Experience the journey of art

Satish Gupta is a multifaceted Indian artist known for his work as a painter, sculptor, poet, writer, and calligrapher. His artistic journey has seen him hold over 37 solo exhibitions worldwide, including prestigious venues in Delhi, London, and New York. Gupta’s work, inspired by mysticism and Zen philosophy, blends multimedia, sculptures, and paintings. Notable projects include ‘MA,’ a 1.6 km-long painting, and sculptures like ‘The Buddhas Within.’ His art is showcased in prominent collections, such as the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

Renowned artist Satish Gupta was in Hyderabad, as his artworks are being exhibited at Salar Jung Museum until November 20th. Satish hails from a family of freedom fighters. His father, Lala Deshbandhu Gupta, was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and had signed the original Constitution of India.

Excerpt from the interview:

Can you tell us about your journey in the field of art?

I was only four and a half years old when my father died in a plane crash. It was total chaos in the family, but I somehow took to painting. It became my anchor, and I won the first prize in a painting competition by ‘Shankar’s Weekly.’ I received the prize from the hands of Indira Gandhi and got very excited to continue my journey. In school, I was under the guidance of well-known modernist painter and printmaker Kanwal Krishna.

What were your feelings when you got your first studio and also sold your first painting?

There was a little grain store in our house, which was emptied by my mother. This became my little studio, and the walls were painted in black ink, as per my Egyptian influence. I was very excited and told my teacher Kanwal Kishore about my first studio and its ‘small size.’ My teacher told me about a German artist, Paul Klee, whose works were mostly measurable in centimeters. He further said that ‘Scale is very relative.’ Size does not matter, but the content could be huge. I sold my first work when I was sixteen years old. The well-known painter Satish Gujral came home and bought my painting for fifty rupees.

How did the ‘Zen’ influence happen in your life, and what were your experiences?

I travelled to France and visited many countries in Europe. I went to a secondhand bookshop in France and discovered a book titled ‘Zen Flesh Zen Bones’ and its reading completely changed my life. For a few years I was living in a desert area and have done about 300 paintings. They are detailed hyper realistic work influenced by a camel man.I never learnt sculpture. I broke my arm and could not paint for six months. I was in lot of pain as the arm had to be broken three times and a rod was inserted.One day I stopped at a roadside ironsmith maker and created a smallflower. This was my first sculpture. I was asked by the ‘Jindal’s’ to make five sculptures. As I was making sculptures in my studio, I had boxes around them to stand and look from all sides and from a height. One day I gave instructions to the security to remove the boxes and when I visited the studio, it was shocking to see the sculpture destroyed and everyone rejoicing around not knowing what they had done. Then I decided to do all future works onsite.

How do you evolve in creating different forms and unique ideas for the co-existence of sculpture with painting?

My very first sculpture was of Lord Shiva and there have been a series of them. Sometime back, Nita Ambani asked me to do a ‘Lord Vishnu’ work. I was lucky to visit and experience the divine blessings of Lord Balaji in the sanctum sanctorum of Tirumala temple, the light of inspiration took off into a series of artworks. The philosophy of ‘Zen’ has got deeply entrenched into my life. When I went to the Rumtek Monastery and gazed across the valley, I felt a sense of completeness and did not want to paint anymore. I wanted to surrender myself to the serene and peaceful atmosphere and merge into nature. After some time I released my art work into the valley as my surrender to the ‘Supreme’. As I came back to the monastery and entered the place, the prayer rituals suddenly brought forth before me the multiple mini shining Buddha’s reflecting on the big main deity.

What is your message to young artists and stakeholders in art field?

Every young artist, art collector or viewer should experience the journey of Art. This would bring a deeper connection with the artwork and the approach or style of an artist. I remember a young artist overlapping a Japanese script on his painting, not knowing the meaning of the script. An artist needs to become one with your work. There is too much social pressure to achieve and earn. One can get totally consumed by social media.