In Patel’s show, and in his illustrated books- The Little Book of Hindu Deities (2006) and Ramayana: Divine Loophole (2010)-he distills the gods and goddesses down to their essentials. He’s inspired by the past, but has reformulated it in the visual language of the present.”įor those unfamiliar with Hindu iconography, the pantheon can be overwhelming. “Sanjay tells these stories with a vibrant visual style-it’s so sweet and so charming, yet very respectful.

“ stories are parts of a living tradition, and change with each retelling,” Adamjee observes. At first, she wanted to scatter examples of Patel’s work throughout the museum the notion of giving him a solo show evolved later. “I’ve known of Sanjay’s work for a while,” says Qamar Adamjee, the museum’s associate curator of South Asian Art, ducking briefly into the gallery. Patel, who created the bold banners and graphics for Maharaja, was given this one-room fiefdom to showcase his own career: a varied thali (plate) of the animated arts. It’s a lighthearted foil to the museum’s current exhibition, Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts. The name of the show- Deities, Demons and Dudes with ‘Staches-is as quirky and upbeat as the 36-year-old artist himself. I mean, who gets the opportunity to be in a freakin’ major museum while they still have like all their hair? Let alone their hair still being black? To have created this pop-culture interpretation of South Asian mythology-and to have it championed by a major museum-is insane.” “This is awesome.” Patel spins through the gallery, as giddy as a first-time tourist in Times Square.

This room is as colorful as a candy store, its walls plastered with vivid, playful graphics of Hindu gods, demons and fantastic beasts. He propels me through dimly lit halls, past austere displays of Korean vases and Japanese armor, until we arrive at a brightly lit gallery. Though we’ve barely met, Patel takes my arm. His vahana, or vehicle, is a silver mountain bike his white helmet is festooned with multicolored stickers of bugs and goddesses. Sanjay Patel arrives at the entrance of San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, breathless.

Divine loophole