Shilpa Gupta

Early life and education

Shilpa Gupta was born in 1976 in Mumbai. She pursued her studies in sculpture at the Sir J. J. School of Fine Arts, from 1992 to 1997.

Work and exhibition

In her 2001 work ‘Blame’, she distributed bottles of simulated blood with messages blaming others for aspects they cannot control, such as religion or nationality. She continues to explore this theme in various projects, including "There is No Border Here" (2005), "Someone Else" (2011), and "Altered Inheritances" (2012–14), which highlight issues of identity, boundaries, and personal agency.

Gupta's Sound-based installations, Examples include "Singing Cloud" (2008), consisting of 4000 reversed-function microphones, and "Speaking Wall" (2010), where visitors follow instructions through a headset, transitioning from spectator to performer.

Other Notable works include "Untitled" (2004), a controlled animated figure projection, and the interactive video projections "Shadow 1, 2, and 3" (2006-7), which capture and project real-time silhouettes of visitors.

Her installations extend beyond traditional gallery spaces, with projects like "Someone Else" (2011), featuring a library of 100 books written anonymously or under pseudonyms, exhibited in public libraries around the world. Gupta has also created outdoor light installations, such as "I live under your sky too" (2004) and "My East is Your West" (2014), an animated light installation featuring the words "My East is Your West" illuminated in a nonlinear arrangement.

Gupta has participated in art events including the Venice Biennale (2019),

In 2015, Gupta presented a solo project at the 'My East is Your West' exhibition, which was a joint India-Pakistan exhibition organised by the Gujral Foundation in Venice.

Gupta has held solo exhibitions at Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Centro Botin in Santander, Barbican in London, Amant Art Center in Brooklyn, Ishara Art Foundation in Dubai, Arnolfini in Bristol, OK Centre for Contemporary Art in Linz, Museum voor Moderne Kunst in Arnhem, Voorlinden Museum in Wassenaar, Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi amongst others. In 2021 she had a survey show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp curated by Nav Haq.

Awards and recognition

In 2025 she was awarded the Possehl Prize for International Art 2025. Gupta is the third artist to win the prize, which is awarded every three years, following Doris Salcedo and Matt Mullican. In 2024, she was awarded the ‘Path Breakers Award’ by Asia Society. In 2019, Gupta was the recipient of the GQ Cultural Provocateur Award; in 2018, she was named India Today’s New Media Artist of the Year;

Bibliography

• Shaheen Merali, Nancy Adajania, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Julia Peyton-Jones, Shilpa Gupta: Blindstars Starsblind, Kehrer, Heidelberg, Bodhi and Volker Diehl, Berlin, 2009
• Natasha Ginwala, Iftikhar Dadi and Lawrence Liang, Shilpa Gupta and Rashid Rana: My East is Your West, HarperCollins and Gujral Foundation, New Dehli, 2016
• Sunil Khilnani and Anushka Rajendran, Shilpa Gupta: Drawing in the Dark, Hatje Cantz, Berlin, 2021
• Chris Bayley, Hilary Floe and Urvashi Butalia, Shilpa Gupta, Barbican Centre and Ridinghouse, London, 2022
• Alexandra Munroe, Nav Haq and Elvira Dyangani Ose, Shilpa Gupta, Phaidon Press, London, 2023

References

References

1. "about – Shilpa Gupta".
2. (17 January 2016). "I'm interested in perception and with how definitions get stretched or trespassed: Shilpa Gupta". Vandana Kalra.
3. (11 April 2012). "The Formation of Identity- Shilpa Gupta- Someone Else- Arnolfini- Bristol". Regina Papachlimitzou.
4. (14 March 2012). "Shilpa Gupta". Ronald Jones.
5. "Shilpa Gupta- Untitled, Interactive video installation".
6. "Shilpa Gupta- Untitled (Shadow 2), 2006".
7. (22 February 2013). "Shilpa Gupta Writes Across Night Sky". Noelle Bodick.
8. "Shilpa Gupta, Possessing Skies". Poorna Swami.
9. (10 May 2019). "The trio from India who made it to the Venice Biennale 2019". The Hindu.
10. "My East is Your West, a Collateral Event for the 2015 Venice Biennale - Announcements".
11. "History {{!}} Contemporary Arts Center".
12. "Shilpa Gupta: I Live Under Your Sky Too".
13. (2021-10-07). "Shilpa Gupta {{!}} Barbican".
14. "Shilpa Gupta I did not tell you what I saw, but only what I dreamt".
15. "Shilpa Gupta: Lines of Flight – Ishara Arts".
16. "Shilpa Gupta - Someone Else".
17. "Shilpa Gupta’s Half a Sky - Announcements".
18. "Shilpa Gupta - Where Do I Begin".
19. "Shilpa Gupta: Today Will End - Announcements".
20. "Shilpa Gupta awarded the Possehl Prize for International Art 2025".
21. (2025-02-10). "2025 Asia Arts Game Changer Awards India: Shilpa Gupta, Asia Arts Pathbreaker Awardee {{!}} Asia Society".
22. Staff, G. Q.. (2019-04-01). "GQ Style & Culture Awards 2019: Full list of winners".
23. (2018-12-23). "India Today Art Awards 2019: Portrait of an artist as a warrior".