Shilpa Gupta
'There is so much we experience as human beings, and not all of it can be expressed through verbal language. There is still space for other languages, and art is one of them.'
Shilpa Gupta (b.1976 Mumbai) is drawn to how objects, places, people and experiences are described and defined, and asks how these definitions are played out through the processes of classification, censorship and security. Engaging in dialogues between territories and languages, between intimacy and public life, Gupta's artworks and installations map how power and social structures create psychological borders in the political landscape.
Untitled (2009), exhibited at the 2019 Venice Biennale, is a large mechanical gate, not unlike one you might find guarding private driveways in exclusive neighbourhoods. Gupta’s gate, however, has a menacing aggression all its own. As it swings back and forth as if haunted, it hits the gallery wall with force, cracking and breaking it. Her flapboards, such as Words Come from Ears (2017–18), resemble utilitarian devices at airports or train stations, yet they also appear conscious, displaying words that don’t convey information but rather surprise the viewer with phrases that might invert or question conventional moralities. For, In Your Tongue, I Can Not Fit is a title based on a poem by the fourteenth-century Azerbaijani poet Nesimi that Gupta has used for two related works (2017–18). The result of Gupta's research into poets who have been jailed but whose work remains undimmed, one work is a large-scale multi-channel sound installation that gives voice to 100 poets who have been jailed over the centuries, while the other is a series of bookshelves with books of poetry by imprisoned poets. Each book on the shelf is made of gunmetal and is inscribed with a poem of resistance.
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Shilpa Gupta: Solo Presentation
Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover 25 Jun 2022Shilpa Gupta: Untitled Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover 25 June–25 September 2022 'I am concerned with perception and therefore with how definitions get stretched or trespassed, be...Read more -
Shilpa Gupta
Finissage and Book Launch 1 Feb 2022Frith Street Gallery, Golden Square Tuesday 1 February 6–8pm Join us on 1 February 6–8pm at Golden Square to celebrate the closing of Shilpa Gupta's...Read more -
Words and Images
Online Viewing Room 25 Jan 202225 January–27 February 2022 To mark Shilpa Gupta’s links to language and poetry, exemplified by her large-scale sound installation For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot...Read more -
Christmas Closure
16 Dec 2021The gallery will close for Christmas one hour earlier than usual at 5pm, Thursday 16 December. We will remain available to visit by appointment only...Read more
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West End Gallery HOP! Extended Gallery Hours
10 Dec 2021West End Gallery HOP! The WINTER Edition Friday 10 December, 5–8pm Presented by MAW and Art of London On Friday 10 December galleries are celebrating...Read more -
Shilpa Gupta: Sun at Night
The Curve, Barbican Centre, London 7 Oct 2021Shilpa Gupta: Sun at Night, 7 October 2021–6 February 2022 The first major London exhibition by Mumbai-based artist Shilpa Gupta highlights the fragility of one’s...Read more -
Group Exhibition: Portals
Hellenic Parliament and NEON, Athens 11 Jun 202111 June–31 December 2021 Former Public Tobacco Factory - Hellenic Parliament Library and Printing House. 218 Lenorman St. 104 43, Athens Frith Street Gallery is...Read more -
Shilpa Gupta: Today Will End
Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp 21 May 202121 May–12 September 2021 M HKA presents the first mid-career survey exhibition of artworks by Shilpa Gupta, bringing together many of her key works for...Read more
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Shilpa Gupta
For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit Hardback, 358 pages
Publisher: Context; Westland Books, India
ISBN: 9395073748
Dimensions: 15.2 x 2.2 x 22.8 cm Read more -
Shilpa Gupta
Sun at Night Hardback, 48 pages
Publisher: Co-published by Barbican and Ridinghouse, London, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-909932-65-
Dimensions: 24.5 x 17.5 cm Read more