DEEP TIME I

Prema Murthy

September 4 - October 11

Opening Reception: September 4, 6 to 8 pm

KALINER Gallery, in New York presents new work by Prema Murthy entitled DEEP TIME I, an immersive video installation and series of limited-edition photographic prints. DEEP TIME I, is the first part of a three-part video installation filmed in India and edited over the course of three years. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery.

DEEP TIME began with Murthy’s travel to India in 2023. The series were filmed in 3 locations in India, – the Jantar Mantar Astronomical Observatory in Delhi, the Cave 8 Rock Temple at Karla Caves near Lonavala, Maharashtra and the fire rituals on the Ganges River in Varanasi - each are distinct points on the Earth's grid lines where cosmic and earthly energies intersect and harmonize at high frequencies. Throughout time, these sites were nodes that brought together scholars, artists, scientists and mystics to India from as far away as China, the Middle East, Greece, and Africa for intensive study, ritual and contemplative practices.

Travelling solo to each of these ancient, sacred locations, allowed the artist to have an intimate experience at each place. The process of filming was a ritual in itself, which is a significant part of Murthy’s practice – arriving at the locations before dawn, filming in silence as the sun slowly rose, and taking in the shapes. Lines and angles became animated by shifting subtleties in shadow and light. Every day another detail unveiled itself to the artist that wasn’t seen the day before. At each place, Murthy captured the timelessness, energy and vibration that reached beyond this world, and reverberated back in her.

DEEP TIME I was filmed at the Jantar Mantar Astronomical Observatory in New Delhi, India. Built in the 18th century by Maharaja Jai Singh II, the observatory features five massive stone instruments precisely designed to observe celestial bodies and make astronomical calculations. In DEEP TIME I, multi- dimensional planes and places co-exist harmoniously as One. The language of geometry intermingles with the play of shadow and light, and is transformed by the artist’s vision into a cosmic tone poem rooted in abstract minimalism.

As a multidisciplinary artist, Murthy uses similar aesthetic decisions, technical themes and contemplative overtones throughout her work. In the series of black geometric paintings featured in Ceremony – the artist’s previous solo exhibition with the gallery in May 2023, Murthy used gloss and matte paint to create subtle shifts of shape and luminescence that moved with the viewer. The same artistic language is expanded upon and ultimately, at the heart of the DEEP TIME I video installation which integrates the mathematical language of geometry, line and angle with the play of shadow and light, rooted in an abstract, minimalist aesthetic.

Murthy’s work aligns with mid-century minimalism, akin to Agnes Martin’s serene compositions. Intuitively inspired by images before dawn, MUrthy’s art harmonizes the mystical with the objectivity of science, unifying disparate aspects of the human psyche.