Major Frist exhibition offers rare look at Hindu god Vishnu

Displayed in galleries painted deep blue or light cream, the 170 sculptures, paintings, textiles and trinkets in Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior depict the deity in his various forms, providing an introduction to the multifaceted figure. This is the first major museum show dedicated to Vishnu. Organized by Joan Cummins of the Brooklyn Museum of Art at the behest of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, the exhibition will remain on view at the Frist through May 29.

According to Hindu scripture, Vishnu is the creator and destroyer of the cosmos; he also is the savior who periodically descends from the heavens in one of 10 avatar incarnations to fight off demons and other threats to the world.

This exhibition presents Vishnu in his various forms — among them Krishna, the cowherd prince; Varaha, the boar; and the Buddha — in different media spanning time periods and regions of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

A broad vision

Offering a wide spectrum of Indian art was part of the brief presented to Cummins, curator of Asian art at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, when the Frist Center approached her five years ago. India was on the list of great cultures yet to be featured by the museum, explains Frist Center chief curator Mark Scala.

"Especially when we're introducing a culture to Nashville, we certainly prefer for it to be broad in scope, to give people the big picture," Scala says.

"Subsequent exhibitions of Indian art could be more focused and people would have something in their vocabulary to understand a more focused, more refined look."

Certain themes and concepts are revisited again and again in the exhibition, with several interpretations of Vishnu and the stories surrounding him. One of these is the story of the great creation as shown in a richly colored painting and an intricately carved sandstone sculpture.

In the latter, Vishnu floats on the surface of the primordial ocean on the back of a giant, multi-headed serpent. His wife, Lakshmi, massages one of his feet as a lotus bloom rises out of his navel bearing Brahma, who in turn creates the universe.

Picturing a deity

One of the most striking pieces in the Frist Center show is Lakshmi-Narayana, a 10th-century sandstone sculpture of Vishnu, who is sometimes called Narayana, alongside Lakshmi. This is a rare curved view of Vishnu. Usually depicted as standing straight up and down — or reclining in a straight horizontal line — to reflect his role as preserver of balance, here, Vishnu's body tilts sinuously in concert with Lakshmi's. They stare into each other's eyes like infatuated teenagers.

Cummins says the sculpture in the exhibit, particularly that of the 10th and early 11th century, was among the most sophisticated being made in the world at that time. "Even though (Vishnu) is often shown straight up and down, he isn't a stick figure," she says. "He has a certain energy to him because of what he's doing with his hands, the way his clothes drape over him. It still has the sense that he could start moving at any moment."

Clever interpretation of movement in stone also is used in a piece relating the story involving Vamana, Vishnu's dwarf avatar. To combat Bali, an ambitious demon who'd managed to grab much of the gods' power, Vishnu assumed the form of Vamana and then asked for as much land as he could cover in three steps. Once Bali agreed to the terms, Vishnu morphed into a giant.

The three steps with which Vishnu reclaimed the earth, the sky and the heavens for the gods are illustrated with three feet emerging from Vishnu's body at different heights.

Likewise, the concept of Vishnu's ability to keep many hands in earth's affairs is often referenced by picturing him with multiple arms.

Though Vishnu's signature blue skin tone is not replicated in the exhibition's many sculptures, his distinctive complexion is reflected in the paintings.

Worldly collection

Cummins says she wanted to accomplish two things with Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior: to explain an aspect of a major world religion and to exhibit the "most gorgeous" Indian art she could get.

To do that, she tapped
40 organizations around the world, including her own. About 10 percent of the items in the show are from the Brooklyn Museum of Art's collection; the rest came from other U.S. institutions, as well as others in Berlin, Zurich and the U.K.

Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior next travels to the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

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