"Hanuman the Handyman" is a whirling carousel of narratives. A spectacle of divine acrobatics. An oversaturated cosmic dance fusing my own photographs with antique illustrations, all brought to life in a deluge of color and light.

An international god revered from India to Bali to Thailand, scholars have whispered that Hanuman may even have moonlighted as Sun Wukong, the Monkey King in the Chinese epic, the Journey to the West. Hanuman isn’t just a deity, then. He’s his own Tower of Babel, in a way. Becoming a figurative space for folks in Denpasar and Delhi to project their hopes and prayers, finding commonality in their shared devotion to this beacon of hope, good luck and good cheer. Which also makes Hanuman a celebrity, in another way. A venerated figure who people think they know but have never met. So I booked Hanuman for this gig and flung him into the spotlight. Again. This time, as an acrobat, a performer, a star who’s spent millenia preparing for this debut. And it's all there, in his eyes, in his hands that hold myriad weapons, in his riotous laughter as he hits his first bullseye of the evening.

Toby Leon
Tagged: Art