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This exhibition is more than a year out.

Divine Disruption: The Art of Tsherin Sherpa

Mar 3–Sep 19 2027

Seattle Asian Art Museum

Spirits (Metamorphosis), 2019/2020, Tsherin Sherpa, Nepalese, b. 1968, acrylic and ink on canvas, 49 1/2 x 83 1/2 inches, Courtesy of the artist, Private Collection.

Acclaimed Nepalese artist Tsherin Sherpa boldly explores the complexities of some of the most pressing social issues of the 21st century, including migration and how traditional cultures respond to the challenges and opportunities of a globalized world. He does this by infusing traditional Himalayan Buddhist art with a new contemporary relevance.

This major solo exhibition includes more than twenty key artworks, including paintings, sculptures, and a carpet. Some are well-known works that established Sherpa as a significant voice in contemporary art, and others are new pieces on public view for the first time.

Trained in thangka painting as a young artist, Sherpa grew up learning to depict the spirits of Himalayan Buddhism. The artist wonders how these deities might move through today’s world. He imagines how spirits might respond if they too had to leave their homeland and, alongside the Himalayan people, encounter the pressures and opportunities of being migrants. Sherpa’s distinctive half-human, half-deity subjects adapt to new environments with playful ferocity and graphic intensity.

Divine Disruption: The Art of Tsherin Sherpa is co-organized by the Seattle Art Museum and the Honolulu Museum of Art.

The Seattle Art Museum presentation of this exhibition has been supported by

Presenting Sponsor
Kreielsheimer Exhibition Endowment

Supporting Sponsors
Mimi Gardner Gates Asian Art Endowment
Helen and Max Gurvich Exhibition Endowment

Generous Support
City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture

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