Intimacy of the Void

2014

Architects of the Future: Intimacy of the Void, 2014. Chitra Ganesh (American, b. 1975), Durham Press. Color screenprint and woodblock; sheet: 65.8 x 46 cm (25 7/8 x 18 1/8 in.); image: 60.4 x 41 cm (23 3/4 x 16 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Alma and Robert D. Milne Fund 2020.288.4 © Chitra Ganesh/Durham Press, 2014 Chitra Ganesh mines her experiences as the daughter of Indian immigrants and the influence of Bollywood design throughout her work in various media, much of which explores feminist and queer issues. This print belongs to a series that forms a vague narrative related to desire and loss, set in a world outside of history and time. Ganesh drew from Amar Chitra Katha, comics published beginning in the 1960s to introduce Indian children to their cultural heritage. Placing the viewer in an unfamiliar context, the artist uses bodies, space, and history to invite questions about sexuality and power. Chitra Ganesh describes her desire that prints such as this one will “create a mythology that poses questions rather than answers.”