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Shilpa Gupta (b.1976) lives and works in Mumbai, India where she has studied sculpture at the Sir J. J. School of Fine Arts from 1992 to 1997.
She had solo shows at Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Arnolfini in Bristol, OK in Linz, Museum voor Moderne Kunst in Arnhem, Voorlinden Museum and Gardens in Wassenaar, Kiosk in Ghent, Barbican in London, Dallas Contemporary and the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein in Berlin, Bielefelder Kunstverein, La synagogue de Delme Contemporary Art Center and Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi. In 2021 she had a survey show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp curated by Nav Haq. She presented a solo project at ‘My East is Your West’, a two-person joint India-Pakistan exhibition, by the Gujral Foundation in Venice in 2015.
Gupta’s work has been shown in leading international institutions and museums such as Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, Louisiana Museum, Centre Pompidou, Serpentine Gallery, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Mori Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, ZKM, Ishara Art Foundation, Kiran Nadar Museum and Devi Art Foundation.
Shilpa Gupta has participated in 58th Venice Biennale (2019) curated by Ralph Rugoff, Kochi Muziris Biennale (2018) curated by Anita Dube, Gothenburg Biennial (2017) curated by Nav Haq, Berlin Biennale (2014) curated by Juan Gatian, New Museum Triennale (2009), Sharjah Biennial curated by Yuko Hasegawa (2013), Lyon Biennale curated by Hou Hanru (2009), Gwangju Biennale directed by Okwui Enwezor and curated by Ranjit Hoskote (2008), Yokohama Triennale curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist (2008) and Liverpool Biennial curated by Gerardo Mosquera (2006). She has shown in biennales at Auckland, Melbourne, Seoul, Havana, Sydney, Yogyakarta, Echigo-Tsumari, Shanghai, Houston and others.
Her work is in the collection of Tate, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Centre Georges Pompidou, Mori Museum, M+ Museum, Louisiana Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Deutsche Bank, Daimler Chrysler, Bristol Art Museum, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Asia Society, ZKM, Astrup Fearnley Museum, Fonds National d’Art Contemporain – France, KOC Collection, National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Canada, FRAC (France Regional Art Collection), Voorlinden Museum, Art Now, Cincinnati Art Museum, Kiran Nadar Museum, Jameel Arts Center and Devi Art Foundation amongst others.
In 2022, ‘For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit’, an anthology which speaks truth to power, co-edited by Shilpa Gupta and Salil Tripathi was released. In 2021, she has also self-published Artivities, a compilation of art activities for the young. Gupta has co-facilitated ‘Crossovers & Rewrites: Borders over Asia’ at World Social Forum, Porto Alegre in 2005 and ‘Aar Paar’, a public art exchange project between India and Pakistan from 2002-2006.
In 2023, she had a duo solo with Marisa Merz at the MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century – L’Aquila curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi and Fanny Borel and a solo at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York. In 2024, she opened a major solo at Centro Botín in Santander, Spain curated by Bárbara Rodríguez Muñoz and her solo curated by Ruth Estévez travels from Amant Art Center to the Madison Museum in US.
/Reference Links
For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit Anthology co-edited with Salil Tripathi, 2022
Artivities 1 Art activities for the young, 2021
Artivities 2 Collaboration with Rosie McGowan, NSG, 2023
Crossovers & Rewrites: Borders over Asia Co-curated with Mamta Murthy, World Social Forum, 2005
Aar Paar Public art exchange project between India and Pakistan, Co-curated with Huma Mulji, 1999-2006
/Bibliography
An Indian Artist Questions Borders and the Limits on Free Speech
Aruna D’Souza, The New York Times, 20 October 2023
Shilpa Gupta at the Barbican — voices of persecuted poets
Rachel Spence, Financial Times, 13 January 2022
Shilpa Gupta review – rousing reminder that free speech used to be a noble cause
Jonathan Jones, The Guardian, 7 October 2021
Shilpa Gupta: ‘The current moment shows…’
Vandana Kalra, Indian Express, 6 September 2020
The artist bringing silenced poets back to life
Andrew Dickson, The Guardian, 25 July 2018
I’m interested in…
Vandana Kalra, Indian Express, 17 January 2016
Indian Artist Highlights Absurdities of Our Time
Gayatri Rangachari Shah, International Herald Tribune, 11 June 2013
Shilpa Gupta
Ronald Jones, Frieze Magazine, Issue 146, 2012
Troubling Borders
Renee Baert, Shilpa Gupta: Will We Ever Be Able to Mark Enough, 2011-2012
Contemporary Art In Asia
Melissa Chiu, Contemporary Art in Asia, Cover, 2011
/Books and Catalogues
2023
Shilpa Gupta: Phaidon Contemporary Art Series
Published by: Phaidon
ISBN: 9781838663254
Texts by Alexandra Munroe, Nav Haq and Elvira Dyangani Ose
2022
Shilpa Gupta: For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit
Edited by Shilpa Gupta and Salil Tripathi
Published by: Context
ISBN-10: 9395073748
ISBN-13: 978-9395073745
2021
Shilpa Gupta: Drawing in the Dark
Published by: Hatze Cantz
ISBN: 978-3-7757-4721-9
Sunil Khilnani, Anushka Rajendran and Thomas Thiel
Shilpa Gupta: Sun at Night
Edited by Chris Bayley,Hilary Floe,Shilpa Gupta
Published by: Riding House and Barbican
ISBN: 978-1909932654
Urvashi Butalia, Hilary Floe, Shilpa Gupta
2019
Shilpa Gupta: For, in your tongue, I cannot fit
Published by: Yarat Contemporary Art Space
ISBN: 9789952827545
Anuj Daga
2016
My East is Your West
Published by: Harper Collins and Gujral Foundation
ISBN: 9351361829
Natasha Ginwala, Iftikhar Dadi, Lawrence Liang & others
2012
Shilpa Gupta
Will We Ever Be Able To Mark Enough
Renee Baert, Caroline Andrieux, Mirjam Westen
2010
Shilpa Gupta
Published by: Prestel and Vadehra Art Gallery
ISBN: 978-3-7913-5017-2
Nancy Adajania, Peter Weibel, Shanay Jhaveri & Quddus Mirza
2009
BlindStars StarsBlind
Published by: KEHRER
ISBN: 978-3-86828-018-0
Nancy Adajania, Shaheen Merali, Hans Ulrich Obirist & Julie Peyton- Jones
While I Sleep
Published by: Le Laboratoire
ISBN: 9782953058710
Particpants: Mahzarin Banaji, Noam Chomsky, Shilpa Gupta
Kaushik Bhowmik, Sandhini Poddar, Caroline Naphegyi
2007
Shilpa Gupta 02|07
Solo Show, Sakshi Gallery & Apeejay Media Gallery
Nancy Adajania
2006
Shilpa Gupta 2006
Solo Show, Bose Pacia
Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Axel Roch, Johan Pijnappel, Nancy Adajania
2004
Shilpa Gupta
Solo Show, APJ Media Gallery
2001
Shilpa Gupta
Solo Show, Art School of Aix en Provence
1998
Shilpa Gupta
Group Show, Altered Altar Exhibition
Ranjit Hoskote
