Vasantha Yogananthan: A Myth of Two Souls
September 9 - November 5, 2022
Opening Reception: Friday, September 9, 6 - 8pm
Assembly, 4411 Montrose Blvd., Suite F, Houston, TX
Assembly is thrilled to present the US debut of A Myth of Two Souls — Vasantha Yogananthan’s decade-long photographic retelling of the epic tale, the Ramayana. Drawing inspiration from the imagery associated with this myth and its pervasiveness in everyday Indian life, Yogananthan has retraced the legendary route from Nepal to India to Sri Lanka through this transformative body of work.
First recorded by the Sanskrit poet Valmiki around 300 BC, the Ramayana has been continuously rewritten and reinterpreted, and continues to evolve today. Over nearly 24,000 verses, the epic chronicles the adventures of Prince Rama and his beloved Princess Sita, spanning vast distances and exploring universal themes of love, loyalty, endurance, and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.
Informed by this notion of an epic journey through time and space, Yogananthan’s A Myth of Two Souls mixes daily life with staged pictures, depicting the whole of society by using passersby as actors, regardless of caste. Often using a large-format camera, the artist’s time-consuming process allows for his subjects to inhabit and perform this myth in their present environments. Many of the photographs have also been subsequently colored by an Indian artist, Jaykumar Shankar, using the ancient technique of hand-painting, a method traditionally reserved for wealthy patrons. Resplendent light and color envelop the viewer and conjure the fantastical already present in the everyday. A Myth of Two Souls intentionally blurs lines of authorship, social strata, time, and reality, in order to construct a new space for entering into an age-old narrative.
This series takes us from the seacoast of Sri Lanka, to the city of Ayodhya, to the jungle of Bihar, India. Ultimately, civilization gradually disappears altogether to leave room for a purely metaphysical space. The Ramayana has neither end, nor beginning. It represents the circle of life, and therefore it will always be.
Vasantha Yogananthan
Demigod, 2019
Archival Inkjet print on Canson Printmaking Rag 310gsm paper
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Conversations with Collectors: Vasantha Yogananthan with Anjli Patel & Parambir Keila
Hear artist Vasantha Yogananthan and Toronto-based collectors Anjli Patel & Parambir Keila discuss Yogananthan's project, A Myth of Two Souls. The panelists and audience examine the project through a collector's perspective to illuminate how personal meaning is found in this monumental series.
This program was held and recorded on October 22, 2022.
Anjli Patel and Parambir Keila are collectors who live in Toronto. Their collection focuses on contemporary artists of the South Asian diaspora. They began collecting in December 2010 and have acquired nearly 80 works. They consider collecting to be a form of seva — a Sanskrit and Punjabi word meaning "service" — because it directly impacts artists.
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Vasantha Yogananthan (b. 1985, French) is an artist whose photographic practice addresses the space between documentary and fiction. Using natural light and analog processes, he perceives photography as a malleable material open to interpretations. The book has been central to his work since the beginning. In 2014, he co-founded the publishing house Chose Commune and published his first book, Piemanson. In his books, he interweaves staged photography with scenes from everyday life, thus exploring different forms of photographic storytelling. He has received several awards, including the IdeasTap Magnum Photos Award (2015), The Levallois Award (2016), and an ICP Infinity Award as Emerging Photographer of the Year (2017). That same year was also selected among the 2017 FOAM Talents. His work has been collected internationally by major institutions such as the Victoria & Albert Museum (London, UK), Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris, FR), and Chanel Nexus Hall (Tokyo, JP).