Bharti Kher: Alchemies

About Bharti Kher: Alchemies

A celebration of diversity, discovery and personal identity.

Displayed in the Underground Gallery and surrounding gardens, Alchemies is an unmissable, powerful exhibition of sculpture and 2D work by one of the world’s leading contemporary artists.

Admission is included in your General Admission ticket.

The title of this new exhibition refers to Alchemy – an ancient practice that included trying to change ordinary metal into gold, and Bharti Kher’s work has these ideas of magical transformation at its heart.

Mythology plays an essential role and is a major source of inspiration. Stories of imagined creatures and spirits who live between worlds, bodies and time align perfectly with Kher’s thinking. She blurs boundaries between animals, humans, nature and objects. The results are often hybrid beings that combine the everyday with the imaginary and the extraordinary. When visiting the light-filled indoor gallery you will find a powerful group of hybrid figures gathered together – part women, part animals, part goddesses.

Many of these sculptures are cast from real bodies of women known to the artist. Kher describes these beings as “mythical urban goddesses” who are, “part truth, and part fiction, part me, and part you”.

"Invoking philosophy, womanhood and religion, Bharti Kher turns material objects into something truly human."
- Dale Berning Sawa, The Guardian

A display of human-animal hybrid figures on plinths

Warrior with Cloak and Shield conveys the ability to be strong and vulnerable at the same time. Her shield is a huge banana leaf and her cloak is a shirt hanging from her enormous antlers. Neither appear capable of protecting her. Although her antlers are cumbersome and would impede her movement, they give her an air of magic. She is a contradictory, mysterious, and a quietly powerful presence.

Cloud Walker is inspired by the Dakinis of Tibetan mythology. Meaning ‘sky dweller’ or ‘sky dancer’, Dakinis inhabit the skies and embody all things feminine. They are manifestations of energy and truth who can be peaceful or wrathful. Cloud Walker is a fierce and compassionate divinity that exists between worlds, between sleeping and waking, and between life and death.

A South Asian woman wearing black overalls, standing between figurative sculptures in her studio.

“When I make the work in the studio, so many forces are at play: the material and its narrative and needs, my hands and their energies, the space and its dynamic as a holder of potential. The bodies and remnants of voices that leave their traces and essence in the body casts. Positives and negatives fly around me. All of it helps me see better, to sense the temperature, to hear what is physical, but to make the work sing I have let go of all of it. And that’s how the alchemies of the studio come into being”.
- Bharti Kher

Outside in the adjacent gardens stand four giant bronze works, belonging to a series called the Intermediaries. The series began with small works made from clay figurines called golu dolls from Southern India. Golu dolls are traditionally displayed in people’s homes as part of the Navaratri festival and represent a colourful celebration of life.

The Intermediaries pays homage to generational family connections. Although made in bronze so they can withstand the weather, most of these huge, scaled-up sculptures are made to look like the original small clay figures they are based on. They are made to appear worn, as though paint has rubbed off in places through years of use, like an old family heirloom.

Ancestor, a mother figure with the heads of 23 children emerging out of her body, is described by Kher as “a mythical and powerful female force that pays homage to the generations before and after her’’.

At the top of the garden, the five-metre-high work Djinn stands majestically overlooking the landscape beyond. Kher describes the work as an “energy centre” around which everything revolves. The playful yet powerful figure has an enormous bunch of bananas in place of a head. This sculpture is a new development in the Intermediaries series, made especially for the exhibition at YSP.

"In her most extensive UK exhibition to date, sculptor Bharti Kher wants women to realise their full potential."
- Amber Louise Bryce, Euronews

A sculpture of a giant Indian golu doll, with additional heads emerging from it's shoulders and torso, displayed outdoors.

A woman wearing a navy coat and trousers, standing next to a large black seated figure with bananas on it's head.

A colourful bronze sculpture of a woman dressed in a sari

A colourful print made up of bindis in a circular pattern.

Bharti Kher has generously donated a limited edition print – Mimesis – in support of YSP.

All proceeds support YSP’s charitable mission to encourage access to outstanding art and creative learning for everyone.

For more information on how to acquire this exclusive artwork, download the sales sheet.

Visit YSP Shop to purchase the exhibition guide and other mementos inspired by Alchemies.

Kher was born in 1969 in London and raised in the UK. Growing up as a young Asian in an English suburb in the 1970s and 80s gave her a sense of being different. In 1993 when she moved to New Delhi, India, she used her experience of feeling like an outsider looking in to shape her diverse artistic practice.

Read the press release to find out more.

Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation, the Bharti Kher Supporters’ Circle, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Delhi, RMZ Foundation, Hauser & Wirth, Nature Morte, Perrotin, and The Girlfriend Fund.

Family activities

In the Underground Gallery, you’ll find a variety of creative activities designed to help you and your own family connect to the themes and artworks in the exhibition. Make sure to visit the Imagination Station at the far end of the gallery, where you'll find a host of activities for all ages to enjoy together, a related collection of books or learn more about Bharti’s practice in our artist film.

Families with young children can enjoy drawing, making and chatting together, using our playful Activity Baskets which can be found inside the gallery. Pick up an activity card to help you explore, or download them below to help you prepare for your visit.

A child holding a square wooden viewfinder to his face.

Talking Together Activity

A pair of hands drawing with crayons on to a clipboard.

Drawing Together Activity

Exhibition Accessibility

The exhibition is located in the Underground Gallery and outdoors in the surrounding garden. There are three gallery spaces within the Underground Gallery. All three gallery spaces are lit with both natural and artificial light and have flat access throughout. There is bench seating located in the gallery concourse, and additional seating including stools, benches and beanbags.