Gupta
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. This involvement on both the public stage and behind the scenes is reflected in his art today, where the production runs across the complete gamut of mediums, from sculpture and painting to installation, photography, video and performance works. Sculptor may be his most appropriate title as Gupta's process is always keenly aware of the physical presence of objects, the aesthetic and symbolic attributes of materials, and the relationships between space, bodies and the passage of time.
A penchant to exploit the cliches of India has become the sculptor's signature. Subodh Gupta locks onto these cliches and examines them from a number of angels: the sacred cow and its dung which is used for cooking fuel, medicines and religious rituals; stainless steel kitchen articles and country-made firearms; an over-stuffed kitsch-Baroque armchair or a scooter slung with milk pails; the image of the Indian worker in transit encumbered with commodities.
In the past ten years, within the context of the contemporary art scene of India itself, Gupta has gradually moved towards a more encompassing attitude of art, one which focuses on specific images and issues that subsequently dictate the mediums in which they can be articulated. To be sure, certain motifs are often found repeated in different works as Gupta's concerns hover close to home even though his formal rhetoric may seem to be imported. It is the diversity of his production which is most impressive. He is almost completely alone among his generation within India to completely disregard disciplinary boundaries or the inhibiting strictures of the marketplace.
To the question of how «Indian» does an Indian contemporary art need to be? Subodh Gupta cleverly supplies multiple answers, delivering works which participate in the most au-courant dialogues of forms and materials (just what «contemporary art» is supposed to look like in New York or London) while hardly venturing out of his apartment in New Delhi. With both style and wit, he distills the global from the local, concocting delectable stews that have a depth of meaning so as to satisfy over time.
Solo Exhibitions
2011
Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland
Hauser & Wirth, New York NY
Hauser & Wirth Outdoor Sculpture Southwood Garden, St.James's Church, ?Hauser & Wirth Outdoor Sculpture: Subodh Gupta?, London, England
2010
Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
Arario Gallery, Seoul/Cheonan, Korea
Nature morte show, New Delhi, India
Et tu, Duchamp?, Kunsthalle Wien project space Karlsplatz, Wien, Austria
Faith Matters, Pinchuk Art Center, Kiev, Ukraina
Artefici contempranei e difformitaà barocche, ARCOS, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Sannio, Benevento, Italy Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
«And then, one thousand years peace» Creation 2010, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Russia
«And then, one thousand years peace» Creation 2010, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Paris, France
«And then, one thousand years peace» Creation 2010, Grand Théâtre de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, France
2009
Aam Aadmi (Commom Man), Gallery Hauser & Wirth, London, UK
Arario Beijing, Beijing, China
Still, steal, steel, Jack shainman Gallery, N.Y., U.S.A
There is always cinema, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy
Gandhi?s Three Monkeys, Jack Shainman gallery, New York, USA
Idol Thief, Galerie In SITU Fabienne Leclerc, Paris, France
The Rusholme Project, SHISHA, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
Start.Stop Bodhi Art gallery, Bombay, India
Silk Route, BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
2006
Bombaysers de Lille, Tri postal, Lille 3000, France
Hungry Gods, Nature Morte, New Dehli, India
Artes Mundi Prize, Cardiff National Museum, Wales
2005
I can?t translate Jootha, Galerie in Situ, Paris, France
?Jootha?, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
I Go Home Every Single Day , Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
2004
I Go Home Every Single Day, The Showroom Gallery, London, UK
2003
New Paintings and Sculptures, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
This Side is the Other Side, Cabinet, Art and Public, Geneva, Switzerland
2000
Recent works, Nature Morte at Lokayata, New Delhi, India
1999
Recent works, Gallery FIA, Amsterdam, Holland
The Way Home, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India (cat)
Bose Pacia Modern, New York, USA
The Way Home, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India
Gasworks Gallery, London, England (with I Jayachandran
1996
Grey Zone, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India (Cat)
1995
Grey Zones, Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, New Delhi, India
1993
Recent Paintings, Gallery Escape, New Delhi, India (Cat)
1990
Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Calcutta. Belidh Club, Jamshedpur, Tata Steel, India
1989
Recent Paintings, Shridhani Art Gallery, New Delhi, India
1986
?Recent Paintings?,Gandhi Sangharalya,Patna, India
Group Exhibitions
2011Indian Highway, Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Roma, Italia
Là où se fait notre histoire, Frac Corse, France
Artzuid 2011, Avenues of Berlage?s Plan-Zuid, Amsterdam, Netherlands
In Praise of Doubt, Punta della Dogana ,Venice, Italy
Paris ? Delhi ? Bombay, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Indian Highway IV, Musée d?art contemporain de Lyon, France
?maximum INDIA?, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C.
?Eating Art. From Goya to Ferran Adria??, Caixa Forum, Barcelona, Spain
2010
Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
The 6th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia Rem(a)inders, Galleria Continua, Beijing, China
Indian Highway, Herning, Denmark (travelling exhibition)
?Indian Highway?, Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
Da Sopra, Castello Svevo di Bari, Bari, Italy
Vanities from Caravaggio to Damien Hirst, Maillol Museum, Paris, France
Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum, Guggenheim Museum, New-York, USA
The Empire strikes Back- Indian Art today, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Urban Manners II, SECS Pompeia, Sao Paulo, Brazil
?Contemporary Magic: A Tarot Deck Project?, The National Arts Club, New York NY, USA
?Hareng Saur: Ensor and Contemporary Art?, S.M.A.K. ? Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst,Ghent,
Belgium
«The Silk Road : Saatchi Gallery London in Lille», Tri Postal, Lille3000, Lille, France
?C?est la Vie. Vanities from Caravaggio to Damien Hirst?, Fondation Dina Vierny ? Musée Maillol, Paris, France ?CHANEL Mobile Art?, Paris, France (Travelling Exhibition)
?Art for the World. The City of Forking Paths?, World Expo, Shanghai, China
Artefici contemporanei e difformità barocche, ARCOS, Museo d?Arte Contemporanea Sannio, Benevento, Italy
Monumental ,Walsh Gallery, Chicago IL
2009
The Wing Party, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Qui a peur des artistes?, curated by Caroline Bourgeois and Francesca Zappia, Palais des Arts de Dinard, France
Re-imagining Asia. A Thousand Years of Separation, The New Art Gallery Walsall, Wallsall, UK
40 th anniversary of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
Tate triennale, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, Tate Britain, London, UK
Sphères, Galleria Continua/ Le Moulin, Boissy-le-Chatel, France
Altermodern: Tate Triennial 2009, tate Britain, Millbank, London, England
6th Asian Art Pacific Triennial, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australie
The 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka City, Japon
Viewpoints and viewing points, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, 2009 Asian Art Biennial, Taichung, Taiwan
Beyond Limits, Chatsworth, Derbyshire, U.K
Un certain état du monde: sélection de la collectionde la Fondation François Pinault, The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia
Indian Narrative in the 21st Century: Between Memory and History, Casa Asia, Madrid, Spain
Steellife, curated by Elisabetta Pozzetti, Triennale of Milan, Italy
Passage to India Part II, Frank Cohen Collection, Initial Access, Wolverhampton, UK
Unreal Asia, 55th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany
India Moderna, IVAM Museum, Valencia, Spain
Indian Highway, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway
Heavy Metal, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Denmark
?2009 Asian Art Biennial ?Viewpoints and viewing points?, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts,Taichung, Taiwan
2008
Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art, curated by Francesco Manacorda and Lydia Yee, at Barbican Art Gallery
Re-imagining Asia, A thousand years of separation, curated by Shaheen Merali and Wu Hang, at the House of world cultures
God & goods, Villa Manin, Codroipo, Italy
Passage to India, Frank Cohen Collection at Initial Access Wolverhampton, UK
CHANEL Mobile Art, curated by Fabrice Bousteau, building conceived by Zaha Hadid, Hong Kong,
Tokyo, New York, London, Moscow, Paris (exh. cat.)
New Delhi ? New Wave, Primo Marella Gallery, Milano, Italy
ArtFocus 2008, Jerusalem, Israel
Fundament Foundation, Tilburg, Holland
Indian Focus, espace Claude Berri, Paris, France
Stadthimmel Citysky Basel 08, Klaus Littman?s project, Basel, Switzerland
?Lustwarande 08 ? Wanderland. 3rd Edition Lustwarande?, Park de Oude Warande & Museum De Pont,Tilburg, Netherlands
?Frontlines: Notations from the Contemporary Indian Urban?, Bodhi Art, Berlin, Germany
?Chalo! India: A new Era of Indian Art?, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (Travelling Exhibition)
?Expanding Horizons? Bodhi Art,Mumbai (Travels to eight venues throughout India)
?Distant Nearness?, The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art at Johnson County Community College, Kansas City KS
?Indian Highway?, Serpentine Gallery, London, England (Travelling Exhibition)
?Aurum. Gold in der zeitgenoessischen Kunst?, Centre PasquArt, Biel, Switzerland
?Everywhere is War (and Rumours of War)?, Bodhi Art, Mumbai, India
?Sphères 2008. Galleria Continua, Chantal Crousel, Hauser & Wirth, Galerie Krinzinger, Kamel Mennour?, Galleria Continua / Le Moulin, Boissy-le-Cha?tel, France
?Where in the World?, Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India
?Heavy Metal. On the Inexplicable Lightness of a Material?, Kunsthalle zu Kiel,Germany
48° C Public. Art. Ecology, New Delhi, India
?Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary?, Museum of Arts and Design, New York NY
India Moderna?, Institut Valencia d`Art Modern, Spain
?New Narratives: Contemporary Art from India?, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ (Travelling Exhibition)
?New Narratives: Contemporary Art from India?, Salina Art Center, Salina KS (Travelling Exhibition)
2007
Urban Manners - Contemporary artists from India, Hangar Bicocca, Milan, Italy
India / Public places - Private spaces, Contemporary Photography and Video Art, The Newark Mu seum, Newark, New Jersey, USA
New Delhi - New wave, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy
La gastronomie dans l?art : de la peinture flamande à Andy Warhol, Artcurial, Paris, France
Dans ces eaux là, patrimoine et création contemporaine au château d?Avignon, Domaine du château d?Avignon, Conseil général des Bouches-du-Rhône, Avignon, France
L?emprise du lieu, Domaine de Pommery (organised by the Galerie Continua Lorenzo), France
Bodhi art Gallery, Bombey, India
Moscow Biennale of Contemporary art, Lenin Museum, Russia
Contemporary India, Palais des Beaux-arts de Bruxelles, Belgium
Venice-Istanbul, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, Turkey
Bombaysers de Lille, Lille 3000, Lille, France
Hungry God , Arario Beijing Gallery, Beijing, China
Art Unlimited, Basel art fair, Art & Public, Switzerland
L?Art à la plage #5 , Galerie Enrico Navarra, Plage de Pampelonne, Ramatuelle, France
Nuit Blanche, Eglise Saint Bernard et vitrine de la Galerie in Situ, Paris, France
Exposition consacrée à la scène indienne, Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris, France
2005
Universal Experience (Art, Life, and the Tourist?s Eye), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA
Mom and Pop, Walsh gallery, Chicago, USA
Frieze Art Fair, Art & Public Gallery from Geneva, London, UK
Universal Experience, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
Arsenale, Venice Biennale, Venicia, Italia
Indian Summer, Ecole Nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France
Arsenale, Venice Biennale, Venicia, Italia
2004
Edge Of Desire, curated by Chaitanya Sambrani for The Art Gallery Of Western Australia, Perth;
The Asia Society, New York, USA (cat)
Two-man show curated by Keith Wallace, Centre A (Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Art, Canada
Vanitas Vanitatum, curated by Peter Nagy for Sakshi Gallery Mumbai, India
Drawings, The Eagle Gallery, London, UK
the SNEEZE, a Featured Film 80 artists x 80 seconds 106 minutes curated by Natasha Makowski and Peter Lloyd Lewis, Athens, Greece
2003
The Havanna Biennale, curated by Hilda Rodriques, Cuba. (cat)
Crossing Generations: diverge, curated by Geeta Kapur and Chaitanya Sambrani for 40
Years of Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India (cat)
body.city siting contemporary culture in India,sub Terrain: artists dig the contemporary, curated by Geeta Kapur for the House of World Cultures, Berlin, Germany (cat)
An apparent calm which is in fact a perfectly balanced tension, curated by Peter Nagy at Grantpirrie Gallery, Sydney, Australia
HEAT, curated by Ram Rahman at Bose Pacia Modern, New York, USA
The Tree from the Seed, Contemporary art form India, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Norway, curated by Gavin Jantjes, India (ill. Cat)
Bad Taste, Apparao Gallery, Apeejay New Media Centre, New Delhi, India
2002
Under Construction, Japan Foundation and Tokyo Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. (Cat)
Private Mythologies of the Personal and the Political, curated by Pooja Sood , Apeejay Media Gallery, Faridabad, India (cat)
Creative Space, Sakshi Gallery, at Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India (cat)
Multi Media Art Asia Pacific, Bejing. China. Curated by Johan Pijnappel (cat)
Busan Biennale, Busan Metropolitan Art Museum, South Korea (Cat)
This Side Is the Other Side, ART AND PUBLIC, Geneva, Switzerland
Self : Contemporary Indian Video Art, curated by Johan Pijnappel, IMA Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane Australia
Indian Art : Home ? Street - Shrine- Bazaar - Museum, curated by Gulammohammed Sheikh for Manchester City Art Gallery, UK (cat)
Cinema Stills, curated by Gyatari Sinha, at Habitat center, New Delhi, for Apparao Galleries, India
Kapital and Karma, curated by Angelika Fitz and Michael Wortenger for KunstWein, Vienna, Austria (cat) THE ARMORY SHOW, New York, for Art and Public, Geneva, Switzerland
Sorry For the Inconvinience, curated by Gridthya Gaweewong, Project 304 Bankok,Thailand
Under Construction, Japan Foundation Project in Tokyo, Japan (cat)
Inaugaral show curated by Nicolas Bourriaud and Bernard Macde for the Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France Sidewinder, curated by Gerard Hemsworth for CIMA Gallery, Kolkata, India habitat Centre, New Delhi, Coomarswamy Hall, The Prince of Wales Museum of Western India (Cat)
2001
National Gallery Of Modern Art, Mumbai. Post Residency Show. Jindal art Foundation, India
Bollywood Has Arrived, curated by Jim Beard Gallery and FIA, Passenger Terminal, Amsterdam, Holland Post Production (Sampling, Programming & Displaying), curated by Nicolas Bourriaud. Galleria Continua, San Gi- mignano, Italy
Context as Content ? Museum as Metaphor, curated by Peter Nagy at the Museum of Fine Art, Chandigarh, India(Cat)
VILAS, Birla Academy, Mumbai, Curator: Gayatri Sinha, India
I Love Video Art ? Curated by Le Mailton Theatre de Strasbourg et le forum itinerant, Strasbourg, France
INVISIBLE BOUNDARY: Metamorphosed Asian Art, Travelling Exhibition: Asian Section of the Kwangju Biennale, Niigata City Prefectural Civil Centre Gallery, Japan and Utsunomiya Museum of Art
Utsunomiya City Japan, Curator: Tani Arata and Co-Curator: Ueda Yuzo, Japan (cat)
Kwangju Biennale 2000, Asian Section, Curator: Tani Arata and Co-Curator: Ueda Yuzo, South Korea (cat)
Negociations, C.R.A.C. SETE, France, Curators : Nicolas Bourriaud & Bernard Marcade, France
1999
The First Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan (Cat)
Of Based on, or obtained by, Gallery Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
IMPACT Jim Beard Gallery at CCA New Delhi. Curated by: Kimberley Lewis and Derk Bulthuis, India Nature Morte, Indian Artists, Sydney, Australia. Curator: Peter NagyEdge of Century, curator: Amit Muko- padaya, Art India, New Delhi, India (cat)
1998
New Millennium, New Media, curator: Anupa Mehta, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India (Cat) Kendal Wallah ? through Indian Eyes, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, UK, (Cat)
1997
UNESCO ? ASHBERG Bursaries for Artists hosted by InIVA at Gasworks Studios, London, UK Khoj International Artists? Exhibition, British Council, New Delhi, India (cat)
Points of Contact, Shirley Fiterman Gallery, New York, USA
1996
Indo-Austrian Artists? Workshop, Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi, India (Cat).
6th Bharat Bhawan Biennial of Contemporary Indian Arts, Bhopal, India (Cat). Indo-Cuban Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, India
1995
Young Generation from Bihar, Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda, USA
Young Contemporary Artists, Birla Academy, Calcutta, India
Drawing 94, Curator: Priag Shukla, Organised by Gallery Escape of AIFACS Gallery, New Delhi, India (Cat)
1994
Nessuno Tocchi Caino (Hands Off Cain), Rome and at the Biennale in Venice, Italy
1993
Contemporary Indian Artists, Organised by Gallery Escape, Dubai (Cat)
1991
Husain Ki Sarai. organised by Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, India (Cat)
Research Grant Scholars Exhibition, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi. Lucknow, Madras, India Imprints of Our Time, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
1990
All India Painting Exhibition Organized by Vadhera Art Gallery at Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi, India
1989
Contemporary Artists of Bihar, at Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi, India
1983
Group of ?AB Exhibition, Patna, India
All India Drawing and Craft Exhibition, Patna, India
Selected Participations
1990
Invited in regional art exhibition at Rashtriya Kala Kendra, Calcutta, India All India Art Exhibition, Bhuwaneshwar, India
Nukkar Poetry Painting Exhibition, State Level Art Exhibition, Patna, India
1986
All India Youth Festival, Roorkee (U.P.) 3rd Rashtriya Kala Mela, New Delhi, India East Zone Youth Festival, Guwahati, India
All India National Youth Festival, Madras, India
1983
All India Drawing and Craft Exhibition, Patna, India