Works that mock existing socio-economic hierarchies
Ved Gupta is a young and upcoming artist with a bold voice. His sculptures draw from his perception of the inequalities and injustices of the class structured society of present day India. His first solo exhibition is presented by New Delhi’s Gallery Threshold.
Brining out the underlying theme in his works, an accompanying note mentions: “The powerful and the corrupt are portrayed by Ved Gupta as mutated or dwarfed caricatures and the oppressed figure of the laborer is naked, elongated and idealized in his sensual beauty. While the capitalists wear twisted masks painted in garish colors, the workers on whose backs are built the much applauded symbols of modernity are faceless, highlighting their disempowerment. The themes of gluttony, corruption, and oppression caused by unchecked power are pervasive in his work.”
Ved Gupta is a recent post-graduate in sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Vadodara (M.F.A., Sculpture). Attesting to the talent of this young artists are the numerous prestigious awards he has won including the H.K. Kejriwal award (2007) and the Kashi Award for Visual Art (2007). His work has been featured at exhibitions including 'Ltd. Edn', Gallery Threshold, New Delhi (2007-08); 'Urgent:10 ml of Contemporary Needed' by FICA at Vadhera Art Gallery, New Delhi (2008); 'Winner’s Show', Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi (2007); and 'Peep-Show', Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai (2006), among others.
‘Arrested Moment’ is his first solo in which he looks at life from the perspective of the dispossessed, constructing them as heroic, tragic beings whose labors have built the much applauded symbols of development, the towers of modernity. While the country basks in the wake to the success of economic liberalization policies instituted in the early 1990s, the artist visits the abuse of the basic values on which the modern Indian nation was conceived.
A catalogue essay by Deeksha Nath elaborates: “Ved Gupta’s sculptures and paintings mock existing social and economic hierarchies in India. Several decisive turns in his life have influenced his concepts and methodology, precisely articulated in this first solo exhibition. His ambition – to create a dialogue that begins with his work – is grand but the context is localized, grounded in his experiences and observations.
“The artist looks at life from the perspective of the dispossessed, constructing them as heroic, tragic beings whose labors have built the much applauded symbols of development, the towers of modernity. The promise of broadly shared prosperity, made at the birth of the modern period, still remains a dream unattainable for many. Everyone wants a piece of the pie but they aren’t satisfied with their share, they covet what other have as well.”
In his installation ‘Arrested Moment I’, a bare man lies on a conference table. On his chest is vertical scaffolding, the sort used for buildings and monuments. Around the table there are eight throne style chairs - two of them occupied by dwarfs. There are also 10 relief panels on pedestals around the central group, each with a mutilated or deformed face of a public servant. Here the artist shows how everyone wants ‘a piece of the polity’.
The artist has closely observed and experienced the rigid class society of present day India. H, he has also undergone the loneliness of migration, albeit he has been a witness to human kindness as well. His fascinating journey so far can be seen in the forceful vocabulary of his sculptures and paintings.
Ved Gupta’s art contains the rogue elements of society; it is an interesting look into the seamier aspects of the 21st century’s socio-political relations. The protagonist of his creations is ultimately the viewer, the site where the transition from image to dialogue ultimately occurs.
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