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India
Middle East
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Chandigarh,
The Rock Garden of Chandigarh - Nek Chand
1924-
Sculpture environment
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Information:
Born just west of the Indian border in Pakistan, Nek Chand fled with his family into the Hindu region of India during the partition of 1947. The time was one of upheaval and trauma for millions, and though it took Nek Chand a number of years to find a way toward renewal, the environment he made was a story of regeneration on an epic scale. From the waste of villages—scrap metal, fabric, pottery, and more—rose the kingdom of immortal beings: The Rock Garden of Chandigarh. For 16 years, the artist worked in secrecy since the land on which he worked belonged to the state. When he was discovered, he feared the worst. The artist estimated that by then he had made some 20,000 kings, queens, animals, and other figures, sprawling over a six-acre patch of land. There were some rough years, but Nek Chand’s vision of the Rock Garden prevailed, and currently it is India’s second most visited place, following the Taj Mahal. Today, the artist still works on the Rock Garden, now with the help of employees and volunteers.
Nek Chand aided the Arts Center in becoming home to what remains the largest body of the artist’s work outside of India.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
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Bibliography:
Museums, etc.
Capitol Children's Museum, Washington DC
Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM
Raw Vision collection, Hertz, UK
De Stadshof Collection, Belgium
References:
"Les Jardins Fantastiques", Beauthéac and Bouchart, 1982
"Raw Vision" No 1, 1989, No 9, 1986, no 35, 2001
"The Rock Garden", Aulakh, 1986
"Nek Chand", Ditzen, 1991
"Raw Creation: Outsider Art and Beyond" by John Maizels, 1996.
"Self-Made Worlds: Visionary Environments" by Roger Manley and Mark Sloan, Aperture, New York, 1997.
"Nek Chand Shows the Way", exhibit catalog, 1997
"Fantasy Worlds" Maizels and von Schaewen, 1999
"Folk Art" Vol 13, No 1, 2000
"50 Classic Outsiders", Raw Vision Sourcebook, 2002"
"Sublime Spaces & Visionary Worlds: Built Environments of Vernacular Artists," by Leslie Umberger, Erika Doss, Ruth DeYoung Kohler, Lisa Stone, and Jane Bianco, published by John Michael Kohler Arts Center and Princeton Architectural Press, 2007.
"Vernacular Visionaries: International Outsider Art" by Annie Carlano, Caterina Gemma Brenzoni, and Susan Brown McGreevy, Yale University Press, 2003. |
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