The art world is filled with creators who challenge norms, provoke thought, and inspire reflection, but few did so with the humor, wit, and depth of Bepen Bhana. A visionary Indian-New Zealand visual artist and graphic designer, Bhana left an indelible mark on the art scene with his photorealistic paintings, blending pop culture, nostalgia, and a deep examination of cultural appropriation. His work didn’t just entertain; it invited viewers to look deeper into issues surrounding race, identity, and the exoticization of South Asian aesthetics.
Early Life and Education of Bepen Bhana
Bepen Bhana was born in Auckland in 1971 to an Indian family that had migrated from Navsari, Gujarat. His father arrived in New Zealand in 1949, seeking new opportunities.
Bepen Bhana’s childhood was immersed in a rich blend of cultures. At home, Gujarati was spoken, and images of Hindu deities adorned the walls, while outside, English and Western media provided a different worldview. Bhana’s introduction to English came through television, and it was this mix of cultures that laid the foundation for his unique artistic voice.
He pursued his education at the Elam School of Fine Arts, where he earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees. His academic journey didn’t end there—Bhana went on to teach at institutions like the Manukau Institute of Technology and Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, shaping the minds of the next generation of artists. At the time of his passing in 2023, he was working on a second doctoral thesis focused on the Bollywood star Sajid Khan.
Artistic Practice: Humor as Critique
Bepen Bhana’s art was a complex, multi-layered exploration of popular culture, South Asian identity, and the commercialization of tradition. What made his work stand out was his use of humor to deliver sharp, poignant social critiques. As described by James Pinker in “The Curry Bunch” exhibition catalogue, Bhana’s humor was “piquant and subtly confrontational.” His pieces often appeared playful on the surface but hid deeper conversations about cultural commodification and appropriation.
One of Bepen Bhana’s most striking characteristics was his ability to combine Western pop culture icons with South Asian aesthetics, creating a form of visual commentary that was accessible and yet deeply intellectual.
In his 2016 series The Curry Bunch, Bepen Bhana recreated portraits from The Brady Bunch, but with a twist: each character was adorned with traditional South Asian markings like bindis and caste markers, forcing viewers to reconsider their understanding of cultural identity and how South Asian culture was being “othered” by mainstream Western media.
Cultural Appropriation and South Asian Representation
Cultural appropriation became one of Bepen Bhana’s central themes, and his body of work often interrogated how South Asian culture was commodified for Western consumption. His 2017 series Hey Bey – Hymn for the Weak End is a perfect example. In this series, Bhana recreated scenes from Beyoncé’s portrayal of a Bollywood star in Coldplay’s music video for Hymn for the Weekend.
In the video, Beyoncé wears traditional South Asian attire, including an embroidered bridal sari and heavy jewelry. Bhana’s photorealistic paintings captured this imagery, but his intention was to critique how such aesthetics were often used to enhance Western media narratives, divorced from their cultural context.
Bhana’s critique was not just about appropriation, but also about how cultural symbols were commodified, exoticized, and reduced to marketable aesthetics. His work urged viewers to reflect on the power dynamics between Western media and non-Western cultures, particularly how these relationships often involved a form of cultural erasure.
Pop Culture Meets Fine Art
Another notable theme in Bhana’s work was his fascination with pop culture, especially 1970s television and music. He embraced nostalgia, but not for its own sake—Bhana used it as a lens to investigate deeper societal issues.
In his Boom! Boom! Deluxe exhibition in 2012, Bepen Bhana created 23 replicas of The Basil Brush Show’s iconic fox puppet, each dressed in luxury designer suits from brands like Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton. Through this, Bhana critiqued the commercialization of beloved childhood icons, blending humor with commentary on materialism and branding.
His love for pop culture was also evident in his 2013 Postcards from the Edge exhibition, which referenced Bollywood’s vibrant advertising styles. Combining Bollywood billboard techniques with New Zealand landscapes, Bhana’s paintings explored the fusion of Eastern and Western cultural symbols, offering both a playful and critical take on identity and belonging.
Interrogating Neoliberal Narratives
Bhana’s work also took aim at broader cultural narratives, particularly the sanitized versions of South Asian culture presented by neoliberal marketing. In Frankie Goes to Bollywood (2016), he avoided the use of English altogether, naming his pieces in Te Reo Māori and Hindi. This deliberate choice prioritized non-Western audiences and further pushed the boundary of cultural representation in art. His works were not just about showing South Asians in Western contexts but aimed to highlight the self-representation of South Asian identities.
As Balamohan Shingade insightfully noted, Bhana’s works challenged the Western gaze, showing that South Asian communities already set their own cultural standards and ideals. Bhana’s work was a reminder that cultural narratives are not one-dimensional, and that they should be shaped by those within the culture, not merely consumed by outsiders.
Legacy and Final Works
In the last years of his life, Bepen Bhana turned his attention to the career of Sajid Khan, a child actor turned international star in the 1970s. Khan, a Bombay-born Muslim, became a global heartthrob for a brief period before being discarded by the Western media. Bhana saw Khan as a symbol of how the West commodified and discarded Eastern figures once their novelty wore off. Bhana’s final suite of works focused on this commodification, exploring the fleeting nature of fame and the deeper implications of cultural exploitation.
Bepen Bhana’s tragic passing in 2023 at the age of 51 left a void in the art world. However, his legacy continues to inspire. His body of work, filled with photorealistic paintings, cultural critique, and an enduring sense of humor, serves as a powerful testament to the complexities of identity, race, and representation in contemporary society. As an artist, Bhana pushed boundaries, making us question not just how we see the world but how we are seen within it.
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