Episode #164: Filmed in 2011, artist Lynda Benglis gives a tour of the family home of Anand Sarabhai in Ahmedabad, India, a city she has been visiting and working in for over thirty years. Benglis describes her interest in the Indian landscape and culture and why she enjoys spending time with the Sarabhai family. Various works are shown in Benglis's studio on the property including "The Manu" (2008) which she created by manipulating a beeswax mixture and then making stainless steel casts of the resulting forms.

 

A pioneer of a form of abstraction in which each work is the result of materials in action—poured latex and foam, cinched metal, dripped wax—Benglis creates sculptures that eschew minimalist reserve in favor of bold colors, sensual lines, and lyrical references to the human body. Often working in series of knots, fans, lumps, and fountains, Benglis invents new forms with unorthodox techniques that also display a reverence for cultural traditions tracing back to antiquity. 

 

Learn more about the artist at: http://www.art21.org/artists/lynda-benglis

 

CREDITS: Producer: Ian Forster. Consulting Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Nick Ravich & Susan Sollins. Camera: Sunil Pillai. Sound: Gissy Michael. Editor: Morgan Riles. Artwork Courtesy: Lynda Benglis. Special Thanks: Anand Sarabhai. Theme Music: Peter Foley.