Nightswimmers reviewed in ArtForum
Through a practice anchored in {though not limited to) drawing, Chitra Ganesh has developed a sophisticated iconography and lively illustrative style that synthesizes myriad references to South Asian mythology and religion, comic books, pulp and science fiction, Bollywood posters, and feminist and queer history and theory. Ganesh's exhibition here, "Nightswimmers," processed and responded to the profound shifts experienced during the widespread lockdowns that characterized the pandemic's early months, when life suddenly came to a terrifying and isolating standstill. In contrast to the unruliness of past work, from science fiction- inspired feminist utopias to scenes of violence and body horror, this show felt altogether calmer, offering up moments of respite and reflection. With works installed on dark-purple walls in a dimly lit space, the exhibition evoked, with a contemplative mood, the liminal state between sleep and waking life, a limbo that seems an apt metaphor for the atemporal stupor of the past two years.