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Shadow and Void: Buddha10 at esea contemporary

Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor

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Shadow and Void: Buddha10

esea contemporary, Manchester
18 January-20 April 2025

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Free
Image courtesy of MAO Museo d’Arte Orientale, ‘Buddha¹⁰’ – X-Ray ‘La Venaria Reale’ Conservation and Restoration Centre. Caption: X-ray image of the statue of Seated Buddha with Folded Hands, 16th Century.
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Ancient spirituality combines with contemporary art forms in esea contemporary’s new exhibition Shadow and Void: Buddha10.

The exhibition presents a selection of newly restored Buddhist sculptures on loan from Turin’s Museum of Asian Art (MAO) which range in age from the 7th to 18th centuries CE, and there are three new commissions created especially for the Buddha10. You’ll also find work from contemporary artists Shigeru Ishihara, Lee Mingwei, LuYang, Sun Xun, Sinta Tantra, Wu Chi-Tsung, and Zheng Bo.

Sun Xun 孫遜, ‘Being is Negative (唯幻 / Illusione)’, single-channel video with sound, 4 min 30 sec loop, commissioned by MAO for the ‘Buddha¹⁰’ exhibition.
Sun Xun 孫遜, ‘Being is Negative (唯幻 / Illusione)’, single-channel video with sound, 4 min 30 sec loop, commissioned by MAO for the ‘Buddha¹⁰’ exhibition. Courtesy of MAO.

The display touches on science, belief, and Buddhist principles through a series of often meditative, although diverse works. The contemporary pieces enhance the ancient artefacts with conversation points about science, theology, displacement, ritual, exotic consumption, and authenticity. Visitors are invited to engage with traditional Buddhist art and its newer interpretations. Let’s take a look at what you can expect from the show.

Sound is an effective method of immersing the viewer in a space – it’s used by Shigeru Ishihara and his installation Co-existence (2023) to create a unique aural landscape.

Other artists use video: Sun Xun’s short yet profound animation Being is Negative (唯幻 / Illusione) (2023), examines the nature of reality and the invisible rules that contribute to shaping human perception, while Spirit House (2023) by Lee Mingwei is a video installation all about generosity and the act of gifting, highlighting the Buddhist principle of compassion. In Wu Chi-Tsung’s video Drawing Study – MAO Bodhisattva Guanyin, Ming-Qing Dynasty (2022), the artist evokes a sense of yūgen (幽玄) – a mysterious and profound yet subtle grace, by illuminating elements of the Bodhisattva Guanyin sculpture with a torch.

Sun Xun 孫遜, ‘Being is Negative (唯幻 / Illusione)’, single-channel video with sound, 4 min 30 sec loop, commissioned by MAO for the ‘Buddha¹⁰’ exhibition.
Sun Xun 孫遜, ‘Being is Negative (唯幻 / Illusione)’, single-channel video with sound, 4 min 30 sec loop, commissioned by MAO for the ‘Buddha¹⁰’ exhibition. Courtesy of MAO.

Viewers are also invited to use other senses in Shadow and Void: Buddha10: scent is the key component of Sinta Tantra’s site-specific installation Perfume (2023) which fills the space with the scent of burning incense.

Finally, the meditative practice of drawing takes centre stage in Zheng Bo’s Drawing Life (Lesser Heat) (2021), a series of delicate plein air pencil drawings of Hong Kong’s green areas.

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