A View of the Forest

Artist Bharti Kher British, born 1969

Date2011

MediumPrinted felt fabric bindis adhered to painted board

DimensionsFrame: 96 7/8 x 73 1/4 in. (246.1 x 186.1 cm)

ClassificationsMixed Media

Credit LinePurchased with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Hanes, the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation in honor of Dr. and Mrs. James Semans, Mr. and Mrs. Irvin Wallace Oestreicher, and various donors, by exchange

Object number2013.1

On View

Not on view

Label TextBritish-Indian artist Kher’s signature medium is the bindi—a traditional forehead decoration worn by women throughout Southeast Asia for various religious, social, or fashion reasons. Kher affixes the modern version of the bindi—a stick-on variety—by the thousands to her panels, creating a shimmering surface that mesmerizes with its depth, pattern, and sheer multitude of materials.

The bindi (from the Sanskrit word bindu, meaning “drop” or “dot”) is usually placed on the forehead between the eyebrows, as a visual symbol of the wearer’s ajna chakra, or the “third eye,” thought by Hindus to be an all-seeing seat of wisdom and knowledge.
[L. Dougherty, 2023]ProvenanceCreated New Delhi, 2011; collection of the artist; [Hauser & Wirth, New York]; sold to NCMA, 2013.Published ReferencesKanchi Mehta, “Bharti Kher: The Macabre and the Beautifully Grotesque,” in Flash Art (November/December 2012), illus. and detail (color) 84.
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, Hauser & Wirth, "Bharti Kher: The Hot Winds that Blow from the West," March 6-April 14, 2012.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," May 1, 2023–December 4, 2023. Object Rights Statement

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