feature subodh gupta
As a South Asian visual artist whose vocabulary and inspiration Gary Hill, Rodney Graham and Douglas Gordon. It is layered with
are drawn from rural India, and an international art star with an astute messages, but unless I’m missing something, none is overtly Indian.
mastery of Pop, minimalist and conceptual art vernaculars, Gupta, “Some evenings it’s good, ideas come,” Gupta says. “But the
the ‘Damien Hirst of Delhi’, is a textbook example of the postcolonial artist’s job is to think about art. It’s not my job to make art about war.”
exotic: a shrewd ironic hybridiser who strategically plumbs the rhetoric He sighs, cocks his head the way he did at the painting and stares at the
of marginality to produce works that both capitalise on and criticise the piece up on its plinth, gleaming in its Plexiglas box. “You can’t ignore
globalised commodification of difference. what’s going on. The world is getting smaller, but we’re taking two
Or just a really good artist. paths: in one we’re going toward each other; but in the other there is
“There are many things in my baggage,” Gupta tells me. “I am this religious war, which is pushing us further away.” He sighs again. “But
the idol thief. I steal from the drama of Hindu life. And from the kitchen of course, with technology, we’re getting closer. I always look for the
– these pots, they are like stolen gods, smuggled out of the country. positive. I have lots of things to say, and that helps me with my art.”
Hindu kitchens are as important as prayer rooms. These pots are like
something sacred, part of important rituals, and I buy them in a market. Work by Subodh Gupta can be seen in 15 Contemporary Indian Artists,
They think I have a shop, and I let them think it. I get them wholesale.” HangarBicocca, Milan, until 6 January. See Listings, page 118, for further
The idol thief works both sides of the street. “I don’t know what information
is art. I see something and I say, ‘I can do that too’. If I see good work,
it gives me energy. How will I transform it in my own way? How will
I make it my own?”
A work like Black Thing (2007) illustrates this double appropriation.
The title of one earlier version, Other Thing (2005) (Gupta reproduces
works frequently; his atelier can barely keep up with demand), is more
telling. A wall piece made of 3,470 cimta – chapatti tongs used to
protect fingers and keep lower-caste cooks from touching the bread
– are suspended in a semi-globed constellation: postminimalism,
reloaded with exotically direct representation. “Bread”, says Gupta,
“is common to all human life”, and he launches into an entertaining
Munshi Premchand story about a boy who buys his granny a cimta
tong. Gupta is an inveterate storyteller; our conversation is peppered
with meandering tales drawn from Hindu mythology and Bollywood.
“That’s what influenced me. And then I transformed it. That is what art
is. It has nothing to do with cimta any more. Even I don’t know what it
is now.”
What it is, is beautiful. As are the pots. “They are shining,” says
Gupta. “But there is no food inside. The God is very, very hungry. But
they are beautiful – and I take advantage of that.”
“It’s still about box office,” says Nagy. “The work references
India and can be about India, but it still has to look hip and cool when
it comes to New York or Paris. I know lots of artists [in India] who
are making strong work, but their work doesn’t travel as successfully. Works
Subodh is hitting all the right combinations of the local and the global.
(In order of appearance)
His work resonates with middle-class India but also references where Very Hungry God, 2006
he’s from, Bihar, one of the poorest regions of India. At the same time,
installation view, palazzo Grassi, Venice
stainless-steel structure and rust-proof utensils
the work participates in an international language that art audiences in 360 x 280 x 330 cm, courtesy the artist
New York or London can catch.”
Magic Wands (Like a Wall), 2002
“Art language is the same all over the world,” says Gupta. aluminium and chrome, 152 x 107 cm, courtesy the artist
“Which allows me to be anywhere.”
Subodh Gupta, 2007
Which, at present, is everywhere. Gupta is an artworld nomad, exhibition view, courtesy In situ, paris
ceaselessly moving from biennial to art fair to group and solo show.
Silkroad, 2007
He longs for the relative peace of his atelier in Gurgaon, a new city installation view, 196 x 475 x 475 cm, courtesy In situ, paris
outside New Delhi, but the demand to be everywhere is increasing.
Black Thing, 2007
Very Hungry God was one of the most talked-about installations at stainless-steel structure, plastic, painted aluminium pincers
Venice, as it was the year before when it was shown in a Paris church
228 x 59 x 218 cm, edition of 3
courtesy In situ, paris
famous for having sheltered illegal immigrants in 1996.
What’s next? 1KG WAR (2007), a scale weight cast in solid
Idol Thief, 2007
oil on canvas, 229 x 168 cm
gold, seems to point in a new direction for Gupta. “One kilo of war. courtesy In situ, paris
How many kilos do you want?” says Gupta. “Gold because gold equals
Bucket, 2007
power and money. Without it, without money, you can’t fight.” bucket and Indian stainless-steel
Whether intentionally or intuitively, 1KG WAR riffs on
70 x 60 x 30 cm, edition of 9
courtesy In situ, paris
conceptual works incorporating precious materials by Damien Hirst, all In situ photos: rebecca fanuele
57 artreview
Subodh Gupta.indd 57 2/11/07 14:40:13
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