- 268
Subodh Gupta (b.1964)
Description
- Subodh Gupta
- Untitled
- Signed and dated 'Subodh 07' on reverse
- Oil on canvas
- 65 1/2 in. by 89 in. (167.8 by 228.5 cm)
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
"Many [people] might find the word 'utensil' too coldly clinical a term for the objects sought to be described in Subodh Gupta's art. It does not quite connote the value endowed to these objects by the power of myth, legend, daily ritual and intimate usage. It is true that all these objects are widely used for cooking, serving or storing food in Indian kitchens. What is often overlooked is that in the Indian space these utensils have a secret, sacred life of their own. These objects – the baalti (bucket), the lotaa (squat pitcher), the kumbha (pot), the kalasham or the gharaa (large potbellied pitcher), the pateelaa (pan), the thaali (plate) and the chimtaa (tongs) – are all signifiers of widespread, cultural, mystical and religious practices in rural and urban middle class India even today.
"This is the 250 million strong middle class India with a sharply rising purchasing surplus that the business magazines are talking about and this is the India that Subodh so dramatically first seeks to recover and represent – with all its chaotic contradictions and baffling complexities – in his persona and in his art; and then diametrically (almost diabolically) seeks to universalize for the 'other/ contemporary' world." (S. Kaildas, Subodh Gupta: Gandhi's Three Monkeys, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, 2008)
Gupta works in a wide range of mediums from sculpture and painting to installation, photography, video and performance. The common theme across these various forms is the elevation of the status of mundane objects and scenes of everyday life in India to striking contemporary images that are internationally accessible.
"Subodh is very good at selecting icons and symbols. There is something of the way Gandhi worked here. Gandhi used the very simple elements of salt or homespun cotton to overturn a colonial empire. Subodh uses pots, bicycles and milk pails to talk about the great changes occurring in India today ... And these symbols that Subodh uses act as flashpoints for this in-between moment." (Peter Nagy in conversation with Christopher Mooney, www.artreview.com)