Cabinet of Curiosities
A solo exhibition by OtGO
Curated by Thomas Eller
Exhibition opening 16th May | 6pm - 9pm
Exhibition dates 17th May 2025 - 18th June 2025 | Wed - Sat | 2pm - 7pm (closed public holidays)
Entrance is free
VALLETTA CONTEMPORARY
15, 16, 17, East Street, Valletta
-
"Breathing in ... breathing out ... in ... out – drawing a line. Repeat.”
This is the meditative artistic practice of Otgonbayar Ershuu, who goes by the short name, OtGO. He is one of Mongolia's most remarkable artists and has been living in Berlin for about twenty years. A fact that has expanded his cultural experiences and also impacted on the material basis of his artistic work. His spiritual core, however, remains firmly routed in Mongolia's cultural heritage.
Drawing line after line, after line, OtGO's works form to become complex textures of pictorial traces, interwoven with layers of meaning. His work is meditative and iterative in many ways. Being a studied Thangkha-painter, he comes from a long tradition of religious image making in Lama-Buddhism, a tradition in which painting and meditation never were separate activities. In this tradition each line, each patch of colour is both, premeditated and meditation in itself. Lamaist monks were only allowed to apply their craft to to Thangkha-painting after long years of rigorous training.
In essence, art in Mongolia today is fuelled by its cultural heritage rooted in Tengrism first, Lama-Buddhism second, and the achievements of what Pope Francis, when visiting Mongolia, called the “Pax Mongolica”, a period of 250 years of peace after the revolutions of Genghis Khaan.
The work of OtGO is not only witness to these energies. His work is channeling notions of art from and in Mongolia. OtGO is not just part of it – he is a driving force in this dynamic.
You may also like the following events from Valletta Contemporary:
Also check out other
Arts events in Valletta,
Exhibitions in Valletta,
Fine Arts events in Valletta.
