Hauser & Wirth’s
Chelsea location is currently presenting an intriguing collection of
sculptures, paintings, installations, and film by Subodh Gupta for the
exhibition Seven Billion Light Years.
Throughout his career, the New Delhi-based Gupta has been known to make use of
ordinary objects to illustrate what daily life is like in India.
The title of
the show refers to the world’s current population of seven billion people and
the relationship between human life and the mysterious cosmic universe. With
this latest series of work, Gupta promotes the idea of looking at each of the
world’s seven billion people as individuals rather than as just one colossal
crowd.
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| Seven Billion Light Years |
The focal point of the show
is a series of paintings that also have the title Seven Billion Light Years that where Gupta uses different kitchen
utensils to illustrate earthly scenes. One notable painting in this group
illustrates the world as depicted on a black rusty part with patches of white
depicting the different continents. Another intriguing painting in the series
features an object very much resembling a giant mushroom made from metal with
the bottom of the stem facing the viewer, and the rest of it is riddled with
dents and creases.
Another notable
installation in the show titled This is
Not a Fountain consists of a large pile of pots, pans, sink pipes, and
various other kitchen utensils heaped together in the middle of the room,
perhaps conveying the notion of how easy it is to get lost in the crowd, like
trying to find a needle in a haystack.
A more personal
installation known as My Family Portrait
consists of three small shelves holding several plates, bowls, spoons, and
other utensils that likely bring back a sense of nostalgia to Gupta as it
represents familiarity of domestic life.
At Hauser & Wirth, 511 W. 18th St.,
through Apr. 25. The gallery is open Tues.—Sat. from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
