Subodh Gupta
Encyclopedia
Subodh Gupta is an artist based in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

. He was born in Khagaul
Khagaul
Khagaul is a city and a municipality in Patna district in the Indian state of Bihar.-Geography:Khagaul is located at . It has an average elevation of 55 metres .-Demographics:...

,land famous for ancient mathemetician Aryabhatta in Patna. He studied at the College of Art, Patna in 1983 - 1988, before moving to New Delhi where he currently lives and works. Trained as a painter, he went on to experiment with a variety of media. His work encompasses sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

, installation
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...

, painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

, photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

, performance
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...

 and video
Video art
Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...

.

Work

Subodh Gupta is best known for incorporating everyday objects that are ubiquitous throughout India, such as the steel tiffin boxes used by millions to carry their lunch as well as thali pans, bicycles, and milk pails. From such ordinary items the artist produces sculptures that reflect on the economic transformation of his homeland and which relate to Gupta's own life and memories. As Gupta says: 'All these things were part of the way I grew up. They are used in the rituals and ceremonies that were part of my childhood. Indians either remember them from their youth, or they want to remember them.' And: 'I am the idol thief. I steal from the drama of Hindu life. And from the kitchen - these pots, they are like stolen gods, smuggled out of the country. Hindu kitchens are as important as prayer rooms.'

Gupta transforms the icons of Indian everyday life into artworks that are readable globally. He is among a generation of young Indian artists whose commentary tells of a country on the move, fuelled by boiling economic growth and a more materialistic mindset. Gupta's strategy of appropriating everyday objects and turning them into artworks that dissolve their former meaning and function brings him close to artists like Duchamp; The Guardian called him 'the Damien Hirst of Delhi.' He succeeds in finding an art language that references India and at the same time can be appreciated for its aesthetic throughout world; as Gupta says: 'Art language is the same all over the world. Which allows me to be anywhere.'

One of his recent major works, consisting of Indian cooking utensils, is 'Line of Control' (2008), a colossal mushroom cloud constructed entirely of pots and pans. The work was shown in the Tate Triennial at Tate Britain in 2009.

Painting is also an important part of Subodh Gupta's art practice. His series 'Still Steal Steel' consists of photorealistic paintings of kitchen utensils falling and moving in space. In his early paintings, Gupta used another element of Indian every day life, cow dung. This is used in India for building houses and as fuel for cooking fires. Moreover, it is a cleaning agent. The idea that cow dung is inherently clean is ingrained in rural India. There, it is a purifying element, both ritual and symbolic. In his video 'Pure' (2000, 9 min.), Gupta takes the detergent concept literally and has filmed himself taking a shower, to free himself of the thick layer of dung that covers his body.

An earlier series of paintings is 'Saat Samunder Paar'. Baggages, migration and the "return home" have been enduring concerns of Subodh Gupta. It is a theme that crystallised in works such as 'Across the Seven Seas' (2006) where he uses baggage trolleys of modern airports to allude to the grim historical reality of migration from India, especially from his home state of Bihar.

In works that Subodh Gupta presented at Hauser & Wirth in October 2009, the artist moved away from composite sculptures toward objects that possess an auratic quality. Ready-made commodities experience transformations in scale and material. Relations to European art history were now to be found. Among the new works is a three-dimensional reworking in bronze of Duchamp's mustachioed Mona Lisa 'L.H.O.O.Q.
L.H.O.O.Q.
L.H.O.O.Q. is a work of art by Marcel Duchamp first conceived in 1919. The work is one of what Duchamp referred to as readymades, or more specifically an assisted ready-made...

' (1919).

His oil on canvas painting 'Saat Samundar Paar' went under the hammer for Rs 3.4 crores in the Saffronart
Saffronart
Saffronart is a Mumbai based auction house specializing in Indian art that was founded in 2000. They have galleries in Mumbai, New York, and London, though they are most well known for their online art auctions, which have been the subject of a case study by Harvard Business School. One auction in...

 autumn online auction. In 2008, he along with several other artists raised 3.93 crores for Bihar flood victims.

In 2010 Subodh Gupta designs the stage set for the ballet CREATION 2010 by Angelin Preljocaj
Angelin Preljocaj
Angelin Preljoçaj is a French dancer of Albanian origin and choreographer of contemporary dance.-Biography:His choreographic work is steeped in his writing of the history of classical ballet, but is resolutely contemporary...

, the French choreographer. The ballet is produced by the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...

, Moscow, and the Ballet Preljocaj.

Selected exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

2010

Faith Matters, PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine

Take off your shoes and wash your hands, Tramway, Glasgow, UK

Arario Gallery, Cheonan, Korea

Arario Gallery, Seoul, Korea

Et tu, Duchamp, KÖR Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Kunsthalle Wien project space, Vienna, Austria

Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte is an art gallery that deals predominantly in Indian contemporary art. It currenty has three locations, galleries in New Delhi, Gurgaon , and Berlin . Gallery Nature Morte is partners with Bose Pacia Gallery in New York.- History :The gallery's founder, Peter Nagy originally...

, New Delhi, India

Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland

2009

Common Man, Hauser & Wirth, London, UK

Line of Control, The Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia

2008

Still Steal Steel, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York City, USA

There is always Cinema, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy

Line of Control, Arario Beijing, China

2007

Start.Stop, Bodhi Art Gallery, Bombay

Silk Route, Baltic Art Centre, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Idol Thief, IN SITU - Fabienne Leclerc, Paris, France

2006

Hungry God, Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte is an art gallery that deals predominantly in Indian contemporary art. It currenty has three locations, galleries in New Delhi, Gurgaon , and Berlin . Gallery Nature Morte is partners with Bose Pacia Gallery in New York.- History :The gallery's founder, Peter Nagy originally...

, New Delhi

Artes Mundi Prize, Cardiff National Museum, UK

2005

Jootha, IN SITU - Fabienne Leclerc, Paris, France

I go home every single day, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York NY, USA

Jootha, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India

2004

I go home every single day, The Showroom Gallery, London, UK

2003

Saat Samunder Paar, Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte is an art gallery that deals predominantly in Indian contemporary art. It currenty has three locations, galleries in New Delhi, Gurgaon , and Berlin . Gallery Nature Morte is partners with Bose Pacia Gallery in New York.- History :The gallery's founder, Peter Nagy originally...

, New Delhi, India

This side is the other side, Art & Public, Geneva, Switzerland

2000

Recent Works, Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte is an art gallery that deals predominantly in Indian contemporary art. It currenty has three locations, galleries in New Delhi, Gurgaon , and Berlin . Gallery Nature Morte is partners with Bose Pacia Gallery in New York.- History :The gallery's founder, Peter Nagy originally...

, New Delhi, India

1999

Recent Works, Gallery Foundation for Indian Art, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1997

Bose Pacia Modern, New York NY, USA

The Way Home, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India

1996

Grey Zones, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

Group Exhibitions

2009

Altermodern. Tate Triennial 2009, Tate Britain, London, UK

Un certain État du Monde?, The Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture in Moscow, Russia

The 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan

2008

God & Goods – Spirituality and Mass Confusion, Villa Manin, Udine, Italy

Indian Focus. Artistes Indiens Contemporains dans la Collection de Claude Berri, Espace Claude Berri, Paris, France

Chalo! India: A new Era of Indian Art, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (Travelling Exhibition)

Indian Highway, Serpentine Gallery, London, England (Travelling Exhibition)

Where in the World, Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India

2007

Sequence 1. Painting & Sculpture from the François Pinault Collection, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy

Edge Of Desire: Recent Art in India, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India (Travelling Exhibition)

New Delhi – New Wave, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy

India: Public Places / Private Spaces, The Newark Museum, Newark NJ, USA

2006

Altered, Stiched & Gathered, P.S.1 MoMA, New York NY, USA

Venice – Istanbul, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, Turkey

Taipei Biennial 2006, China

Lille 3000, Lille, France

Edge Of Desire: Recent Art in India, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga CA, USA (Travelling Exhibition)

Edge Of Desire: Recent Art in India, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley CA, USA (Travelling Exhibition

2005

51st Venice Biennale, Italy

Weightless Space, The Herzliya Museum Of Contemporary Art, Israel

The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Dialectics of Hope, Russia

Universal Experience: Art, Life and the Tourist’s Eye, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago IL, USA (Travelling Exhibition)

Universal Experience: Art, Life and the Tourist’s Eye, Hayward Gallery, London, England (Travelling Exhibition)

2004

Indian Video Art: History in Motion, Fukuopka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan

Edge Of Desire: Recent Art in India, The Art Gallery Of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Vanitas Vanitatum, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India

2003

8. Biennale Havanna, Cuba

Body. City. Citing Contemporary Culture in India, House of World Cultures, Berlin, Germany

The Tree from the Seed, Contemporary Art from India, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden, Norway

2002

Kapital & Karma, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria

Photosphere, Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte is an art gallery that deals predominantly in Indian contemporary art. It currenty has three locations, galleries in New Delhi, Gurgaon , and Berlin . Gallery Nature Morte is partners with Bose Pacia Gallery in New York.- History :The gallery's founder, Peter Nagy originally...

, New Delhi, India

2001

Post Production (Sampling, Programming & Displaying), Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy

Context as Content – Museum as Metaphor – Museum of Fine Art, Museum of Fine Art, Chandigarh, India (Travelling Exhibition)

Context as Content / Museum as Metaphor, Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte is an art gallery that deals predominantly in Indian contemporary art. It currenty has three locations, galleries in New Delhi, Gurgaon , and Berlin . Gallery Nature Morte is partners with Bose Pacia Gallery in New York.- History :The gallery's founder, Peter Nagy originally...

, New Delhi, India (Travelling Exhibition)

2000

Vilas, Birla Academy, Mumbai, India

Kwangju Biennial, Korea

Invisible Boundary: Metamorphosed Asian Art, Utsunomiya Museum of Art, Japan

1999

Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial, Fukuoka, Japan

Of, based on, or obtained, Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte
Gallery Nature Morte is an art gallery that deals predominantly in Indian contemporary art. It currenty has three locations, galleries in New Delhi, Gurgaon , and Berlin . Gallery Nature Morte is partners with Bose Pacia Gallery in New York.- History :The gallery's founder, Peter Nagy originally...

, New Delhi, India

1998

New Millenum, New Media, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

1997

Points of Contact, Shirley Fiterman Gallery, New York NY, USA

Khoj International Artists Exhibition, British Council, New Delhi, India

Selected works

Et tu, Duchamp?, black bronze, 114 x 88 x 59 cm, 2009

Jeff the Koons, aluminium, painted, 2009

Aam Aadmi, painted bronze mangoes, 2009

Wall, fibreglass cast of tree and wall, 2009

Spooning, 2 cast spoons, stainless steel, 34 x 275 x 52 cm, 2009

Line of Control, stainless steel utensils, 10 x 10 x 10 m, 2008

Date by Date, installation, 2008

Mind shut down, skull of stainless steel utensils and old utensils, 240 x 150 x 205 cm, 2008

Still Steal Steel #9, oil and enamel on canvas, 198 x 364 cm, 2008

Still Steal Steel #8, oil and enamel on canvas, 198 x 364 cm, 2008

School, 45 brass cast stools and stainless steel utensils, installation, 2008

Gandhi's Three Monkeys, bronze, old utensils, steel, three heads, one with terrorist mask, one with military helmet, one with gas mask, 2007–2008

Faith matters, sushibelt with cooking utensils, 2007–2008

U.F.O., brass and stainless steel utensils, 2007

1 Kg War, 1 kg gold, 24 carat, 2007

Potato Eaters, bronze potatoes, plastic bag, 45 x 35 x 15 cm, 2007

Bhandarghar, Indian pots, metal, ropes, 2007

Leap of Faith, stainless steel buckets, 700 x 180 x 180 cm, 2006

Cheap Rice, life size rickshaw, brass utensils, metal, 170 x 120 x 280 cm, 2006

Very Hungry God, skull of stainless steel utensils, 2006

Across Seven Seas, conveyor belt with luggage cast in bronze and aluminium, 2006

Curry, stainless steel utensils, 5 cabinets, 360 x 270 x 330 cm each cabinet, 2006

Cow, lifesize aluminium and bronze cast from bicycle and milk pails, 2005

Everything is Inside, taxi roof, luggage cast in bronze, 162 x 276 x 104 cm, 2004

Doot, lifesize aluminium cast of an Ambassador car, 2003

Saat Samunder Paar VII, oil on canvas, 167 x 228 cm, 2003

Bihari, cow dung, acrylic, sequence light on handmade paper, 109 x 76 cm, 1999

How to spell cow in Hindi (III), oil, acrylic, cowdung on canvas, 225 x 153 cm, 1999

Selected Films and Performances

Still Life Juggler, film on DVD, 1:50', 2008

All Things are Inside, film on DVD, 4:30', 2007

Haasil, appeared in his friend Tigmanshu Dhulia's film, 2003

Pure (I), performance at Khoj workshop, Modi Nagar, India, 1999

Pure, video on DVD, 9', 1999

See also

Gallery Nature Morte's Subodh Gupta page for biography, curriculum vitae and images.

hauserwirth.com
Biography, bibliography, images and press - Subodh Gupta

artfacts.net
Additional information and images – Subodh Gupta

artnet.com
Various other resources and images – Subodh Gupta

artists-org
Modern and contemporary artists and art – Subodh Gupta

artpublic.ch
Raised in the northern province of Bihar (India's poorest and most violent) Subodh Gupta spent his formative years traveling with a Hindi language theatre group, working as a set designer and fabricator as well as an actor.

bbc.co.uk
In her exhibition entitled Around and Around 1000 Times, Schandra Singh
Schandra Singh
Schandra Singh is an artist based in, New York.Singh was born in New York. Her large-scale paintings show people in relaxing situations as a form of escape from distress.She received her MFA from Yale in 2006....

presents large-scale paintings that address the issue of escapism as a means of coping with suffering.

paletteartgallery.com
Subodh Gupta was born in Khagaul, Bihar. He did his BFA (Painting) from the College of Art Patna. He has had several solo shows including one at Bose Pacia Modern, New York in 1997.

jackshainman.com
American Gallery representing Subodh Gupta – additional images and information on past and current exhibitions

universes-in-universe.de
The installation refers to Indian workers in the Gulf States. On their way home after months of slaving away and living in the closest of quarters, they proudly carry their acquisitions with them in such cartons (never in suitcases).

saatchigallery.com
Whilst the skull on everyone's lips of late has been Damien Hirst's diamond-encrusted 'For the Love of God', the skull exciting many people at the Venice Biennale is by Indian artist Subodh Gupta. 'Very Hungry God', an enormous skull made out of stainless steel utensils, was first exhibited in Paris in 2006 and is now in the collection of Francois Pinault. 'Very Hungry God' is currently on view by the Grand Canal outside Pinault's Palazzo Grassi in Venice. Subdoh explains here the background to this work.

manchesterinternationalfestival.com
Subodh Gupta is one of India’s most prolific artists and has participated in numerous highly-acclaimed international exhibitions. Gupta works in a wide range of mediums from sculpture and painting to installation, photography, video and performance.

asianart.com
New Perspectives From India – images of work by contemporary Indian artists, including work of Subodh Gupta

artsmundi.org
Subodh Gupta works in a wide range of mediums from sculpture and painting to installation, photography, video and performance. He elevates the status of found objects from everyday items to artworks; using the products of rural India such as cow dung, milk buckets, kitchen utensils, scooters, guns and gulal powder as his materials.

External links

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