Delhi
Indian superstar artist Subodh Gupta has created a major new work based on an item of jewellery owned by the French film-maker and contemporary art collector Claude Berri, who died earlier this year.
On a visit to the artist’s studio in the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon, The Art Newspaper saw the first version of the piece, which is modelled on a diamond pendant submitted by Berri over a year ago. The work, which hangs in Gupta’s office, is a large-scale skull cast made from a clay mould, surrounded by the artist’s trademark “tiffin” food pots. “The work is very much me; the theme and the medium. Claude related to my work,” said Gupta.
“One edition will definitely go to Fabienne Leclerc [Gupta’s Paris dealer] and one to Hauser and Wirth in London but Subodh hasn't yet decided about the number of editions. It may be three editions, but it may also be a unique variation,” added a studio assistant. Aurélia Chabrillat, curator of the Berri collection, was unavailable to comment on whether the work would enter the late film director’s holdings.
Berri opened a new space in Paris’s Marais district early last year to display a portion of his collection, which includes works by Bruce Nauman and Richard Prince, among others. The gallery is currently closed.
Gupta will get his first major solo show in the UK next month when the Bihar-born artist will unveil a series of new works at Hauser & Wirth in London
(1-31 October). These are set to include a reworking in bronze of Marcel Duchamp’s moustachioed Mona Lisa, a selection of bronze mangoes and a series of cast Jeff Koons Puppy gift boxes.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as ‘Gupta collector’s item'