Gupta Show Marks Five Years of War in Iraq

NEW YORK—Since he began to show his work outside his native country in the late 1990s, Subodh Gupta has become one of the best known Indian artists abroad — if not a full-on figurehead for contemporary art from the subcontinent. The scale of much of his work is perfectly suited for large international exhibitions, and working in materials such as highly polished steel seems to impart to his sculpture and installations an iconic status. The work is also identifiably Indian, as he frequently plays with clichés and symbols of rural Indian culture such as kitchen utensils and cow dung. Very Hungry God (2006), for example, is a huge shining skull made from stainless steel vessels that has confronted viewers both in Paris, at the Eglise Saint-Bernard de la Chapelle in the Goutte d'Or, and in Venice, along the Grand Canal in front of Francois Pinault's Palazzo Grassi.

For his first New York solo show in two years and in time for the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Gupta — aware as always of context — offers a series of works that refer directly to war. The steady flow of visitors into the opening of “Subodh Gupta: Still steal steel” at Jack Shainman gallery last Thursday found typically monumental sculptures that read like totems of modern conflict. The show continues through April 12.

Click on the photo gallery at left to see works from “Subodh Gupta: Still steal steel” at Jack Shainman gallery.