From Thursday 12 September 2024, the Hayward Gallery will present Target Queen, a mesmerising and colourful large-scale new commission by British-Indian artist Bharti Kher. Marking the first time that Kher’s ambitious outdoor work has been presented by a London institution, Target Queen will be positioned across the Hayward Gallery’s eastern and southern facades, celebrating and playfully interacting with the iconic architecture and cultural playground of the Southbank Centre.
Target Queen will feature supersized bindis, which are traditionally used by South Asian women as powerful cultural and spiritual symbols denoting the third eye. With these symbols at the heart of Kher’s artistic vision, the target-like motifs in Target Queen will each measure three metres in diameter and will cover two sides of the Hayward Gallery. Kher’s mural will also transform the bindi into a powerful emblem of the goddess, embedding both spiritual resonance and a welcoming and compassionate feminine energy into the Brutalist building.
Since the artist first incorporated bindis into her work in 1995, they have evolved into a signature motif, rich in narrative and aesthetic significance. For Kher, bindis embody a deep cultural identity, representing “a third eye – one that forges a link between the real and the spiritual conceptual worlds”. The circular shapes, reflecting Kher’s painterly approach, investigate how language and gesture can be communicated through colour.
Target Queen takes inspiration from Kher’s 2007 diptych of the same name. In this commission, Kher reimagines the concentric circle, a potent motif that not only reflects a cosmic vision but also explores the cyclical nature of life, capturing the interplay between creation and dissolution.
Kher’s practice is renowned for how it explores the boundaries between humanity and nature, ecology and politics. Her sculptures are often crafted from found objects that carry their own histories. These objects are precariously assembled, often hung, propped and suspended, and are stripped of their conventional meanings, leaving them open to misinterpretation and enchantment. The resulting works are alluring, abstract compositions that challenge and captivate, reflecting a world filled with abstract beauty and latent magic.
The commission will be viewable from Belvedere Road and Waterloo Bridge as part of the Southbank Centre’s commitment to making 40% of its programming free to all.
Bharti Kher says: “My outdoor work is a key part of my practice, so I couldn’t be more delighted to be working with a space as renowned as the Hayward Gallery to present this work for the first time at a London institution. Target Queen will be a bold, vibrant and powerful artwork that calls for greater representation of femininity and divinity, also as an exciting exploration of how the two intersect.”
Rachel Thomas, Chief Curator at the Hayward Gallery, says: “The Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre is renowned for staging ambitious and pioneering artworks, both inside and outside gallery walls. We are delighted to be working with visionary artist Bharti Kher whose transformative work, Target Queen, will grace our building with profound beauty and imagination. Kher’s art recontextualises the traditional target motif into a symbol of the divine feminine, blending cultural narrative with aesthetic innovation. Target Queen will bring enjoyment to all who see it, be it commuters or tourists travelling across Waterloo Bridge, or visitors to an event on our site”.
Target Queen is supported by the Hayward Gallery Commissioning Committee and Hauser & Wirth Gallery.
Target Queen launches alongside Bharti Kher’s solo exhibition Alchemies at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (on until Sunday 27 April 2025).
