New York, NY…The New Museum presents an exhibition, performance, and seminar by Nikhil
Chopra (b. India, 1974). For “Yog Raj Chitrakar: Memory Drawing IX,” his exhibition in the
lobby gallery at the New Museum, Chopra, as Yog Raj Chitrakar, will turn the gallery, now a
turn-of the-century tableau vivant for five days (November 4–8, 2009). Visitors are encouraged
to view the gallery prior to the artist’s intervention, then to return often to witness the evolution of
Yog Raj Chitrakar’s character as he explores, documents, and responds to the changing face of New York City. Over the course of the performance, Yog Raj Chitrakar will work in and outside the museum to generate large scale drawings of New York City’s landscape that will cover the lobby gallery walls. “Yog Raj Chitrakar: Memory Drawing IX” includes documentation from three previous performances on view through February 7, 2010. Chopra will also lead a
Propositions seminar at the New Museum on November 13–14, 2009 (see below for more
information).

Nikhil Chopra combines strategies associated with theater, portraiture, landscape drawing,
photography, art actions, and installation to chronicle the world through live performance.  As the Victorian draughtsman Yog Raj Chitrakar, Chopra haunts bustling market squares, forgotten old buildings, city streets, and museum galleries to make large-scale drawings. Within the performance, daily actions—washing, eating, drinking, sleeping, dressing, shaving, and observing—are transformed into ritualistic spectacle. While an ambiguous past
collides with an unstable present, Yog Raj Chitrakar reveals the process of documenting what
he sees while exploring self-portraiture, autobiography, history, fantasy, and sexuality.
“Yog Raj Chitrakar: Memory Drawing IX” is curated by Eungie Joo, Keith Haring Director and
Curator of Education and Public Programs. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with
PERFORMA 09. Costume Design: Loise Braganza.