Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Tue-Wed, Thu-Mon 11am-6pm, Fri 11am-8pm
Admission
Paid Admission
Admission price not specified on exhibition page, but museum generally has paid admission.
About
Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia presents an international survey of Buddhism and Buddhist art, beginning with the religion’s origins in India and following its spread through mainland and island Southeast Asia (Myanmar [Burma], Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia), the Himalayas (Kashmir, Nepal, and Tibet), and East Asia (China, Korea, and Japan). Incorporating 180 masterpieces of pan-Asian Buddhist art, the exhibition introduces key concepts of Buddhist thought and practice viewed through the prism of rare and extraordinarily beautiful Buddhist sculptures, paintings, and ritual objects. Drawn from LACMA’s permanent collection, with several significant loans from private collections, the exhibition explores the life of the Buddha, the role of the bodhisattva or Buddhist savior, Buddhist cosmology, and such key concepts as dharma , karma , nirvana , mantra , mudra , and mandala . The show will focus on art associated with such key phases of Buddhism as Theravada (early monastic Buddhism), Mahayana (the “Great Vehicle”), Vajrayana (the “Diamond Vehicle”—tantric or esoteric Buddhism), and Chan (Zen).