporary art I've seen by Tibetan artists is so predictable and lame, if not cheap and exploitative. It's great to see Pema's work - beautiful, thoughtful, and sophisticated! It's so great to see a work of contemporary Tibetan art that doesn't make use of the tired silhouette of the buddha! In fact, there really isn't much in Pema's painting that relates to (or falls back on) his identity as a Tibetan or his Tibetan ancestry. It's refreshing to know there's at least one Tibetan contemporary artist who's moved beyond that! perhaps there's hope after all...." (Currently anonymous).

Pema Rinzin is one of the only Tibetan artists that I know who has trained in the traditional way of 'tangka' and mural painting and that has also successfully transitioned into contemporary painting while still creating and teaching the so-called 'traditional' art.

The first image above is a small detail of a large painting that will be on display at the Rubin Museum of Art. The second two images are from the Joshua Liner Gallery where Pema exhibited in the early spring of 2010. He exhibited three paintings in that Chelsea New York show and all three sold. The second image (above) - that painting sold the first night of the Joshua Liner show. Aside from the RMA exhibition opening in June, Pema has another group show coming up in August - again in Chelsea. There is also talk of a solo show in the near future. (See Artist Biography and New York Tibetan Art Studio. For more information on the RMA exhibition see the link below).

Tradition Transformed, June 11, 2010 - October 18, 2010.

"Tradition Transformed: Tibetan Artists Respond marks the first exhibition of contemporary Tibetan art in a New York City museum. The nine Tibetan artists featured each explore contemporary issues--personal, political, and cultural--by integrating the centuries-old traditional imagery, techniques, and materials found in Tibetan Buddhist art with modern influences and media. (More info)."

Pema Rinzin was an artist in residence at the RMA for three years and produced a number of works during that time. The drawing of Himalayan 'Animals, Foliage and Landscape' was done in the gallery space during the highly successful 'Bon, The Magic Word' exhibition in 2007. The painting (below) of the Four Guardian Kings was the first painting that Pema completed while at the RMA. It was also first displayed in the RMA exhibition 'Big!' also in 2007, followed by the Trammell Crow museum in Dallas in 2008. I believe his three special skills that set him apart from the rest are [1] drawing, [2] composition and [3] colour balance.

The Fight Continues

The battle is sporadic. Mostly waged in the wee hours of the morning. The exchanges can be brutal and emotionally traumatic but the fight goes on. I have employed a new liquid deployed as a spray against large areas of the room. It is called Bed Bug Patrol and is a completely natural product with a strong hint of clove oil. The ground up sea bug dust, Diatomaceous Earth Dust, has been dispersed to the most important areas in need of defense - cracks, crannies and creases. The idea is to begin to limit the active area where the bugs - little bastards - are able to mount an attack, corral them into a small defensive zone, and then crush them with a final lethal blow.

Yes, I was bit!

Two bites last night around three in the morning. I will have to re-double my efforts. Needless to say I didn't sleep much after that. Have a look at this link about an apartment building in Princeton, New Jersey http://bedbugger.com/2010/04/03/bed-bugs-in-princeton-apartment-building/. It is a good example of the communications, exchanges and lack of them between some landlords, tenants and the health authorities. I am sure that the laws in New York State will be somewhat different from New Jersey. One problem with landlords and owners is that they often think that the regular pesticide company that comes once a month and sprays for cockroaches, silverfish and mice are up to the task of eradicating a bedbug infestation. It is a little bit like thinking that a regular doctor, a general practitioner, can perform complicated heart surgery requiring specialized tools and equipment. Bedbug extermination needs experts. Without recognizing this then the problem just returns again and again and the landlord spends more and more money. More tenants leave and the apartment building has a high turnover. The rent starts to go down and the place is of course already beginning to be rundown. Finally it ends up being a skid row apartment (or house). That is the life cycle of an untreated bedbug infested dwelling.