Labour Without a Thought for Money (2014)

Joan Marie Kelly

Description

This painting reflects the context of where the wrestlers live; Varanasi, or Banaras the local name. Banaras is the seat of the Hindu religion located along the Mother Ganges. It’s is where people go to die believing that their souls will rest discontinuing the cycle of re-birth.

Similar to the paining, Sitting in her Nighty, this painting is the outcome of social art events in Kolkata and Varanasi India, threading together a contemporary view of adaptations of the historical archetype of femininity, the courtesan  “Kotha” with the historical archetype of masculinity, Pahalwan (wrestler) and the culture of the Akhara (outdoor gymnasium). The sex workers are viewed as the cultural descendants of the “courtesan,” the archetype of femininity and the wrestlers the cultural descendants of the manifestations of power that once stood next to the Mogul Kings. The portrait is of Durga a sex-worker living in Kolkata who posed in her nighty. “Labor without a Thought for Money” is of the context of the Akhara where the wrestlers practice everyday by the Ganges where the puja’s are made.

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

117 x 186 cm