Arts_Illustrated_-_February-March_2016

DIGITAL COPY ON MAGZTER

ReNowNeD coNTeMPoRaRY aRTisT, SHIlPa GUPTa, GiVes Us a fRee-

flowiNG NaRRaTiVe oN How DelHi is VieweD THRoUGH THe aRTisT’s PRisM

• THRoUGH UNcoNscioUs MeMoRY aND THe coNscioUs self – aND wHY
  jaNUaRY is a TiMe sHe looks foRwaRD To VisiTiNG THe ciTY

The Artist

M

y first impressions

of Delhi as an artist

were both drawn

from cityscape and architecture

• old Delhi bazaars, the room of
  mirrors at the Red Fort, Lutyens’
  new city, the aligned state power
  structures and the sheer beauty and
  surprise of encountering historical
  monuments interwoven into the
  urban landscape. Today, it’s the
  growing art spaces. That is where I
  head to when I get to Delhi. Be it
  the NGMA, Kiran Nadar Museum,
  Khoj Studios, Jor Bagh or the host
  of contemporary art galleries.
  Delhi, for me, feels like layers of
  history, a self -conscious statehood
  at one hand, and the movement
  of people from elsewhere into

the interstices of the city which are

changing this and growing into it.

In terms of the art scene, Delhi has

changed a lot in the past fifteen years.

Earlier there were a handful of great

contemporary galleries, like Nature

Morte, Espace and Vadehra; then with

the Khoj, Devi Art Foundation and

JNU, it became an experimental and

discursive space, and now with the

KNMA, the new NGMA, Jor Bagh

and India Art Fair, January is the time

I look forward to being there!

Having travelled and exhibited around

the world, I feel that India Art Fair

with its Artists Projects and series of

Talks, becomes a fulcrum around

which many other energies intersect.

One looks forward to being in Delhi

in January as the galleries, museums

and experimental spaces all mount

great shows parallel to the fair which

draws audiences from all over.

And so, if one were to look for this

• the many layers of Delhi – in my
  work, one would find it at Vadehra,
  Chemould and Continua. And if I
  were look back at this city within the
  contours of my mind, then the one
  visual that peeks out is one of my
  oldest memories of Delhi – gazing
  upwards, on to the Qutb Minar.

Photograph by Shrutti Garg

Perspectives

(^82) / ARTs ILLusTRATeD / feb 2016 - mAR 2016 /IAF - Delhi Connecting Art