LONDON.- Hauser & Wirth will present Subodh Gupta’s striking work School at 15 Old Bond Street. Consisting of 45 brass stools paired with stainless steel thalis, this commanding work will fill the entire Red Room, creating an environment that is quiet and solemn, yet luxurious and opulent.
Gupta’s works show an affinity for the domestic realm. His sculptures and installations often incorporate objects that are commonplace in Indian culture, such as the kitchen utensils seen in School. In addition to these utensils, Gupta has included in this work an object with personal significance – the stools in School are cast from his father’s low wooden seat, and the brass version of this traditional item still bears his initials in the corner.
By casting these elements in such culturally-loaded materials as brass and steel, multiplying their numbers, and arranging them in a perfect, grid-like pattern in a gallery, Gupta transforms them from traditional items into something extraordinary and enigmatic, producing an act of displacement that speaks to the cultural, economic and social changes faced by contemporary society.
Subodh Gupta was born in 1964 in Khagaul, Bihar, India. He studied at the College of Art, Patna (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, which culminated in his first installation in 1996 entitled ‘29 Mornings’. His work has been prominent in major international biennials and has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions across Asia, Europe and America.
Recent group exhibitions include The Garage (GCCC Moscow)’s ‘A Certain State of the World?’ (2009), curated by Caroline Bourgeois; ‘Altermodern: Tate Triennial’ (2009), curated by Nicholas Bourriaud; ‘Indian Highway’(2008), curated by Julia Peyton-Jones, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Gunnar B. Kvaran, Serpentine Gallery, London. ‘Faith Matters’, a solo exhibition of sculptures and paintings by Gupta, is currently on view at PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine.
The exhibition opens on February 23 and runs through March 27, 2010.
