Tibetan Gallery & Studio is OPEN: Press Release

TIBETAN GALLERY & STUDIO OPENS AT THE BARLOW IN SONOMA
First Time Outside Tibet: Massive Buddhist Scroll Painting Has Begun

For Immediate Release
Hi-Res Artwork Available
Contact:  studio at TashiDhargyal dot com
707-509-3777

Sebastopol, CA – July, 13 2013:    The Tibetan Gallery & Studio (TGAS) has opened at The Barlow in Sebastopol, CA. The gallery and studio are a unique hybrid steeped in rich Tibetan culture.  On a daily basis, visitors will see Dhargyal working on an epic project, the painting of a giant thangka, known as thanbhochi, the first time that a Tibetan has painted one outside Tibet.

TGAS also features a small boutique area, which sells items not available anywhere else that incorporate Dhargyal’s work including art-quality prints of his thangka, beautiful silk scarves responsibly sourced from India, hand strung mala, as well as one-of-a-kind scripted art and painted stones for gardens.

Currently, Tashi is working with a very special visiting artist, Migmar Tsering, the primary teacher at the Institute of Tibetan Thangka Art in Dharamsala, India.  Before escaping to India, Tsering was an apprentice artist in Tibet, where he assisted his master with painting at HH The Dalai Lama’s rightful residences, the Potala and the Norbulinka palaces, as well as working in numerous monasteries.

Thangka are traditional scroll paintings of Buddhist gods and deities mounted in brocade; this will be the first time a Tibetan master will paint one entirely in the traditional method outside of Tibet. A thangka of this scale is called thanbhochi, the multi-story canvas is designed to be displayed at special prayer ceremonies; the canvas Tashi will paint will be 20 feet high by 15 feet wide.

Dhargyal is one of the few masters in the West working entirely in the traditional Tibetan method, which includes hand-prepared canvas, hand ground mineral pigments, and 24k gold. His new studio was created specially for this endeavor.

It will be painted traditionally: with hand-ground mineral pigments and adorned with 24k gold and Dhargyal estimates it will take at least five years to finish.  When complete, it will tour museums and monasteries, before ultimately being donated to a Monastery in Kham (Eastern Tibet.) The entire painting process with be documented, and pictures and video will be frequently uploaded online.

Thubten Samdup, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, says, “Preserving and safeguarding the rich heritage of Tibetan arts is utmost important for the survival of Tibetan spirit. Therefore, I am thrilled to learn that Tashi is opening a studio where the rich tradition of Tibetan arts will be showcased.”

TGAS was designed to support the best of Tibetan culture.  In early August, Tashi will begin teaching weekly classes in thangka painting.  October 21-28th, he will host the monks of Drepung Gomang Monastery in their only Sonoma-area visit while they offer dharma lectures, cultural presentations, and construct a sand mandala.

About Tashi
Tashi has trained and painted for over 15 years. From 2006-2010, he was the artist-in-residence at the Ganden Jhangtse Monastery in Dharamsala. He is both a master thangka painter and craftsman — painting and decorating statues both for the Monastery and private customers.   In the Summer of 2012, he personally presented his work to HH the 14th Dalai Lama, who commended his skill and talent, and requested that Tashi continue to paint, and teach. Tashi has traveled throughout India to work in monasteries to restore and decorate statues and has been integral in the Tibetan art community. He studied under the late Ven. Sangye Yeshi, whom His Holiness the Dalai Lama personally invited to reactivate the long and rich tradition of thangka painting in Dharamsala by opening a school at the Tibetan Library of Works and Archives. When this first school was shut, due to restructuring of the Library buildings, Tashi worked with his teacher to start the Institute of Tibetan Thangka Art. Through his initiative, the ITTA was started, and staffed with the best teachers. Tashi has shown his works along with his ITTA contemporaries at the Tibet House in New Delhi, at the Museum at His Holiness’ the Dalai Lama’s temple in Dharamsala, and at the Tibet House in New York.  His thangka were featured art on TLC’s series New York Ink (placed with Sheppard Fairey’s Obey art), at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, Tubac Center for the Arts where it received Honorable Mention in a juried group exhibition, as well as at Invisible NYC Gallery in New York’s Lower East Side. Tashi’s thangka have been auctioned by Christie’s to benefit the Tibet House; he has also donated works and lessons to benefit the Tibetan Aid Project and the Tibet Fund, who showcased his work in their PSA on the Jumbotron in New York’s Times Square.  He has taught classes at the Tibet House, the Newark Museum, as well as to private groups and has completed murals for Jivamukti Yoga in New York.  His works have been commissioned by the likes of Jet Li as presents for HH the Dalai Lama.

About the Studio
Located in The Barlow (6770 McKinley Street #130, Sebastopol, CA). The gallery is over 1300 sqft with 30-foot ceilings.  It functions both as Tashi’s working studio, and also features original thangka for sale – both by Tashi, and by ITTA’s students. The studio welcomes requests from schools, sangha, and community for special presentations or events. Visitors can also join into his weekly classes.

About The Barlow
Located in a former apple processing plant in Sebastopol California, The Barlow (www.thebarlow.net) is the public market concept re-envisioned.  This 220,000-square-foot food, wine, and art campus and marketplace is located in the heart of West Sonoma Count near the junction of Highways 12 and 116.  The Barlow brings together the very best food producers, wine makers, brewers, and artisans to create a space that offers a direct connection between consumers and the makers of the local products they love. Welcoming public spaces, and a complementary mix of food producers, craftspeople, health-and-wellness businesses, restaurants, and artist’s studios join to create an organic environment for the community to conduct business, share food, wine, and art, and to enjoy time together.

Donations are being accepted via the project’s fiscal sponsor, The Solo Foundation.  Funds will go towards the painting, supplies, and travel costs associated with the tour.  All donations are tax-deductible. To donate online, please visit www.PreserveTibetanArt.org
Or mail checks to:
Tibetan Gallery & Studio
6770 McKinley Street #130
Sebastopol, CA 95472
Payable to The SOLO Foundation

###