Take me, take me, take me . . . to the Palace of Love at Yale Center for British Art

Rina Banerjee’s suspended installation reimagines the iconic form of the Taj Mahal through contemporary materials and perspective. Rather than marble and permanence, Banerjee constructs her palace from a steel and copper frame wrapped in translucent pink cellophane, challenging assumptions about luxury, history, and cultural legacy. Floating above the ground, the tentlike structure encloses objects that reference colonial histories, including an antique Anglo-Indian Bombay chair and a chandelier assembled from foam, plastic beads, synthetic elements, and artificial birds. The work reflects Banerjee’s distinctive practice of combining found objects with consumer materials gathered from markets near her New York home.

Banerjee, who received her MFA from the Yale School of Art in 1995, sees this work return to New Haven for its first display at the museum since its acquisition in 2023. The installation is on view from February 7 through July 26, 2026, at the Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT. The museum is open Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and Sunday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Admission is free.