Avatar: Forms of Vishnu

Overview

One of Australia's leading art galleries has announced its next major exhibition, Avatar: Forms of Vishnu, which will be the largest collection of South and Southeast Asian art shown at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) in over 20 years. The focus? The Hindu god Vishnu, as depicted through centuries of different works taken from different times, places and mediums that reimagine the central mythological figure and the stories surrounding him.

In Hindu tradition, Vishnu is a central figure, responsible for preserving order, peace and justice throughout the universe. Over the last 1500 years, Vishnu has been represented in at least ten forms, or avatars, which he takes when descending from the heavens into the mortal world. Often combining human and animal forms, including fish, tortoise, boar, lion and horse, all of his avatars share a common goal in ending disorder and restoring harmony.

Cambodia, Battambang, Tuol Baset, Pre-Angkor period (c100–800) 'Lintel depicting Vishnu reclining on the serpent Ananta Shesha (Anantashayin) and the birth of Brahma' mid 600s, sandstone, 63 × 158 × 28 cm, Battambang Provincial Museum, transferred from National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, photo © The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource, NY

In Avatar: Forms of Vishnu, AGNSW has gathered over 200 works to tell the story of the deity, combining historical and contemporary works of paintings, sculptures, textiles and photography. The featured works have been borrowed and commissioned from artists and museums in Cambodia, India, Germany and England, many of which have never been seen in Australia before.

Some of the most exclusive historical works include paintings that illustrate ancient Indian literary epics from 1594 AD, a sixth-century Cambodian statue and a recently restored seventh-century sculpture of a horse-headed Vishnu avatar. Among the works commissioned for the exhibition are twin paintings depicting the Churning of the Ocean of Milk creation legend by Desmon Lazaro, and an intricate lace installation by New Delhi-based artist Sumakshi Singh that depicts Narasimha, a man-lion Vishnu avatar.

East India/Nepal 'Figure of Vishnu in the lotus' 1100s, bronze, 13 × 20 (diam) cm, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, presented by Mrs Hoey, photo © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

On the exhibition's subject material, AGNSW's Senior Curator of Asian Art, Melanie Eastburn said, "Across South and Southeast Asia, tales of Vishnu's avatars have inspired contemplation and devotion, as well as entertainment. Vishnu's avatars are responsive, dynamic and shaped by the cultures and communities that embrace them – whether in centuries past or today."

Avatar: Forms of Vishnu will run at AGNSW from Saturday, June 20, until October 2026. Tickets are on sale now via the Art Gallery website.

Top image: Mahesh of Chamba, India active c1730–75 'Varāha avatar' c1750–75, folio from a 'Dashāvatara' series, opaque watercolour on paper, 16.3 × 24.1 cm, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, purchased with funds from Balthasar and Nanni Reinhart