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Hema Upadhyay
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"I like to tell any stories, whether real or imaginative. These are even reflections of one's phobias, shortcomings. The recurring theme in my work is autobiographical. In addition, it is the cathartic factor that becomes the reason to take these objects and convert their ability. Yes…my work is cathartic in process."
Hema Upadhyay was born in Baroda in 1972, and completed her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in painting and...
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"I like to tell any stories, whether real or imaginative. These are even reflections of one's phobias, shortcomings. The recurring theme in my work is autobiographical. In addition, it is the cathartic factor that becomes the reason to take these objects and convert their ability. Yes…my work is cathartic in process."
Hema Upadhyay was born in Baroda in 1972, and completed her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in painting and printmaking respectively from the Fine Arts Faculty of the M S University there. In the short time that Hema had to develop her career (she graduated with her MFA in 1997), she took giant steps and established herself very firmly among the new generation of Indian contemporary artists.
Upadhyay was the recipient of a National Scholarship from the Ministry of Human Resources, and also has to her credit annual awards from the Gujarat Lalit Kala Academy and the national Lalit Kala Academy for her work in the 10th International Triennale - India hosted in New Delhi.
Her talent was immediately recognized and Hema was invited to showcase in her work in many group shows, even whilst she was in college, the most prestigious being the 4th and 5th annual 'Harmony' shows, 'Ideas and Images 2' at the NGMA, Mumbai and 'Mumbai Metaphor' hosted by the Tao Art Gallery.
This Baroda artist and her then-husband, painter Chintan Upadhyay, collaborated and worked together for many exhibitions. The duo worked jointly to create billboard and poster art for a show called Parthenogenesis at the Ivan Dougherty Gallery on the campus of the Australian University of New South Wales. Labeled as "kitsch" by some viewers and critics, the work Hema and Chintan produced is definitely a tongue-in-cheek statement, not necessarily against, but about the mass production and popular imagery that has taken over almost every aspect of urban life. Hema explained, saying, "Besides using pop imagery, our posters take a dig at our hybrid 'global' lifestyle."
In 2001, Upadhyay exhibited her work abroad for the first time, in Australia. For an installation titled The Nymph and the Adult, she sculpted nearly 2000 lifelike cockroaches, infesting the gallery with them, to draw repulsion as well as fascination from her viewers. There was a purpose, however, to this display. At a very politically and militarily tense time in the South Asian Subcontinent, it raised the question on everyone's mind. Would cockroaches be the only survivors?
In the same year, Upadhyay held her first solo exhibition at the Chemould Art Gallery in Mumbai. Titled Sweet - Sweat Memories, the large mixed media on paper works on display were inspired by the suicide of one of her neighbours as well as the confusion that arose in her as a result of living in an urban sprawl where dream and aspirations are both excited and forcefully repressed. The title work in this show encapsulates these feelings perfectly. It is a close up of a mouth, wide and smiling, only to reveal the decay and decadence that lurks everywhere.
The artist passed away on 13 December, 2015.
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Born
May 18, 1972
Baroda
Died
December 13, 2015
Mumbai
Education
1995-97 Master of Fine Arts (Printmaking), Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
1991-95 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting), Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibition
2014 'Fish in a Dead Landscape',...
Selected Solo Exhibition
2014 'Fish in a Dead Landscape', Chemould Prescott Road
2013 'Modernaization', Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati
2012 'Extra Ordinary', Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda; Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011-12 'The Princess Rusted Belt', Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy
2011 'Moderniznation - Hema Upadhyay', Espace Topographie de l'Art, during Festival D' Automne a Paris, Paris
2010 'Home Less Home', Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem
2008-09 'Yours Sincerely', Nature Morte, New Delhi
2008 'Universe Revolves On' presented by Vadehra Gallery, New Delhi at Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI), Singapore
2008 ‘Acrobats and their Scenes’, Bodhi Art, Singapore
2007 ‘The Glass House’, Grosvenor Vadehra, London
2004 ‘Made in China’, a collaborative installation with Chintan Upadhyay, Viart Gallery, New Delhi
2004 ‘Underneath’, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
2003 ‘Dream a Wish, Wish a Dream’, an Installation for Grand Hyatt, Mumbai
2003 ‘Made in China’, a Collaborative Installation with Chintan Upadhyay, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
2001 'Sweet Sweat Memories', Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
2001 'The Nymph and the Adult', Art Space, Sydney
Selected Group Exhibition
2013 'Peak Shift Effect', Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2012 '2 + 2 = 5', The Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi
2012 '2012: A Further Global Encounter', Grosvenor Vadehra, London
2012 'Reconstructing (White) 3', The Loft, Mumbai
2011 'Regards Croisés: A Selection of Asian Contemporary Art', Art Plural Gallery, Singapore
2011 'Maravee FÃ brica', Castello di Susans, Majano, Italy
2011 'Where the Bees Suck, There Suck I', part of the Exhibition 'Density', at Schauraum-b, Basel
2011 'A Material Difference', Paradox, Singapore
2010 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2010 'At The Edge', Gallery Maya, London
2010 'Midnight's Children', Studio La Citta, Italy
2010 'Eye of India: A Selection of Contemporary Indian Artists', Bartha & Senarclens Partners, Singapore, in collaboration with Nature Morte, New Delhi
2010-11 'In Transition: New Art from India', Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC, Canada; Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, Canada
2010 1x1 Art Gallery, Dubai
2010 'All Editions: A STPI Survey Show', Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI), Singapore
2009 Gallery Nature Morte, Berlin
2009 'Under the Surface', as part of 'India 2: Mumbai', at Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna
2009 'The Power of Ornament', Belvedere Museum, Vienna
2009 'Indian Style', Beck and Eggeling, Dusseldorf
2008 'November', 1x1 Contemporary, Al Quoz, Dubai
2008 'Of Myths And More', Sans Tache, Mumbai
2008 'Everywhere Is War (And Rumors of War)', Bodhi Art, Mumbai
2008 'Modern and Contemporary Indian Art', Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2008 'Indian Focus', Espace Claude Berri, Paris
2008 ‘India Crossing’, Studio La Citta, Verona
2008 'Indi Genius', presented by Sakshi Gallery and Soka Contemporary Space, Taipei at Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2007-08 ‘Polyphonies’, Gallery Hosp, Tirol – Österreich, Austria
2007-08 ‘India: New Installations, Part II’, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
2006 ‘Long Happy Hours and Thereby Happiness and Other Stories…’, The Museum Gallery, Mumbai
2006 'Here and Now: Contemporary Voices from India', Grosvenor Vadehara, London
2006 'Bombay, Maximum City', Tri Postal, Lille, France
2005 ‘Indian Contemporary Art’, Chelsea college of Art, London
2005 ‘Indian Summer’, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris
2005 ‘Present-Future’, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2004 ‘Have We Met?’, The Japan Foundation Forum, Tokyo, Japan
2003 ‘The Tree from the Seed’, Henie Onstad Kunssenter, Oslo, Norway
2003 ‘Parthenogenesis’, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2003 ‘Loco-Foco-Motto’, A Sculpture made with Matchsticks, Vasl International Artists Residency, Karachi, Pakistan
2003 ‘Crossing Generations: diverge, 40 years of Gallery Chemould, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2002 ‘Trans-Figuration’, Art Inc, Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2001 ‘Exchanging Territories’, Shridharni Art Gallery, New Delhi
2001 'Similarities and Dissimilarities - West Zone', Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2001 'The Nymph and The Adult', Artspace, Sydney, Australia
2001 'DRAW'L BRIDGE Aquaspace, Savannah, GA
2001 'Never Too Young', Jamaat Art Gallery, Mumbai
2000 'Memos for the New Millennium from Artists of a Moulting World', Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai
2000 'Monsoon In the Millennium', Sans Tache, Mumbai
2000 Ideas and Images II' (Art In Mumbai)', A Collaborative Work with Chintan Upadhyay, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2000 'Sic' an Audiovisual Installation, The Fine Art Company, Mumbai
2000 'Mumbai Metaphor', Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2000 'Secret Life of the Objects', Kalaghoda, Mumbai
2000 'Juxtapose', Son Et Lumiere, Mumbai
1999 'Still Life', The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai
1999 'The Wall Paper', Kala Ghoda and Lakeeren Art Gallery, Mumbai
1998 Prithvi Art Gallery, Mumbai
1997 '50 Years of Independence', Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara
1997 '50 Years of Art in Independent India', All India Fine Arts and Cultural Society (AIFACS), Ahmedabad
1996 Faculty of Fine Arts, Vadodara
1996 'The Series, Mixed Media', Art Core, Vadodara
Participations
2012 'Indian Highway VI', organized in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery, London, and the Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway at The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing
2012 'The Calendar Project: Iconography in the 20th Century', part of Project CINEMA CITY: Research Art & Documentary Practices presented by National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and Ministry of Culture, Government of India at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2012 'Art for Humanity', Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai
2011-12 'Indian Highway', in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery, London and the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo at MAXXI: Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome
2011 'Beyond The Self', National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
2011 'Paris-Delhi-Bombay', Centre Pompidou, Paris
2011 'Indian Highway', Traveling Exhibition at Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon
2011 'Concurrent India', Helsinki Art Museum Tennis Palace, Finland
2010 'Place.Time.Play: India-China Contemporary Art', West Heavens Exhibition Project, presented by Shanghai International Culture Association, Institute of Visual Culture (China Academy of Art) at Shanghai Art Museum Lecture Hall, Shanghai
2010 'Finding India: Art for the New century', presented by Sakshi Gallery at Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Taipei
2010 'FIAC 2010', Paris represented by Chemould Prescott Road
2010 'Arts and Cities', Architectural Triennial, Nagoya, Japan
2010 'Contemporary Printmaking In India', presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai
2010 'Roots', 25th Anniversary Exhibition of Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai at The Park, Chennai
2010 'The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today', The Saatchi Gallery, London
2009 'Conflicting Tales: Subjectivity (Quadrilogy, Part 1)', Burger Collection, Berlin
2009 'Frieze Art Fair', London presented by Galerie Krinzinger, Wein
2009 'Contemporary Exoticism', Studio La Citta, Verona
2009 'India Xianzai: Contemporary Indian Art', Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Shanghai
2009 'Where the Bees Suck, There Suck I', Installation at Museo d'arte Contemporanea Roma (MACRO), Rome
2009 'Contemporary Indian Art: Open Your Third Eye', National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul
2009 'ARCOmadrid', Spain represented by Bodhi Art, Mumbai
2009 'The Miniature Format Show', Sans Tache Gallery, Mumbai
2008-09 'Modern India', organized by Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM) and Casa Asia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture at Valencia, Spain
2008-09 'The Audience and the Eavesdropper: New Art from India and Pakistan', Phillips de Pury & Company, London and New York
2008 'Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art', 5th Anniversary Exhibition, Mori Art Museum, Japan
2008 'Eurasia, Geographic Cross-Overs in Art', Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Mart) of Trento and Rovereto, Italy
2008 'Six Degrees of Separation Chaos, Congruence and Collaboration in South Asia', presented by KHOJ International Artists’ Association and the Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi at Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi on the eve of 10 Years of KHOJ
2008 'Fire Walkers: Contemporary Artists from India and South Asia', Stux Gallery, New York
2008 Presented by Chemould Prescott Road at Art Basel Miami, Basel
2008 Presented by 1x1 Art Gallery at Art Paris, Abu Dhabi
2008 'SHContemporary 2008', represented by Bodhi Art
2008 'Art Beijing 2008', Beijing represented by Bodhi Art
2008 'Harvest 2008', organized by Arushi Arts at The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi
2008 Miniature Format Show, Sans Tache Art Gallery, Mumbai
2007-08 ‘Kashi 10 Light Years – Anniversary Show’, Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi
2006 ‘Parallel Realities-Asian Art Now’, The 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial, Blackburn Museum, Blackburn, UK
2001 ‘10th International Triennial- India’, Rabindra Bhawan Gallery, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2001 10th International Triennale Award Winners, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2001 43rd National Exhibition of Art, Lalit Kala Academy, Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishath, Bangalore
2001 10th International Triennale - India, Rabindra Bhavan Gallery, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2000,99,98 The Miniature Format Show, Sans Tache, Mumbai
2000,1999 'The Harmony Show', Nehru Center, Mumbai
1998,97,96 Annual Show, Gujarat Rajya Latit Kala Academy, Ahmedabad
1997 4th International Print Biennial, Bhopal
1996 10th All India Art South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC), Nagpur
1993 Annual Exhibition, Bombay Arts Society, Mumbai
Honours and Awards
2010-11 Residency at Atelier Calder
2008 Residency at Singapore Tyler...
2010-11 Residency at Atelier Calder
2008 Residency at Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore
2007 Residency at Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, USA
2003 Residency at Casl International Artists Residency, Karachi
2001 Residency at Art Space, Sydney
2001 Awarded the 10th International Triennale- India, Lalit Kala Akademie (National Academy of Art), New Delhi
1997 Annual Award, Gujarat State Lalit Kala Academy, Ahmedabad
1996-98 National Scholarship, Ministry of Human Resources, Government of India, New Delhi
1996 Commendation Certificate from 10th All India Art South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC), Nagpur
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Glass House III
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