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On Sunday October 11th from 3 to 5pm an artist reception will be held
at the Shumei Art Gallery for Kongtrul Jigme Namgyel.
Kongtrul Jigme Namgyel was born in the Northern Indian province of
Himachel Pradesh into a Tibetan family, the son of Neten Chokling
Rinpoche and Mayum Tsewang Paldun. Recognized as an incarnation of
Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, a great scholar and meditation master in
19th century Tibet, he grew up in a monastic environment and received
extensive training in all aspects of Buddhist philosophy and practice.
Deeply interested in activities that express the natural state of mind
for which all meditation aims, Mr. Namgyel admired the work of
Kandinsky and Picasso in his first encounters with Western art.
Trained in the traditional Tibetan arts of calligraphy, music and
ritual dance, he began painting in the mid-1990’s under the guidance
of the French abstract expressionist painter Yahne Le Toumelin. Out of
all the Western traditions, abstract expressionism caught his
attention due to its acceptance of formless technique, which closely
mirrors the relaxation of strict discipline found in advanced
meditation.
“When I first saw Yahne paint, it looked very freeing, very
non-conceptual, very expressive. It seemed very much like a process of
trying to go beyond the restrictions of her own judgments—a very
fearless expression. I thought that it would be a good modern day
conduct to support meditation practice, which aims to transcend those
very extremes of right and wrong, good and bad, and discover an
essential freedom from conception.” - Kongtrul Jigme Namgyel
Mr. Namgyel’s wife, first student and editor, Elizabeth
Mattis-Namgyel, will speak about Mr. Namgyel’s creative process during
the reception, which will take place in the gallery on the north end
of the office building. This event is free to the public, call
256-5284 for further information.
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