Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2008.235
People
Atul Bhalla, Indian (New Delhi, India born 1964)
Title
I Was Not Waving But Drowning II
Classification
Photographs
Work Type
photograph series
Date
2005
Places
Creation Place: South Asia, India, Delhi
Culture
Indian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/330038

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Digital pigment photograph face-mounted to Plexiglas
Dimensions
each H. 45.5 × W. 30.2 cm (17 15/16 × 11 7/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: "Atul Bhalla 5/5"

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Atul Bhalla (2005-2008, New Delhi, India), sold [through Sepia Gallery, New York]; to Harvard Art Museums, 2008.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Purchase through the generosity of Jose M. Soriano
Copyright
© Atul Bhalla
Accession Year
2008
Object Number
2008.235
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This series consists of 14 color photographs that depict the artist, Atul Bhalla, slowly submerging himself in the Yamuna River in Delhi. The photographs are vertical in format and intended to be viewed in a linear series which shows the progression of the central figure into the water. The color palette of the series is warm, with a combination of Bhalla's flesh, the calm water surface, which mirrors a bright sky, Bhalla, and a hazy green line of trees on the bank in the background. The soft quality of the trees and the reflections in the water contrast with the sharply defined contours of the artist's portrait. These light-filled images appear to almost glow on their own, an effect that is likely enhanced by the refracting light passing through the plexiglass face mounting.

Exhibition History

  • Re-View: S231 (Islamic rotation: 6) I was not Waving but Drowning, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 12/03/2010 - 04/02/2011
  • Water Stories: river goddesses, ancestral rites, and climate crisis, Radcliffe Institute Johnson-Kulukundis Family Gallery, 09/18/2023 - 12/16/2023

Related Objects

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu