NDTV Correspondent
Subodh Gupta has managed to capture global imaginations through his ability to transform unconventional objects such as utensils and cow dung from everyday Indian life into works of art and metaphors of urban realities.
Gupta is among a generation of young Indian artists whose commentary talks of a country on the move. Fuelled by economic growth, his ideas might originate from his backyard but address universal issues that are at the very heart of today’s complex world from growing consumerism, displacement to themes of violence and environmental degradation.
From being a railway guard’s son in Bihar to pursuing his dream through the Patna College of Arts and Craft, Subodh Gupta has come a long way. Today the world’s leading collectors from advertising guru Charles Saatchi , owner of Christie’s Francis Pinalut and even billionare Bernard Arnault have their eyes firmly fixed on Gupta’s creations .
The artist’s works are now selling for amounts equal to or at occasions even higher than that of the modernists.
The highest prices for Gupta’s works in the first half of the year include an untitled oil on canvas that sold at Saffron Art’s online auction in June and an aluminium cast sculpture, part of the across the seven seas series that sold in Sotheby’s contemporary art sale in July.
Gupta’s latest works at the on going exhibition in Italy are a combination of video, paintings, sculptures and installation. In this show titled “There is always cinema”, while the artists particular affection for utensils continues, there is also a sense of newness with the actor turned artists exploration and identification with cinema and theatre.
Subodh Gupta’s constant search for innovation and originality, his ability to use his personal experiences to address universal ideas, has made him a force to reckon with contemporary art movements
