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Subodh Gupta: Taking Indian Art to an International Audience
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Subodh Gupta: Taking Indian Art to an International Audience
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Posted on
Oct 25,2013 by
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SUBODH GUPTA, Line of control
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SUBODH GUPTA, The very hungry God
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A chance meeting with Howard Rutkowski a veteran auctioneer , who has been with Sotheby’s and Bonhams in the past and is now working as an independent art advisor in Singapore brought up the topic of Subodh Gupta. Howard mentioned how he was involved in the sale of one of Subodh’s installations. Conversation that followed made me think about the Indian artists that international art specialists recognize and what is so special about their art practice that makes them stand out.
When Marcel Duchamp , a French /American artist created an art work out of a porcelain urinal and titled it “Fountain” he was ahead of his times , but when Subodh Gupta incorporates everyday objects, such as the steel tiffin boxes , pans, buckets ,bicycles, and milk pails in his installations he is doing just what his peers in the art world are doing , transforming the icons of everyday life( so to say ready made objects ) into artworks that are readable globally.
Subodh Gupta (born in 1964) is an Indian artist based in New Delhi. Fast-changing culture provides both subjects and materials for Subodh Gupta’s captivating installations and sculpture. Drawing inspiration from his own life and memories, he is among a generation of young Indian artists whose commentary tells of a country on the move, fueled by boiling economic growth and a more materialistic mind-set.
Intentionally or unintentionally, but most certainly Gupta deals with Indian themes in a way that appeals to the Western eye. Since exhibiting at such venues as the Venice Biennale and Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art in 2005, he has become the face of contemporary Indian art for the global audience.
For this blog I have selected four works by Subodh that in my opinion are best recognized by a global audience, these will hopefully give a better understanding of the subject he works on and the underlying thought behind his art .
One of Subodh’s major works, consisting of Indian cooking utensils, is ‘Line of Control’ (2008), a colossal mushroom cloud constructed entirely of pots and pans. The work, referring to the contested Kashmir border between disputed territories of India and Pakistan and the possibility of the nuclear conflict it might cause, was showcased at the Tate Britain, and received rave reviews.
Very Hungry God, 2006, installed in Venice’s Grand Canal. Another of Gupta’s tiffin-pot sculptures, a giant skull titled “The Very Hungry God “(2006)
One aspect that makes Subodh stand out among his contemporary’s is his ability to draw attention through provocation . In his video Pure (2000), the artist, thickly covered in manure, is slowly hosed off until he is naked. He explained his video by saying “Where I grew up, cow dung was used for spiritual cleansing,”. The idea that cow dung is inherently clean is ingrained in rural India, it’s use as a purifying element is both ritualistic and symbolic.
Gupta has always grappled with complex issues of identity, nostalgia, and stereotyping. In his oil on canvas painting titled ‘Saat Samundar Paar’ he uses baggage trolleys of modern airports to allude to the grim historical reality of migration from India.
Like a true artist he finds expression in different forms. In 2010, Gupta collaborated with Angelin Preljocaj, the French choreographer and designed the stage set for the ballet CREATION 2010.
Paintings , Installations, Video art and set designing , I would be anxious to see what new frontiers Subodh explores next.
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