"Neti-Neti"

Installation view

Photograph: Courtesy Bose Pacia Gallery

Peter Nagy, curator of this refreshing exhibition, took off for India in 1992 and became a central figure in that country’s now superhot contemporary art scene. Here, he brings back a view of India as a landing strip for jet-setters and biennial boppers, very Beatles-meet-Maharaji circa 1968, with a hip amalgam of East-meets-West artists.

Neti-neti means “neither this nor that,” a fitting title since Nagy selects works that cannot be easily categorized as either Indian or American. Stephen Mueller shows an array of meditative abstractions with psychedelic patterns reminiscent of kaleidoscopes. Arlene Shechet creates ceramic figures that look like Buddhist sculptures wrapped in papier-mâché. Aditya Pande takes the image of Gandhi on Indian currency and makes a series of prints of the leader with a broad grin on his face.

This view of cultural identity—as a choice open to anyone—is underscored by the charming diptychs of Maurizio Vetrugno. He pairs Ronnie Cutrone’s late ’70s photos of Divine, Lou Reed and Candy Darling with paper cutouts of animals from the Chinese zodiac. A far more pointed observation of colliding cultures is offered by Michael Bühler-Rose, a Hare Krishna devotee, who photographs young American women wearing saris and bindis. Like many of the works in this groovy exhibition, these images flaunt India as a lifestyle, rather than as a case study in globalization. The show makes you want to run out and buy a Nehru jacket, or better yet, go see the art scenes in Mumbai and New Delhi for yourself.