Important Notice

Subodh Gupta's oeuvre features objects representing everyday experiences of a distinct segment of India's socio-economic bracket that is gaining financial mobility - his works are often woven together with his own personal narrative. The present lot is a nostalgic reminder of his origins in rural Bihar, where, like most villages in India, cow dung is patted into cakes and used as a fuel, fertiliser, disinfectant, construction material, as well... Subodh Gupta's oeuvre features objects representing everyday experiences of a distinct segment of India's socio-economic bracket that is gaining financial mobility - his works are often woven together with his own personal narrative. The present lot is a nostalgic reminder of his origins in rural Bihar, where, like most villages in India, cow dung is patted into cakes and used as a fuel, fertiliser, disinfectant, construction material, as well as in rituals and ceremonies as it is believed to possess cleansing powers. Created out of cast brass, Gupta's gleaming cow-pats are piled generously into two cast aluminium baskets with the maker's finger indentations present, almost appearing to stamp each pat with an identity. The artist has used cow dung as a motif in earlier works, imbuing it with layers of meaning ranging from the functional to the evocative, even eliciting discourses on purity and spirituality. By highlighting the potential of humble, quotidian objects and their place in our lives, and elevating them to the realm of the art gallery, Gupta's works draw a connection between the artist and his audience.

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