Subodh Gupta: Invisible Reality
In February 2016 Hauser & Wirth Somerset will present a major solo exhibition of new and recent work by Subodh Gupta spanning all five gallery spaces. 鈥業nvisible Reality鈥� will bring together a rich collection of sculptures, installations and paintings by the New Delhi-based artist, referencing cosmic parallels through his conscious repurposing of daily realities. The works in the exhibition continue the artist鈥檚 signature use of functional and found objects relating to his home country, drawing on both cultural and social shifts as well as considering these objects as vessels with personal and geological histories. Created over a six-year period, the ambitious new body of work reflects Gupta鈥檚 meditative engagement with the intimate patterns and rituals that define the everyday, inherited through a network of collective ancestral influences.
The show鈥檚 centrepiece, a re-assembled traditional wood and terracotta house from Southern India, lends the exhibition its title. The large-scale installation is over-illuminated by stark LED lights radiating from within, probing one to speculate on the impenetrable contents of the house. The phosphorescent spill animates the structure, permanently altering its purpose as a residential site and challenging the boundary between the interior and the exterior. 鈥業nvisible Reality鈥� (2015) encapsulates the metaphorical potential of many of the works included in the exhibition by highlighting the differences between our mortal lives and the mysterious cosmos beyond. Gupta makes tangible connections throughout the exhibition between the individual and the cosmos, the whole. He explores the connectivity between the two, how great meaning can be found in the everyday, a theme that is central in Gupta鈥檚 practice and that is developed further in these new works.
As visitors enter the Threshing Barn and the first gallery space, they will be confronted by a gleaming gong or sun-like apparition. Suspended on its side, the hand-hammered sculpture 鈥楾ouch, Trace, Taste, Truth鈥� (2015) represents an over-sized cooking pot, with its true character only becoming apparent as you walk around and discover it is hollow. The black void running through the centre is filled with a web of sharp intertwined steel wire, complicating the seductive pull of the piece and introducing a new textural dimension.
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In February 2016 Hauser & Wirth Somerset will present a major solo exhibition of new and recent work by Subodh Gupta spanning all five gallery spaces. 鈥業nvisible Reality鈥� will bring together a rich collection of sculptures, installations and paintings by the New Delhi-based artist, referencing cosmic parallels through his conscious repurposing of daily realities. The works in the exhibition continue the artist鈥檚 signature use of functional and found objects relating to his home country, drawing on both cultural and social shifts as well as considering these objects as vessels with personal and geological histories. Created over a six-year period, the ambitious new body of work reflects Gupta鈥檚 meditative engagement with the intimate patterns and rituals that define the everyday, inherited through a network of collective ancestral influences.
The show鈥檚 centrepiece, a re-assembled traditional wood and terracotta house from Southern India, lends the exhibition its title. The large-scale installation is over-illuminated by stark LED lights radiating from within, probing one to speculate on the impenetrable contents of the house. The phosphorescent spill animates the structure, permanently altering its purpose as a residential site and challenging the boundary between the interior and the exterior. 鈥業nvisible Reality鈥� (2015) encapsulates the metaphorical potential of many of the works included in the exhibition by highlighting the differences between our mortal lives and the mysterious cosmos beyond. Gupta makes tangible connections throughout the exhibition between the individual and the cosmos, the whole. He explores the connectivity between the two, how great meaning can be found in the everyday, a theme that is central in Gupta鈥檚 practice and that is developed further in these new works.
As visitors enter the Threshing Barn and the first gallery space, they will be confronted by a gleaming gong or sun-like apparition. Suspended on its side, the hand-hammered sculpture 鈥楾ouch, Trace, Taste, Truth鈥� (2015) represents an over-sized cooking pot, with its true character only becoming apparent as you walk around and discover it is hollow. The black void running through the centre is filled with a web of sharp intertwined steel wire, complicating the seductive pull of the piece and introducing a new textural dimension.
Artists on show
