God is War

Deva Graf

May 17, 2008 – August 11, 2008
Opening: May 17, 2008 from 18:00 to 21:00

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Project Gentili is pleased to present God is War, a solo exhibition of new sculptures and collages by artist Deva Graf.

The work is a study of Buddhism. Everything is Buddha, even war. To put it differently, according to Buddhism everything is God, even war. A beautiful flower is God and violent actions are God. This is as a simple idea, but difficult and uncomfortable to really grasp.

In the exhibition bronze sculptures, including a lone bird on a branch, Buddhas and blood stained sticks, sit among piles of dirt and trash. Towering over the installation are two huge Bodhisattva feet. Newspaper collages on the surrounding walls juxtapose images of violence and suffering with traditional images and drawings from Zen Buddhism. For the first time, Graf combines the visual language of Japanese Zen Buddhism with Western media, minimalism and figurative sculpture to make difficult concepts about Zen more accessible.

Deva Graf (b. 1974) lives at Mt. Baldy Zen Center, USA, studying with the Zen Master Joshu Sasaki Roshi. Her work has been in group shows including Deva Graf / Katherine Hillier, 404 Gallery, Naples (2007); View Ten: Remember Who You Are, Mary Boone Gallery, New York (2006); Whitney Biennial: Day for Night, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2006); and 12x12 New Artists New Work (solo presentation), The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2004).

Related publication: God is War