In the midst of the recent surge of racial riots in Britain, Bharti Kher’s solo exhibition, Alchemies, stands tall at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP). It is times like these that make us realize how important art is for society, as it bears witness to contemporary politics. Kher’s works speak to new discourses on diversity and inclusivity, that are starting to shape the present. They blend well with the beautiful landscape of the park, representing them in subtle, digestible tones.
The main YSP centre hosts a range of works, created by Kher between 2000 and 2024, that spread to the expansive indoor space of the Underground Gallery and the adjacent outdoor landscape. The outdoor area has four of her monumental sculptures from the Intermediaries series, which tend to humble the viewer, even as they echo the power and strength invoked through the visual language of pioneering British sculptor Barbara Hepworth’s dynamic forms. The naturalistic finish on bronze and the patina technique used to paint these figures makes them look like old clay toys and throwbacks to the pre-digital era. Three of the sculptures are aligned in one side of the park. Titled “Ancestor,” “The Intermediary Family” and “The Fallow,” these are magical, dramatic characters, much like goddesses who take on various roles in mythical stories. They also reflect the different roles played by women in South Asian society -- of mother, deity, warrior and creator. Despite their antique look, they speak to modern-day societal pressures and responsibilities cast on women. The fourth sculpture, “Djinn,” weighing close to 4 tons and the heaviest single work by Kher, lies at the top of the hill. Described as an “energy centre,” it overlooks and provides a magnificent view of the sculpture park. Sarah Coulson, Senior Curator at YSP, says, “Bharti’s works have travelled to YSP via air, sea and road from India, China, Switzerland, France, USA and the UK. There are 90 crates in total for 31 works. The combined weight of the works in the exhibition is around 40 tonnes.” This confirms the scale of these sculptures, which are crafted from heavy materials, and both marvel and intimidate in the sheer physicality and enormity of their production.
In the Underground Gallery,. the Gallery Foyer welcomes the viewer with a 2014 painting titled “5,” a blue board with five vertically lined black round bindis. This adjoins a corridor that presents a fascinating installation with 20,000 red and black glass bangles, connected at a height across the Gallery Concourse. This shows a sense of live connection or breathing elements in Kher’s work, also experienced in her cast sculptures.
The bangles installation directs the viewer to Gallery One, which demonstrates Kher’s abstract language and her dexterity with materials. “The Deaf Room,” a big structure made from bricks, is a commentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots. Kher takes the identity of one material to give it another form, muting the voice of the glass bangles to give way to emotionless bricks, in an installation that conveys the discomfort of deadened voices. The gallery also presents “Milk Teeth” and “A Poem for Night Creatures,” made up of smashed mirrors hung on the wall. Kher uses an antithetical approach in these works: she initially uses fierce force to break, but then shifts to the soft touch of bindis to piece together the broken bits. Therein, she epitomizes the many sides of the woman as matriarch -- strong, angry, resilient, but also a gentle healer. “Milk Teeth” is a monochromatic composition, where white, spiked circle bindis cover the broken glass surface to give a satellite view. On the other side of the room, “A Poem for Night Creatures” is a vibrant arrangement that forms a distinct body-like structure with an abstract shape and coherence, holding within it the stories of women.
The adjoining Gallery Two, evokes a feeling of entering a tea party, with life-size sculptures of elegantly dressed women, each accompanied by their respective props. This room presents 14 sculptures and a set of five digital prints, created in the early 2000s, that are in close conversation with each other. The smaller sculptures, “The Players” and “The Great Seat of Learning,” resonate with the outdoor sculptures in their naturalistic finish and doll-like appearances. Inspired by Hindu mythology and deities, they replicate traditional clay toys, while also serving as smaller versions of larger forms -- the bunch of bananas in “The Great Seat of Learning,” for instance, is represented on a grander scale in “Djinn.”
In works like “Lady with an Ermine,” “Cloud Water” and “Animus Mundi,” Kher brings out femininity and masculinity together in each piece. These human-sized sculptures, cast from live models, are dressed boldly in the drapes of resin covered saris. Part real, part imaginary, they appear powerful, challenging societal norms, and embodying an indomitable female spirit. The mannequins are adorned with bindis, which once again link various elements in Kher’s visual language. Together with bangles, saris and casts, they represent the lived experience of South Asian women.
Feminist themes carry over into Gallery Three, which presents perhaps the most poignant and iconic work of the exhibition, Six Women. This group of six nude women, cast in plaster of paris, sit individually, holding centre stage in the room. Created between 2012 and 2014, these were inspired by the bodies of sex workers, and look middle aged in their postures and sagging breasts. Through this piece, Kher once again makes a strong statement on gender biases, social disparity, abuse and distinction.
As the title of the exhibition suggests, Alchemies explores transformative processes and creative metamorphosis. The artist engages with the viewer’s imagination, questioning the pre-conceived notions through which one tries to understand an artwork. Her careful choice and incorporation of materials into her artistic narratives recognizes the intrinsic agency of the medium itself. Almost like an act of rebellion, her experiments give new voice to materials, while contributing to existing material culture. The beliefs embedded in these manipulations -- melting bangles to make bricks or covering saris with resins -- transcend time. These elements, along with silhouette fluidity, humanize Kher’s figures and drive home themes of femininity and South Asian identity pertaining to past, present and future contexts. There is also a sense of abstraction in Kher’s language, that allows a broader audience to connect with her work, giving them the freedom to create their own narratives.
The sculpture park is a museum with a 47-year history, situated in the 500-acre, 18th-century Bretton Hall estate in West and South Yorkshire. Besides Bharti Kher, another South Asian’s work is featured here among those by noted artists like Barbara Hepworth, Alice Irwin, Henry MooreandRobertIndiana. Suhasini Kejriwal’s recent painted bronze sculpture “Garden of Un-Earthly Delights” sits right across Kher’s Alchemies. The four-part installation of imaginary flora is in harmony with the surrounding landscape, complementing Kher’s surrealist idea of hybridity. Along with these, YSP also presents Ugandan artist Leilah Babirye’s “Obumu” (Unity) at The Chapel. Babirye’s Ugandan abstract bodies and heads form an interesting parallel with Kher’s South Asian figures and casts. There is a common interest in gender and the underlying the presence of postcolonial concerns in the sculptural practice of both artists.
Considered to be one of the most established voices of contemporary South Asian art, Kher holds a power in her work that she uses as a tool -- a tool to talk about deep-rooted issues in South Asia, a tool to signify the different lenses of decolonization as someone who understands the struggles of the immigrant community, a tool to represent those who do not have a voice, and most importantly, a tool to make herself heard. Sarah Coulson also reaffirms the relevance of Kher’s bold, cutting-edge art: “engaging with contemporary political issues, Bharti’s works address societal complexities and inequalities, including religious intolerance and patriarchal systems, framed within a practice that ceaselessly pushes for an expansive understanding of our future possibilities.”
Manmeet K. Walia is a curator and writer currently based in London, whose ongoing practice is shaped around young South Asian voices.