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| Bibliographic Index
The Indian Panorama, From Ganga to Mississippi , January, 2016 Exotica, Manav Gupta’s unsung hymns of clay August 2013 |
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Public Art Review, Manav Gupta repurposes local pottery, Issue 53 : Leading the Way | Fall/Winter, 2015 Classic Feel, Quest for life, August 2013 |
| FRESH, MINIMALISTIC, INNOVATIVE AND ORIGINAL In this installation, with a minimalistic approach, the artist depicts his philosophy in understated tones that touch deeply and reverberate, lingering in the mind long after the visual engagement ends. ARCHITECTURE+DESIGN, June 2013 | (i) ALL FOR EARTH : Gupta’s recent mega installation uses earthen lamps as metaphors on environmental issues. In its entirety it can fill the Tate Turbine Hall. The artist has four entries in this year’s Limca Book of Records. (i) Divya Kaushik, THE PIONEER | MANAV GUPTA’s ‘UNSUNG HYMNS OF CLAY’ It represents the ability of imagination to combine with a symbol in a manner that is at once emotionally magnetic and resonant of the smell of the soil. Manav has elevated this humble piece of clay to an artistic pedestal with remarkable finesse. Its simplicity is breathtaking, but its meaning is multi-dimensional. Pavan K. Varma, AUTHOR, DIPLOMATCalm connectedness & quiet contemplation He speaks in poetry and visual metaphor through installations and through paintings layered in watercolour, acrylic and oils, communicating in light and colour and lyrical form, all that he perceives in nature and how it relates to his soul. Classic Feel (i) |
GUPTA’S GREEN TRILOGY : At a time when many artists turn to the west in desperate need for a brainwave, Gupta has universalised the diya – an inevitable fraction of Indian Culture – to draw attention to a contemporary issue.The installation is a metaphor where the earthen lamps signify earth.” Adila Matra, MAIL TODAY (i) | KALEIDOSCOPE OF CREATIVITY It is the use of Indian philosophy and spirituality that centers rather than dominates the work. The approach is contemporary. Light, and thus hope, is what drives his work in a metaphorical and practical sense. Diane de Beer, ARTS EDITOR, PRETORIA NEWS (i) | | GUPTA’S RAINFOREST’S ART A HIT Artist Manav Gupta is a visionary who uses his works of art to get his message across that the dire state of the earth is in the hands of mankind. Doreen Premdev, SUNDAY TIMES, (i) SOUTH AFRICA | Calibre enough to juxtapose it with Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain This latest installation reflects the brilliant conceptualisation of the artist in his inverting the everyday humble utilitarian earthen lamp to encrypt it into the river of clay resulting in many considering it to be of calibre enough to juxtapose it with Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain. Whats on!, Johannesburg (i) |
ARCHITECTURE+DESIGN, June 2013The third edition of the travelling trilogy, ‘Rainforests and the Circle of Life’, by renowned artist Manav Gupta was recently hosted by the High Commission of India, South Africa, at the National Museum, Pretoria. The site-specific installation ‘Unsung Hymns of Clay’ using earthen lamps explores environment consciousness. Architecture+Design brings you a glimpse of the concept and treatment, which is fresh, minimalistic, innovative and original… The earthen lamp is woven in the cultural-religious fabric of India from time immemorial. Once home, only at the time of worship, they are used as a tool at the altar. Once the prayer ends, it is discarded again to be immersed in Ganges. Its life is strange as the way of the world and the circle of life, like the unsung hymns of clay. By using the earthen lamp as a metaphor, the artist explores glaring issues of how perception and context interplay with each other. The installation touches upon issues of equality, respect, treatment towards objects, situation, people and the essence of life beyond manmade boundaries. The pollution of the rivers, the shrinking of water and its availability and such other climate change issues have been in the artist’s ethos of work. In this installation, with a minimalistic approach, the artist depicts his philosophy in understated tones that touch deeply and reverberate, lingering in the mind long after the visual engagement ends. Delhi-based Manav Gupta is a gifted and well-established artist who has delved in the diversity of creativity through paintings, poetry, installations, etc. |
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| Manav Gutpa’s “unsung hymns of clay” by Pavan K Varma Manav Gupta represents the artistic search for an authentic medium that is deeply rooted in the cultural ethos to which he is born. Exceptionally talented, especially in the startling, ingenious use of colour and light, Manav lives to push the horizons of expression without compromising the delicate aesthetic sensibility that is the hall mark of artistic fulfilment. I have known his work and his endeavours for many years now, and have been struck by his continuous effort to experiment with new forms of creativity, be it performance art in concert or his lyrical but powerful works on nature and forests. |
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Manav Gupta’s recent mega installation uses earthen lamps as metaphors on environmental issues. The artist has four entries in this year’s Limca Book of Records. He spoke to D Kaushik
He is known for kingsized murals. The six-floor high, 5000 sq feet in façade and 10000 sq foot painted surface of a mural at the Airtel headquarters in Gurgaon, is among his more prominent works. Gupta employs a contemporary artistic language used to spread a message about environment conservation. He remarked, “I respect and love the earth and nature. And I have always tried to create awareness concerning environmental issues. I have worked in this field for many years. I grew up with nature and this reflects in my work.” Gupta’s latest exhibition is called Unsung Hymns of Clay. Currently showcasing in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, it features a large installation called River of Clay, which uses earthen lamps as metaphors for Indian spirituality, conveying how we use the earth to our advantage. Manav explained, “While growing up, I saw earthen lamps lying in heaps. They always seemed non-descript. But the same lamps, when lit at the altar for prayer, took on different meaning. They are considered sacred, but we discard them after their purpose is served. I used them as a metaphor for Earth. We connect to her but damage and exploit her too.” He added, “It is believed when you use diyas for worship of the lord, you do not have to purify the mud bowls with holy Ganges water, because they already are pure. Oil is poured and the wicker lit is holy. But when prayer is complete the lamp is discarded. So the title, Unsung Hymns of Clay.”He also references the pollution done to the river Ganga. The installation with over hundreds of earthen lamps appears as a flowing water from the distance. The inverted lamps are arranged in neat, but flowing sequences. In its entirety it can fill the Tate Turbine Hall. “I have given a language to the lamps, which is minimalistic yet dramatic,” he added. Manav just returned from South Africa after the High Commission of India hosted the premiere and launch of the third edition of his travelling trilogy at the National Museum there, after two successive previous editions in recent years in US, Europe and the Middle East. It was extended by the Federal Museum, as an outreach during the BRICS Summit. “As the exhibition focusses on sustainable development, human responses to the environment and man’s role in climate change and other environmental hazards faced, the duration of display has been extended,” informed Gupta. He took over a year to complete the installation and plans to show it in India too. |
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