Mongolian couple displays modern art

Illness prevented acclaimed Mongolian artists Munkhtsetseg-Anar "Mugi" Jakhaajav and Erdenebayar "Bayar" Monkhor from attending a reception for their artwork Saturday at the Indiana Memorial Union Gallery. The married couple had planned to answer questions and talk about their work as part of the Mongolia Society's annual conference before Jakhaajav's health prompted them to return to Mongolia early. The Mongolia Society met in conjunction with the Central Eurasian Studies Society at IU for a series of meetings and panels Thursday through Saturday.\nJakhaajav, a native of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, draws from the cultural richness of her homeland to create her work. Her paintings consist primarily of Mongolian women in traditional dress and elaborate hair styles. They often feature a vertical line down the center. \n"Mongolian women had very stylized hair before modernization 50 years ago," said Saruul-Erdene Myagmar, a visiting linguistics student and friend of the artists. \nHe compared Jakhaajav's use of the line to the Buddhist principle of yin and yang. \n"(Jakhaajav) says she feels that the lines in her pieces are more of a uniting force than a dividing one and are always drawn after the painting is completed," Myagmar said.\nAnja Reid, a visiting researcher with the Mongolia Society, noticed a fundamental change in Jakhaajav's recent paintings. \n"I first saw her work in 2000 at the Mongolia Union of Artists and found it very stylized and aggressive," Reid said. "Now it's more mellowed ... She's found a way of connecting her feelings with her art. There's a sense of mysticism now."\nMonkhor, like his wife, is also from Ulaanbaatar. The color red is predominant in his work which focuses on the horse, an important part of Mongolian culture, according to Myagmar.\n"In ancient times, horses were very important to the nomadic Mongolian society and still are today," Myagmar said. "(Monkhor) used to paint in many colors, but now he paints in red because he says it expresses the power of the horse. There are also elements of minimalism and cubism in the horses he paints."\nThe couple's artwork was chosen for display because the Mongolia Society needed an exhibit that could represent Mongolian modern art. \n"(Myagmar) introduced me to both of the artists, and I liked their paintings," said Mongolia Society Manager and Treasurer Susie Drost. "I then approached the IMUG about displaying their work and they said yes ... This is one of the main ways of promoting Mongolian culture and art."\nIn addition to the exhibit of the couple's work, the oil paintings of Chinzorig Sumiya were on display at the Mathers Museum. Unfortunately, Sumiya was unable to leave Mongolia to attend the event.\nJakhaajav and Monkhor carried their art work with them from Mongolia because of some shipping complications experienced by other Mongolian artists earlier this year. When Drost planned a Mongolian Festival in September, many of the art pieces that were shipped from Mongolia were detained by the United States Department of Agriculture. The department was concerned mainly because the artwork was shipped in wooden crates, which run the risk of transporting certain insects. \nAll of the pieces on display at the IMUG are for sale and range in price from $300 to $2,000. Several Bloomington residents attended Saturday's reception. Among them was local artist Jim Sampson. \n"The use of color and style is very interesting," Sampson said. "Looking at them is like looking at things with a different point of view because they're referential to Mongolian culture."\n-- Contact staff writer Derek Smith at deresmit@indiana.edu.