Michael O'Neill, On Yoga: The Architecture of Peace

ETHERTON GALLERY Opens NEW EXHIBIT

MICHAEL O’NEILL ON YOGA: THE ARCHITECTURE OF PEACE

November 30, 2021

340 South Convent Ave

Etherton Gallery is pleased to present our new exhibition, Michael O’Neill, On Yoga: The Architecture of Peace, opening with a reception 7:00-10:00 pm, Saturday, December 4, 2021, at our new location, 340 South Convent Avenue. The show runs through February 5, 2022. Michael O’Neill spent ten years photographing the masters and gurus of yoga, meditating with monks in the Tibetan Plateau, living with sadhus in their tents at the Kumbh Mela, and marveling at the boys who practice the little known discipline of Mallakhamba at the wrestling grounds in Kochi, India. His portraits reveal the essence of yoga, what O’Neill calls, “the architecture of peace… a series of postures that bring the practitioner closer to touching the infinite.” For more information, call the gallery (520) 624-7370 or visit ethertongallery.com.

A documentary about O’Neill’s project, On Yoga: The Architecture of Peace will be shown 2:00 pm, Sunday, December 5th at The Screening Room, 127 East Congress Street. To view the trailer (with Portuguese subtitles) visit: https://vimeo.com/501728440

“What sets Michael O’Neill’s photographs apart from so many others is that they aren’t simply magnificent pictures of people performing postures. They are windows into yoga. If we delve into the viewing [his] book with the same reverence with which we open the door to a temple or cathedral, with all three of our eyes open – our two physical eyes and also our inner eye – we will see not just strikingly beautiful images but also true yoga.”

- H. H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatji

On Yoga: The Architecture of Peace documents an important, transitional moment in the history of yoga through portraiture, as some of its great masters pass away, and a new generation takes their place. The Sanskrit word for yoga means “union,” and that is precisely what O’Neill’s portraits convey. As he says, “A portrait is always an agreement, … An agreement is established in one form or another on whatever wavelength to work together and share the process and the same goal of making a great picture.”  O’Neill’s … subjects invite him in, but on their own terms, as a participant. Portraits such as Durvasasana, 2010, unite photographer and subject as one, a visual and spiritual dissolution of boundaries. O’Neill’s photograph of Christy Turlington, does not traffic in staging the body of a former super model, but instead reveals the inner strength and composure she has attained through yoga. Etherton Gallery’s exhibition includes portraits of famous practitioners, influential yogis such as Rodney Yee, and now deceased teachers, B.K.S. Iyengar and Shri K. Pattabhi Jois. The result is a powerful tribute to this ancient discipline, now a global phenomenon, with over 250 million practitioners united in physical, spiritual, and mindful practice worldwide.

Michael O’Neill (b.1946-) has photographed the cultural icons of our time, from Andy Warhol to the Dalai Lama for nearly 50 years for publications including the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. He has had solo shows of his work at Visa pour l’Image (Perpignan, France), II Mes Internacional da Fotografia (São Paulo, Brazil), and Houk Friedman Gallery (New York). His photographs reside in the permanent collections of the Walker Art Center among other arts institutions, as well as private and corporate collections. For ten years he immersed himself in the culture of yoga, turning his lens on the origins and essence of this ancient and timeless spiritual practice.

Excerpts from Michael O’Neill, Eddie Stern and H. H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatji from On Yoga: The Architecture of Peace, 2015/2021 © Michael O’Neill

Credits: images must be accompanied by the photographer’s copyright

©️ 2015/2021 Michael O’Neill