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Past Exhibitions

Browse the chronological list of past exhibitions at the Saint Louis University Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCRA), or search for a specific exhibition. Click “View” for more information about an exhibition. If you need further information about an exhibition, please contact us.

Lewis deSoto: Paranirvana

Lewis deSoto: Paranirvana

April 15, 2000 to November 05, 2000

Lewis deSoto’s Paranirvana, a 25-foot long image of the reclining Buddha made of a nylon skin and inflated with air, based on a well-known Sri Lankan sculpture. Paranirvana was created especially for the 1999-2000 Bay Area Now 2 exhibition, the second in a planned series of biennial exhibitions at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts highlighting the significant artists of the Bay Area. MOCRA is only the second venue to exhibit Paranirvana. Subsequently it is scheduled to be shown in New York and Berlin.

View a picture of the source of Lewis deSoto's Paranirvana, the Buddhist shrine at Gal Vihara, Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka.

Tradition has it that Shakyamuni, the Buddha, remained on the earth after attaining enlightenment in order to teach others his insights into achieving salvation. At the age of 80 he came to Kushinagara where he preached his final sermon and died. This episode is the Paranirvana, the physical death of the historical Buddha and his entering into Nirvana, the state of oneness and perfection. Occasioned by the recent loss of his father, deSoto has superimposed his own face on the Buddha as he asks the universal question, how will we all face the moment of our death?

Born in 1954, Lewis deSoto maintains studios in both San Francisco and New York. He has had more than 35 solo exhibitions and has been in more than 40 group exhibitions. He has also received commissions for 10 major public projects. His installations have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States as well as museums in England, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Known primarily as a sculptor, deSoto blends the conventional with the unconventional, incorporating into his sculptural installations such varied elements as video, theatrical lighting, sound, photography, slide projection, oscilloscopes, maps, and ice. He infuses his work with a strong interest in archeology, anthropology, cosmology, and world religions.

MOCRA thanks the Yerba Buena Cultural Center, San Francisco, and the Bill Maynes Gallery, New York, for their assistance in presenting this exhibition.

above:
Installation view of Lewis deSoto: Paranirvana at MOCRA, 2000. Photo by Jeffrey Vaughn.