Reader\'s Digest IN 02.2020

MANY OF THE WORKS

of the late Hema Upadh-

yay are autobiographi-

cal—deeply personal

explorations of gender,

migration, socio-eco-

nomic realities and

urban growth, and the

underlying chaos be-

neath them. As she ad-

mitted in an interview,

“So much chaos in my

work actually came from

the city. When I work in

my studio in Mumbai,

there are lots of ele-

ments—of decay, of life,

of chaos. It’s a double-

edged condition ... ”

These elements are

present in Upadhyay’s

famous installation,

Where The Bees Suck,

There Suck I, which

shows a huge excavator

hovering threateningly

over a pile of multico-

loured, unorganized

shacks. The work, the

artist admits, is “more

about destruction” and

portrays the paradox of

socio-political develop-

ment—growth and de-

cay, slums and high-

rises—all coexisting re-

gardless. The work also

painfully evokes a sense

of the inevitable loss of

identity and the accom-

panying dislocation and

relocation of people due

to ‘development’, in a

country already beset

by over-population

and vast socio-eco-

nomic disparity.

— BY SAPTAK CHOUDHURY

STUDIO

IM

AG

E^ C

OU

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ES

Y:^

WI

KIM

ED

IA

CO

MM

ON

S

Where The Bees

Suck, There Suck I

by Hema Upadhyay

Mixed-media

installation,

dimensions variable,

2008

Culturescape

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