Subodh Gupta’s creation Cosmic Quest will make you dive into the Past

 If you are willing to step into the past through mystical art, then you should take a look at ‘Subodh Gupta’s Cosmic Quest’ artwork recently exhibited in Delhi.  

Subodh Gupta showcases three significant sculptures on view as part of an exhibition in a building in Delhi. In his method, the artist investigates the ideas of "self and world" and "micro and macro." Think about a large metal sphere that is gently rotating through the air and weighs more than 700 kg. Visitors are greeted with the sculpture as they enter the gallery, which is home to the Cosmic Quest exhibition. Three significant sculptures by artist Subodh Gupta are on display. 

In this solo show, which was organized by Peter Nagy, Subodh Gupta's thoughts on the ego and the world, as well as the micro and macro, are depicted in metals like steel and brass, his favorite media. The 58-year-old artist claims, "I worked on this piece for a very long time, approximately eight years. We used to spend the summer months camped out on the roof with family and cousins. I had a tendency to climb up there to see what was going on since it always attracted me to learn what was beyond us. As new planets and moons are discovered by astronomers, it becomes even more exciting. I gave it the name "Cosmic Battle" as I was thinking about life, good vs evil, light versus dark, and what was going on in the world. 

He admits the influence that Kabir, a Sufi poet, had on him. These are the opening words of a beautiful poem by Kabir: "Iss ghat baag bageeche, iss mein sirjanhara, iss ghat andar saat samandar, ismein naulakha taara." This world is a deceit, this life is a burden, this land is a river, and this body is a boat, according to the translation. You can see the universe when you gaze into a vessel (ghat). In this line, he makes references to stars, woods, and waves. “I have spent the last 30 years dealing with boats”, the Gurugram-based artist reveals. “When I encountered this poem, I was able to identify it, so I worked around it”. 

In the side room of the gallery is his most recent work, "Self Portrait, 2022," a sculptural self-portrait. Additionally, Gupta believes that he sees a lot of himself in it. Even though I often paint myself in my work, I really appreciate this one. I've handled over 100 antique utensils, and each one has its own distinctive stains from years of usage, like spoon scrapes. It has human spirits inside of it. These things appear to be alike, but their history couldn't be more unlike. Identical to human hands, they appear similar at first glance, but closer inspection reveals that they are actually extremely distinct. 

I have no idea who used these dishes. They were gathered from a scrapyard and melted down once more to create aluminum bricks. He thinks they have done so in his works as well. Additionally, for the third self-cast piece, named Torso, Gupta employs his own body. He calls himself a multidisciplinary artist. I take images, make collages, paintings, sculptures, and installations in addition to performing. In my career, my body has proven to be a really useful instrument. Even more recently, perhaps seven or eight years ago, I got my body cast. We sometimes set sculptures on pedestals even when their heads or limbs are missing from museums. This one has a flora that I imagined for it. Textures are added, similar to the process of painting or sketching.  

Peter Nagy, an art curator and gallerist, considers Subodh Gupta's Cosmic Battle to be "definitely one of the artist's favorite sculptures that he has ever done." It illustrates how even the deepest works of art can be surprisingly straightforward, says Nagy.