SUBODH GUPTA
Born in 1964, Subodh Gupta studied at the College of Art, Patna, Bihar, India (1983–1988) before moving to New Delhi, where he continues to live and work.
Gupta’s work is inspired by the lives of migrant communities in India. Growing up in Bihar, Gupta observed the centrality of cooking and communal eating in sustaining families, especially among those seeking better opportunities. His characteristic use of stainless steel utensils, ubiquitous throughout Indian households of all economic classes, transforms these everyday items into metaphors for migration, labor, community and cultural memory. His works celebrate the roles of both food and cooking to anchor identities and foster connections amidst change.
Gupta’s works have been exhibited in solo exhibitions in prestigious museums such as Monnaie de Paris, France (2018); Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, UK (2017); Art Basel, Switzerland (2017), The Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art, USA (2017); National Gallery of Victoria, Australia (2016); Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Germany (2014); Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland (2013); Kiran Nadar Museum, India (2012); National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi (2012) and Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland (2011). In 2024, he presented ‘The Way Home’, his first solo in Bihar at the Bihar Museum. He also presented 'Salt Carried by the Wind' at the inaugural Bukhara Biennial in 2025.
About The Work
Courtesy of Nature Morte, India
Subodh Gupta is well-known for creating sculptures from a variety of found objects, most famously for using the stainless steel utensils found in kitchens throughout India. With his sculpture entitled “Kingdom of Earth,” Gupta takes the meaning of “found object” into new territories, both literally and figuratively. This monumental work is the meeting of two found objects from very different places and times. Rendered in gleaming stainless steel is a single column and part of the base from an ancient Greek temple (circa 6th-4th Century BC). Grafted to the side of the column is the bone of a dinosaur (the majority of dinosaurs were living during the Mesozoic Era, roughly 252 to 66 million years ago) that has been replicated in fiberglass. Both objects are reproduced in their actual size, emphasizing their reality and authenticity. By bringing together these two objects, one man-made and the other organic, Gupta creates a contemporary art work that confounds our understandings of both the passage of time and the recordings of history.