SCULPTURE MAGAZINE | Manav Gupta | Featured Article | 08-07-2020
“Manav Gupta affirms the age-old sanctity of earth and clay, assembling everyday objects made by potters from across India to create huge installations that convey hope, passion, and the journey and transience of life. Using just a few types of functional items—the diya lamp, the kullad tea cup, and the chilam smoking pipe—he succeeds in creating something contemporary yet timeless in its ability to tell a powerful story. Massed in their hundreds and thousands, these humble items gain new significance, as tradition reimagined makes an eloquent case for sustainable practices that respect the earth’s resources while transforming the familiar into something completely unconventional, unexpected, and magical.” – Sculpture Magazine
“I am simply walking the path of infinity with a life dedicated to art. If my humble drop in the ocean can help bring about the change in thinking that is so needed in today’s crass, commercialized, mechanized existence, if it can add a dab of spiritual context to the world as it takes art and culture as a vehicle of change across boundaries, it makes my artistic process that much more fulfilling” – Manav Gupta
Down To Arth: How Manav Gupta Uses Meaningful Artwork In Terracotta To Bring Clay Back To Nature
A few years ago, at a display of Delhi-based artist Manav Gupta’s works in Minneapolis, visitors asked him if earthen lamps would survive the snow. Gupta uses clay objects in his body of work, where he embraces nature and architecture. Earthen lamps – his ingredient for the persistent in-depth probe into nature through gigantic installations, were making viewers curious. Gupta’s love for clay, especially the earthen lamp, is deep. So, to quell all doubts regarding life and longevity of clay, he left ‘Shrinking River’, one of the installation works, in Minneapolis snow.
Clay, mud, maati – the steel of Indian art history – lies fairly unexplored in public art and other display avenues. Gupta’s work brings it back, from earth to art. He says, “it is a myth that clay cannot stand tough conditions, or that it is perishable. When I left the ‘Shrinking River’ in snow, people were surprised. They understood my belief in clay. They understood clay and its permanence, the fragility of life, our belief in nature and elements as sacred.” He adopted clay as his medium, extensively, in 2013.
No other artist uses clay and pottery in public art like Manav Gupta. His works on nature and climate change are extensive, in harmony with themes and sites he chooses, and soul stirring. In the back drop of the recent Kerala floods, his series, ‘Arth’ (meaning), stands as the most gentle and revolutionary expression of art exposed to rain, trees and sunlight. Depletion of natural resources, recreating and sustaining, are at the core of the series.
Gupta relies on architecture and nature to produce installation works out of material, which, if not meticulously blended into his philosophy and thought, would mingle in surroundings – as any other mundane clay object meant for use, as dust. In his art work, these objects become more than mere ‘useful’ kiln-burnt pieces of utility. They acquire meaning. They become grains of a flow – moments in a story and chapters in Arth, the continuing series of works dedicated to nature and environment. They transform into remnants of an element, beaded together. Assembled together, woven into various patterns with the help of thin wires and knots. “Weaving happens differently. For softer flow, I use chilum,” he adds.
In order to connect rivers, people, rain forests and other aspects of nature and life through works of installation that are global in language and Indian in soul, he is required to drop something in particular, regularly. “The pedestal (of high art and perceptions and activism associated with high art).” It is relieving to see his art at a healthy distance from a couple of aspects. First – the elitist approach of looking at nature in language and art work. Second – the piercing cacophony of activism. He believes in simplicity.
Time Machine, Beehive Garden, the Noah’s Ark, the Bed of Life are built around metaphors. He wanted to give a message. “The humble clay can serve as luxury.” He adds, “I was surprised to see people at a mall, where my works were displayed, connecting with the works. Similarly, at the most premium addresses in mega cities. People were surprised. They were not sitting at cafes. They were looking at the river. You’ve got to engage the audience right. I believe in people’s intelligence.” He pays attention to viewers’ perception.
The beehives are honey sweet punctuation on trees. They display workmanship, thought, patience, control precision and form. Kulhads – in every work – become the cups of life. He says, “It was very difficult to arrive at the most natural depiction of aspects of nature in general and the beehives in particular. For me, it was important that the form of the beehive remains as natural as possible. The larger beehives just followed. A beehive can turn artificial very easily and quickly. One has to be careful.”
Times of India | The Excavated Museum – Manav Gupta | Uma Nair, Art Critic | 31-01-2017
Manav Gupta is truly a unique genius – the thinker and the visionary is hailed by critics as one of the most erudite and versatile contemporary artists today. After a hundred thousand footfalls at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi a year ago at his Ganga waterfront; and taking it across the Mississippi and the Hudson in USA last year as part of his Global Public Art Project on sustainbility connecting rivers of the world, he has created an entire ‘excavated museum’ at the DLF Mall of India at Sector 18, Noida till the 18th Feb 2017 with a suite of five mega environmental art installations that punctuate different spaces in the Mall.
Why ‘excavations in hymns of clay’ ? His phiolsophy and artsit statement bring out the uniqueness behind the whole first of its kind concept of a solo project of environmental art by any artist as a travelling museum and public art for sustainable development.
As a part of his outreach programme of evolving, site specific and dynamic multiple edition solo public art projects across the world he deploys the quintessentially Indian potter’s produce of clay objects such as the earthen lamps (“diyas”), local cigar (“chilam”), earthen cups (“kullar”) to transform their individual identity into metaphors and idioms of sustainability, context, perception and treatment as he conceptualizes and creates large scale avant-garde works; using the rural Indian pottery meant for everyday use, in mass numbers, he deconstructs their age old existence as units to make them lend themselves to another form, be it in a Duchamp like inverted concept or simply rendering them formless.
“Water and all five elements of nature are our source of sustenance. Ancient civilizations from India to the world over respected and understood this sanctity. While they drew nourishment from the great rivers. Be it our sacred Ganga or the Mississippi. As we grow, its time, we excavate the ancient philosophy of sustainable living. And we are all clay. Dust to dust. My art seeks to submit to this paradigm. Hence ‘excavations in hymns of clay.” – Manav Gupta
A Wealth of Meaning – The Statesman | Aruna Bhowmick
Critiques and Essays
an inward attunement,
Keshav Malik | Padma Shri, Indian poet, Art and Literary critic, Arts scholar, and Curator
Manav Gupta’s art, facing both forwards and inwards, is a contemplation of spiritual and the natural communion. And so, his images act as a vehicle of a visionary world that is itself the instrument of self-transcendence. His disposition is towards invoking the inner world of the soul as the stage of divine imminence. His work has undergone much development. The maturation is palpable.
Working in a wide range of installations, watercolors, acrylics, oils, sculptures and multi media, he puts the medium to fresh creative tasks. Technically, as far as color and light goes, he is highly professional. Moreover he has a precise understanding of color as the language with which nature tries to communicate meanings and values. For him color is a function of sight- implying a sun- like quality in the eye.
Here then is a silent discourse on the music of colors. In this way, visually he works out notes and scales to produce melody and harmony. One can follow Manav’s development from color harmonies of great refinement even in his earlier work- on to a progressive liberation of light from the object, or perhaps the resolution of the object into light. The artist has come to understand light as that from which the objects we see are made.
Informed by profound intuition, Manav’s pictorial language emerges from and surmounts the creative process to exist objectively. It is then that the instrument of a level experience that is communicable in terms that relate to the knowledge and wisdom of the inwardly attained. The artist’s technical know how, as a colorist, is not deployed for its own sake, but because his technique has its own meditative content.
Thus, and in sum, here is evidence of a self-spiritualizing imagination, and wherein the painter is trying to integrate such wholes of experience as bring about our union with the essential reality. Through his external senses the painter is able to perceive the visible world. Through his internal senses he tries to perceive the microcosm, including the twin level of body and soul. The painter has a message to deliver to his ordinary self—a message concerning our deepest being. It means an awakening to a more elevated plane of living. Finally, his “umbilical chord-rainforest” symbolizes an epiphany of the universe continually opening up from sacred source, the centre of the birth of life. An epiphany of which it is both an expression and symbol
exploring earth’s elements,
Uma Nair | Art critic, Historian
From probing the first principles of nature and thought, Manav’s art is about nature’s pre-eminence and earth’s universal truths. “Man’s existence, needs to align with the larger cosmic matrix,” says Manav. The physical interface of global warming, Man’s interference with earth’s natural ecosystems, disregard to environment consciousness by Man has all impacted the artist deeply over the years.
What is enticing is that he dips his brush deep into his intrinsic romanticism, puts it in context through his deep rooted faith and psyche of Indian spirituality and translates it all on his canvas in the language that’s metaphysical. Recently, in the artist’s creative journey, the influence of the present socio-cultural metamorphosis, where moral fabrics are eroding at the altar of manipulative social matrices and blatant consumerist environment is adding new dimensions to his art. It seems the protagonists of his canvas seek to break away from the shackles of this web towards “light” that is “hope”.
His watercolours sold out last year and he spoke about the process of his sensibility that awakens the nature lover in us. “As I scrape the bottom of the soul for some ingredients the only way I can explain to myself, about what it all is, is to believe that in some past life (if there is one), I belonged to the rainforests. The mantra there, for survival, is to submit to the natural forces, bow before it, respect its ways, learn and grow. You cannot defy it or go against it. In the rainforests there are labyrinthine darknesses weaving around you but there is always light in streaks, in a glow, in a stream, sunlight…all of which brings hope. You don’t bathe in it all the time but it seeks you out. Man is but a speck. The human race, still a speck, in this mighty universe rich with millions of secrets. The rainforests teach you this,” he states.
Is painting then a transcendental experience? Far away from the madding crowds of monetary markets? “When I paint, what transcend on the canvas are the hope and the power of the eternal truths of nature’s emblematic symbols,” he says. Adding, “Light, for me is — Hope and Colour — the Universe in which it exists.” This is when, for him, this world loses its meanings. The larger one takes over and he paints.
manav gupta is a natural,
Kingshuk Mukherji, senior journalist
He is not what you traditionally know as an artist. An alumnus of Presidency College, Kolkata, Manav picked up the paint brush as a child in the serene, sylvan surroundings of National Library, Kolkata. In that sense, therefore, this young artist lived and grew up in the lap of heritage.
He always had a restless heart, one which died to try out things. And he would… Even as he made this journey, the canvas was never far away and the brush strokes matured. He studied painting under Shri Vasant Pandit, an unsung master. Manav often recalls how mesmerized he’d be as his guru would talk to him for hours. Manav’s parents took him to the master when he was a toddler, barely two years of age. Even at that tender age, the Master created an indelible impression on him. And from that day, till the time Manav left the city of his birth for Delhi, the Guru and his shishya vibed. They talked endlessly and painted together. It was as if two souls were tied in one string….
Today, Manav has grown manifold. His art has taken him to the zenith. He’s a name the world recognizes. All this because he’s spontaneous. His art comes from within. It has nothing to do with formal training. “My art is what I am. What I perceive. And what I look forward to. My art is my heart beat.” There have been critics who’ve praised him for his technique. But more often than not, what he has created has been the result of a storm within. His brush strokes have followed the dimensions of those restless stirrings.
He is as close to nature as possible. All that he does come from deep within .There’s nothing cosmetic about what he feels or what he does.” Truly. For, Manav’s quality isn’t just about a genius. It’s about how he feels and the shades of blue he seeks in the sky through his eyes. It’s about the grit and struggle of a man from humble circumstances. It’s about a man who hasn’t grown up breathing tinned air. It’s as easy as the flow of a deep river that meanders through a landscape and runs off to an unknown destination where it meets the horizon. Manav is a product of nature. Hence, his love for the trees. Manav is about perception. Hence, his fetish for eyes. Manav is Manav. Unique as ever.
from a Garden in Calcutta,
Patricia Groves, cultural theologist, Oman
A child grew up in a horticultural garden in the heart of Calcutta. There, in the enchanted world of plants and flowers, the small child would run and play – and paint.
That child is now one of India’s top contemporary artists. There is a web-like, diaphanous quality to Manav Gupta’s watercolors; ephemeral shapes are caught in shafts of colored light. A bird perches momentarily on an invisible branch. It does not seem like the bird will flyaway; but it could disintegrate into the forms from which it was made; or slip into spaces between colors. I am lost in a crowd of people who have come to the exhibition on opening night and I am not taking notes; but I am listening to what is said.
Manav does not give maddening answers like the painting is what the viewer sees in it. Instead he is eager to share his vision, to enfold those who come, in the coordinates of his dreams. He rides along on words, images and music, taking the unspoken language of his paintings into films and performances This artist sees painting in a cascading vortex of rhythm, voice and dance. By painting to the cadence of poetry, the motion of dance and the exhilaration of music, Manav feels that he can encompass the scent, the spirit of the performing arts in image, on canvas … that this is a step toward a more universal and multidimensional concept of painting in our strange, modern world of colliding sensory stimulation. Who is this man who would, if he could, hold the whole world in his hands? I will not answer in the enviable superlatives of the critical press to date; or dwell on his creative empathy with the former President of India as· expressed in their illustrated volume of poetry, Life Tree; or overly remind you that he has sold at Christies… Instead I will go back to the garden.
One day, young Manav had to leave the garden to help his mother raise his little sister through difficult times. It was only when his sister was safely married that Manav could devote himself to his art – which he did heart and soul, like a lover finally re-united with the long-time object of his desire. Manav Gupta has the passion and drive of the once-thwarted visionary; he holds close the undaunted dream of the garden of innocence he left too soon, the Lost Paradise which he recreates every day with his paint brush.
Manav Gupta & his Art,
Sushma Bahl, Curator
The artist plays with colour to build a texture and create well composed imagery. The palette in terms of its choice, mixing and rendering is built progressively to achieve a refined harmony and tonal quality that emanates a subtle light that heightens the visual appeal.
There is a melody in his play of colour- be they passionate reds, cool greens, burning yellows or sedate indigos together with sombre pastels or rich earthy tones, though his monochromatic works are equally engaging.
A multi talented artist, Manav is deft not just at painting and drawing but also at sculpting and making installations using a range of materials and methods. A designer, environmentalist and poet, he has also worked in numerous jugalbandis (performance art) with other artists across art forms- music, dance, science and literature.
A man of many parts the young artist’s repertoire includes work on films, art workshops, book illustrations besides social and humanist initiatives. Working consistently over the last 16 years the artist’s creative oeuvre reflects a genteel touch emanating from his child hood days spent in culture soaked Kolkata. Exploring nuances of light and colour in delicate strokes, his nature inspired paintings create a poetic nuance and serenity around his creations. Where forms and figuration enter into the artist’s creative arena, they follow a rhythmic pattern and absorb the viewer in a silent discourse as his shapes though ephemeral and imaginative turn alive and holistic. The location and rendering of his portraiture are important elements that give his compositions their distinct appearance, while his encounters with performing arts leave their footprints on his canvases inundated with sensory delight.
“The answer lies somewhere in connecting with the larger cosmos where the energy lies. Even as that communion triggers the urge to dip into the soul and pour it out on the canvas one is possessed by energy that takes over as I paint” says the artist. The spontaneity, the poetic and the lyrical in this philosopher-poet-painter’s work makes the eternal beauty of nature come alive in his water colours, while the celestial charm of the cosmic is featured in some of his painted canvases. His mixed media work on paper recall his roots in Bengal art and miniature traditions of India while the sensual and personal gets reflected in his figurative work.
The sculptures and installations incorporate an ideological slant with a contemporary interpretation. Together Manav Gupta’s work makes a feast for the eye and the heart.
essays, news, reviews
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) |
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Bibliography
2018
July 14, 2018 | The Pioneer Chahak Mittal | Dust To Dust …And All Shapes In Between.
July 19, 2018 | The Statesman Aruna Bhowmik | A wealth of meaning.
July 24 2018 | Amar Ujalaa | Topic | Manav Gupta
July 26, 2018 | Flash News APJ Abdul Kalam The Life Tree Illustrations By Manav Gupta.
July 29, 2018 | The Tribune India | Swati Rai Clayscapes – Manav Gupta’s Arth — Art for Earth carries forward his commitment towards innovation and sustainability.
July 30, 2018 | Twitter Web @IGNCA India’s most erudite & versatile contemporary artist, Manav Gupta redeploys quintessential Indian clay pottery at IGNCA, 11 Mansingh Road till Oct. 22
July 30. 2018 | Indian Express | Pallavi Chattopadyay From Sand To Dust.
August 30, 2018 | EventBrite | Team Earth | Arth Art Of Earth.
September 09, 2018 | Swarajya Magazine Sumati Mahrishi | Down To Earth.
September 16, 2018 | Hindustan Times | HT City | Making art of earth – Artist Manav Gupta’s innovative art installations highlight the importance of environment conservation and connecting with nature.
September 24, 2018 | E Times Arth Art For Earth By Manav Gupta.
Oct 17, 2018 Punjab Kesari TV | news channel YOUTUBE World’s first ever travelling Museum for Contemporary Public Art.
Oct 17, 2018 Navodaya Times news channel on YOUTUBE World’s first ever travelling Museum for Contemporary Public Art
02-Nov-18 | Navodaya times क्लाइमेट चेंज पर बेहद खूबसूरती से संदेश दे रही है मानव गुप्ता की ‘Arth- art for earth’ प्रदर्शनी
Nov 2nd-18 | PUNJAB KESARI NEWSPAPER बेहद खूबसूरती से संदेश क्लाइमेट चेंज पर दे रही है मानव गुप्ता की ‘Arth- art for earth’ प्रदर्शनी.
Nov 7th, 2018 | TEDx Talk Creating Art for Earth | Manav Gupta | TEDxYouth@TheShriramMillenniumNoida Creating Art for Earth | Manav Gupta | TEDxYouth@TheShriramMillenniumNoida.
Nov 19, 2018 | Lecture at LPU University YouTube Video Manav Gupta | Arth – art for earth | Lovely Professional University – 2018 TEDxYouthTheShriramMillenniumNoida Introducing our first speaker, Mr. Manav Gupta – An eminent artist, Founder & Creative Director ‘Arth – art for earth’.
September-October 2018 | IGNCA MAGAZINE Vihangama Mati Tere Roop Anek.
September 14, 2018 | facebook IGNCA Page & Manav Gupta Page arth dialogues at the waterfront.
October 22, 2018 | facebook IGNCA Page & Manav Gupta Page arth dialogues at the waterfront.
2018 | Sangam Paintings by Manav Gupta.
2018 01-Jan-20 | The Luxury Chronicle | Manav Gupta’s Global Art Project’s latest: ‘Rain’ for 2018 feb.
25, 2018 | New India Express | Medha Dutta Yadav The Sunday Magazine I want to make art available to all.
March 14, 2018 | Doordarshan National INTERVIEW You Tube Aaj Savera : An Interview With Manav Gupta : Eminent Artist And Thinker.
July 04, 2018 |National Herald | Navjeevan E Paper | India in Picture.
July 04, 2018 | Twitter Web co tweet, Minister Of Culture Government of India, Mahesh Sharma Minister Opening tomorrow: Arth-Art for Earth-The Excavated Museum of Clay by Manav Gupta July 5, 2018 7.00 pm IGNCA Lawns, 11 Mansingh Road, New Delhi.
June 05, 2018 | CNN News 18 Simantini Dey | Delhi-Based Artist, Manav Gupta, Weaves Poetry With Art on Environment.
June 05, 2018 | Twitter Web @MinOfCulureGoI On World Environment Day IGNCA presents excavations in hymns of clay, first of its kind in the world environmental art installations on sustainable development by eminent Indian contemporary artist Manav Gupta.
July 05, | 2018 Millennium Post Team MP | Redefining The Meaning Of Art With Arth.
July 5, 2018 | The Quint Art Exhibition Opens At IGNCA
July 5, 2019 | Official WebSite, Govt Of India Ministry Of Culture, Min of Culture Official Announcement, Details of Exhibition event and Period Arth-Art for Earth-The Excavated Museum of Clay by Manav Gupta.
July 05, 2018 | Press Information Bureau Govt Of India Ministry Of Culture Arth Art For Earth.
July 05, 2018 | IGNCA PROGRAMME NEWS Arth Art Of Earth The Excavated Museum Of Clay :Manav Gupta.
July 05, 2018 | The Daily Pioneer Team Viva IGNCA Showcases Arth Art For Earth.
July 05, 2018 | IGNCA INVITATION Arth Art Of Earth.
July 05, 2018 | IGNCA Arth Art Of Earth The Excavated Museum Of Clay.
July 05, 2018 | Daily Hunt Redefining The Meaning Of Art With Arth.
July 05, 2018 | Business Standard Arth Art Of Earth.
July 06, 2018 | Sawdust | Sasikala Raje | Art For Earth.
July 06, 2018 | Prokerala.com Time Machine Manav Gupta.
July 07, 2018 | Freshers Live Vamsi Atherya Arth at IGNCA New Delhi.
July 13, 2018 | India Heritage Desk | Exhibition: Arth Art Of Earth Manav Gupta.
July 14, 2018 | Dainik Bhaskar Mitti ki khushbu.
July 14, 2018 | Jagaran chillam se bahi ganga, diyon se barkha.
July 14, 2018 | Opinion Express Chahak Mittal Giving A New Meaning To Pottery
2017
September 13, 2017 | Women Economic Forum New Delhi, India The ARTH Project Jan-17 Manav Gupta- The travelling museum at DLF mall of India.
April 17, 2017 | Sankalp Pravah, Prime Minister’s initiative inaugural ceremony by min of culture.
Jan 19, 2017 | Dlf invite Dlf invite.
March 4th 2017 | He is the next big thing in art, an Outlook magazine article says. Times of India calls him one of India’s most erudite and versatile contemporary artists.
His works have been featured in the Bible of art, Blouin Art Info. With four entries in Limca Book of Records, he is listed by Financial Times as one of the ten contemporary artists from India whose works will fetch good returns. This, even as BBC hails his latest project.
Feb 21, 2017 | The Daily Pioneer | Priyanka Joshi | The little clay pot Artist Manav Gupta uses the most basic terracotta items in our everyday inventory and mounts an installation at a mall to convey his message of ecological sustainability.
Mar 2, 2017 Times of India | Niharika Lal | Clay installation at Noida mall gets an extended display.
Dec 05, 2017 Twitter Amitabh Kant | Greatly enjoyed this wonderful exhibition “Excavations in hymns of clay” by artist Manav Gupta. Extremely creative!
Jan 25, 2017 | Times Of India | E Times | Clay lamps and kulhads turn Noida mall into an art museum.
28 Jan, 2017 | Times of India | Uma Nair | The Excavated Museum’ – Manav Gupta is truly a unique genius – the thinker and the visionary is hailed by critics as one of the most erudite and versatile contemporary artists today.
Jan 29, 2017 | Millenium Post | Excavated Museum at the Mall Millennium Post explores why this solo public art project by any artist is a solo biennale in itself. A list of many firsts.
Feb 17, 2017 Amar Ujala | Manav Gupta Excavated Museum At Dlf Mall Noida.
Feb 14, 2017 | Life & More Celebrated artist Manav Gupta has set up a one-of-its kind travelling museum.
17th feb 2017 नदियों की संस्कृतियों को जोड़ने में लगा ये आर्टिस्ट, चाक मिट्टी का देखिए कमाल भारत के टॉप टेन आर्टिस्ट में शुमार मानव गुप्ता ने पॉटरी आर्ट के जरिए संस्कृतियों को जोड़ने का बेहतरीन प्रयोग किया है। उन्होंने भारतीय संस्कृति की वाहक गंगा को चाक मिट्टी की कला के जरिए दुनिया की दूसरी नदियों से जोड़ने का रचनात्मक बीड़ा उठाया है, जिसकी तारीफ चारों ओर हो रही है।
28th Feb 2017 | मिट्टी के कुल्हड़ और चिलम से नोएडा में बही ‘गंगा’ Pottery Art Presentation By Manav Gupta Catches Eyeballs In Noida DLF Mall.
2015 – 2016
May June 2016 | India Perspectives | MEA MAGAZINE, GOI Taking art beyond boundaries | Maverick Genius.
June 30, 2016 The Hindu “Khorshed Deboo , ”Breaking The Mould” – artist Manav Gupta articulates how objects of clay can be adapted to address environmental urgencies.
June 30, 2017 | INVITATION | PRINCE OF WALES MUSEUM | Museum Society of Bombay and Prince of Wales Museum invitation lecture, ‘Excavations in Hymns of Clay’ takes place today at the CSMVS auditorium, Fort, at 6 p.m.
July 06, 2016 | Indian Diplomacy Twitter Web India | MEA | Ambassador Of India’s Soft Power.
July 07, 2016 | The Times 24 | KS Rao & Team | Ambassador Of India’s Soft Policy Manav Gupta has showcased Indian Pottery.
August 10th, 2016 | Hi Blitz | Volume 14 | Issue 9 | Cover Feature | Manav Gupta- A President’s Artist | On the Waterfront.
Minneapolis College of Art and Design, President’s Lecture Series : Manav Gupta , November 12, 2015
BLOUIN ARTINFO, Manav Gupta at his musing best , April 14, 2015
Hindustan Times, Eco-friendly: Art goes from earth to earth, April 10, 2015
Matters of Art, Exploring the Holy Ganges in Clay, March 15, 2015
The Pioneer, Message in Clay, December 23rd, 2015
The Indian Panorama, From Ganga to Mississippi , January, 2016
August 4th, 2016 Architecture Update Volume10 | Issue 7 | Allegoric Innovations | Manav Gupta | Installation Art – Manav Gupta has reinvented the language of clay with true originaility of thought.
October 23, 2016 | NAWRAS Mohona Banerjee “Enigmatic and thoughtful with a wry sense of humour, Manav Gupta is a prolific artist who is set on deconstructing art perception. His enthusiasm and refined conception of art makes it evident why he is one of the leading contemporary authorities in the art-world.
Public Art Review, Manav Gupta repurposes local pottery, Issue 53 : Leading the Way | Fall/Winter, 2015.
Forecast Public Art, Weaving spirituality and environmentalism in public art, November 11th, 2015.
Outlook, Excavations in hymns of clay, June 1st, 2015.
Millennium Post, Exquisitely etched in clay, April 21st, 2015.
The Statesman, River of Clay, April 2, 2015.
Deccan Herald, Magnificent Public Art Installation, April 2015
2013 – 2014
BBC, Ganga using Diyas and Chillams, December 15, 2014
Feb 12, 2014 Artville Blog Artist Of The Day – Manav Gupta
March 14, 2014 The Kenyon Thrill | Claire Bermann Public Art For NCA s
April 16, 2014 The Weather Network Cheryl Santa Maria | Five Examples of Nature Inspired Street Art
2014 June Architecture+Design Volume 31 | Issue 6 | Tree of Life
Exotica, Manav Gupta’s unsung hymns of clay, August 2013
Architecture+Design Magazine, Art feature, June 2013
Essay by Pavan K. Varma, Manav Gupta’s “unsung hymns of clay“, April 13, 2013
Mail Today, Gupta’s Green Trilogy, Friday April 26, 2013
The Pioneer, All for Earth, April 15, 2013
Sunday Times, Gupta’s “rainforest art” a Hit, February 24, 2013
IOL | Diane de Beer, Tonight Art | Kaleidoscope of Creativity | February 28, 2013
Artslink, Rainforests and the Circle of Life, March 15, 2013
Biz community.com, Rainforests and the Circle of Life exhibition in Pretoria, February 28, 2013
2013 June Architecture+Design Volume 30 | Issue 6 | Unsung Hymns of Clay
July 01, 2013 | South African Art Times Page 19| Issue July 2013 9th July – 8th Aug 2013 at Lovell Gallery
International environmental artist Manav Gupta Grahamstown Festival Lovell Gallery Invite, Catalogue
Aug-13 | Exotica Magazine | Songs of Clay
Sep 22nd 2013 | Pocketnews alert Unsung Hymns Of Clay
September 28th 2013 Articulate UK PRATHAM GALA catalogue Jugalbandi in Colour
November 29, 2014 | Times of India, Exploring Identities in Clay | One of India’s most erudite and versatile contemporary artists, Manav Gupta has reinvented the language of clay by infusing true originality of thought and treatment in the humble produce of the potters wheel
Dec 24, 2014 | The Pioneer | Navneet Mendiratta | Message In Clay
Classic Feel, Quest for life, August 2013
Whats on!, Leading international environmental artist, speaks out. July 2013
Classic feel, Environmental Art – Unsung Hymns of clay June 20, 2013
SABC News, Feature on Brics : Manav Gupta’s Clay River. (FEATURED YOUTUBE VIDEO)
Expresso, Renowned artist Manav Gupta’s acclaimed exhibition
Get it Pretoria, Art focuses on Nature, March 14, 2013
Media Update, Rainforests and the circle of life exhibition extended to the end of March, March 15, 2013
Record, Spectacular India Culture hits the stage, 8 March, 2013
The Times, Small wonders, February 22, 2013
Curtain Call, Rainforests and the Circle of Life, February 19, 2013
June 20, 2013 | Sulger Buel Lovell Environmental art – Unsung hymns of clay
June 22, 2013 | High Commission Of India Pretoria SA ,The Lovell Gallery SA Artist Bio Rainforests And The Circle Of Life
Jun-2013 | High Commission Of India Pretoria SA, The Lovell Gallery SA | Gallery Invite July issue, posted on Facebook.
Oct 2nd, 2013 | Classic Feel Magazine. South Africa A quest for Light. The work of leading Indian artist Manav Gupta
2011 – 2012
Limca Books of Records- National Record-Manav Gupta Tree of Life – Spread of 5 ft and Towering over 60ft 5000 sq ft in view and over 10000 sq ft of total painted surface – 3500 Employees
February 2012 | Architecture+Design | Bringing colour to walls facades.
March 2012 | Exotica | Manav Gupta’s contribution to INDO-BHUTANESE Relations | Strokes of Harmony
October 31st 2011 | Tedx Lingaya University, India | Destiny and Desire – Manav Gupta
2010
Limca Books of Records-National Record-Manav Gupta Tree of Life – Spread of 5 ft and Towering over 60ft 5000 sq ft in view and over 10000 sq ft of total painted surface – 3500 Employees
August 2010 | Namaskaar | Tree of Life
January 2010 | Eyeview | Volume 5 | Paintings by Manav Gupta
August 2 2010 | Outlook | Mural Musings | Delhi Art
July 23 2010 | HT Live Noida | For the Love of Environment | Rajkumari Tankha
July 20 2010 | The Pioneer | Jugalbandi of Life | Divya Kapoor
July 13, 2010 | Delhi Times | Article by Suruchi Sharma | The big picture, 5000 square feet,1000 people, 400 cans of paint-what’s artist Manav Gupta been upto?
September 8, 2010 | The Des Moines Register | Article by Michael Morain | Indian artist brings his ‘trilogy’ here,Internationally acclaimed Manav Gupta’s show at D.M.Social club to include collaborative art event.
13 August, 2010 | People Magazine | Caught In The Act | ‘Sunil Bharti Mittal inaugurated a mega mural at the Airtel Centre, painted by artist Manav Gupta
2009
December 2009 | Indian Horizons | Volume 56 No 3-4 | Azad Bhavan Art Gallery
December 29, 2009 | Delhi Times | Delhi is Talking About – Manav’s Taken up the climate cause through art “When it’s about Climate, Make Yourself Heard!”
2009 Catalogue | Indian Council for Cultural Relations present Manav Gupta | A curtain raiser 1. December
2009 | Indian Horizons | Volume 56 No 3-4 | Azad Bhavan Art Gallery
January 2009 | Eyeview | Volume 4 | Manav Gupta and his cadence of colours
2007 – 2008
August 2008 | The Noidan | Volume 1 | No. 9 | Noida Icon : Manav Gupta | Earthy Designs
October 20 2008 | Dainik Jagran | Furniture and Painting | 5598
August 2007 | Urbane | An artist par excellence
July 2007 Vol-1-Issue 2 | Delhi Expat Insider | A taste of visual poetry
October 28 2007 | The Sunday, Delhi Newsline ExpressIndia | An Arty Pact |Antoon Cox
December 15 2007 | Darpan | Poetry on Canvas | Art Mart | Mamta Upadhyaya | Issue: Dec 2006- Jan 2007
August 17 2007 | H! | Painting exhibition, Darwish bin Ismail bin Ali AL Baloushi, secretary-general at the Ministry of Finance,opened a 12 day painting exhibition by renowned Indian artist Manav Gupta at the Omani Society for Fine Arts.
August 17, 2007 | BEC Groupt Presents Heart 2 Heart featuring Manav Gupta
London 2007 | Bonhams-Asia House, London 2007 | Art for Freedom | Tehelka
Nov 02, 2007 |Hindustan Times | Chetana Joshi Bambroo | Artvistic |
2007 | Hindustan Times |Earth on Canvas |
March 16, 2007 | Hindustan Times | Adding Spice To Life
Persona Magnified | Karan Sondhi | Manav Gupta
October 2008 | Design & Interiors | Celebration of Inner Light
July 2008 | Eyeview | Volume 3, No. 2 | An Evening of Indian Poetry at Habitat by Manav Gupta
January 30 2008 | Femina | What lies beneath
July 17 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | Manav Gupta with President Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam
August 7 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | Manav Gupta joins ‘Unity-A Relief Effort’ initiative
August 7 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | ‘Generation Next’ enthrals | Manav Gupta painting
August 8 2007 | OMAN DAILY | OSFA to host works of leading Indian artist,Oman Society for Fine Arts is hosting an exhibition by the Internationally acclaimed Indian artist Manav Gupta
August 12 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | Bank Muscat presents The Premiere of an exhibition of paintings by manav gupta
August 12 2007 | TIMES LEISURE | Article by Palazhi Ashok Kumar | His art is his heartbeat | Manav’s paintings will not only touch your hearts but also simulate your feelings. Musical Brush,With a stroke of his brush, Manav Gupta paints a picture with the rythm from live music to enthrall the audience duing the fund raising events.
12th-23rd August 2007 | Bank Muscat Press Release
August 13 2007 | OMAN DAILY | Article by Hasan Kamoonpuri | Catch young Indian artist live in action on 17th and 23rd,12 day Manav Gupta exhibition opens at OSFA
August 14 2007 | OMAN DAILY | Trying to merge art with poetry
August 15 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | Manav Gupta portrays freedom on canvas
August 15 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | Wishing INDIA a great future as it celebrates its INDEPENDENCE DAY, Painting by Manav Gupta
August 15 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | A toast to India’s unity and integrity, Painting by Manav Gupta based on a poem by former Indian President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam
August 16 2007 | OMAN DAILY | Manav Gupta’s live painting show
August 2007 | The Week | Performance Painter
August 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | Generation Next featuring Manav Gupta
August 20 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | Manav’s latest painting attracts heavy bids
August 18 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | Renowned painter and poet Manav Gupta with Anil Wadhwa, Indian ambassador to the Sultanate.
August 19 2007 | TIMES LEISURE | Taking a centrestage featuring Manav Gupta
August 22 2007 | TIMES OF OMAN | Anup Jalota Live featuring Manav Gupta
August 22 2007 | MIRROR | Brush that listens
2006
Sanatan Kalakriti Puraskar 2006
Nov 01, 2006 | Sanatan Sangeet Sanskriti’s Samman Samaroh, 2006
November 10th 2006 | Christies – Lot48_bid | Umbilical Cords of Clay, Air and Water Watercolour on Paper 60 x 48 inches
October 2006 | Indian Designs & Interiors | The Ambient Canvas of Space | Pg 74-78
January 2006 | Samvada | There’s more to Manav than Art and Poetry – Hindustan Times
November 2 2006 | India Today | Arty Strings | Nishita Bhatnagar
June 14 2006 | Hindustan Times | Natures Call | Sujata Shakeel
December 15 2006 | Darpan | Poetry on Canvas
December 2006 | Indian Designs & Interiors | Live Art
Dec 2006 | IDI Magazine |Around Town
2005
2005 Penguin | The Life Tree | Poems and Paintings | A P J Abdul Kalam.
October 1-15 2005 | Sun City News | Perfect Strokes | Debanjana Choudhuri.
October 17 2005 | Asian Age New Delhi | Poetry Unites artists and writers.
December 26 2005 | Delhi Times | Call of Creativity.
November 2005 | First City | From Beyond – Watercolors by Manav Gupta.
18th Nov 2005 | The Poetry Society India Invitation |PRESENCES :A dislogue in painting and poetry : Manav Gupta.
2003 – 2004
January 2004 | Profile | Scaling New Heights | Kishore Singh | Business Standard
2004 | Tell Me Ma ! | Poems by Shiela Gujral, Illustrations by Manav Gupta | Author- Shiela Gujral
July 2003 | Society | Page 21 | Events of the month | Manav Gupta’s Exhibition on World Environment Day
June 9th 2003 | HT City | Brushtalk on Rainforests: Elemental by Nature | Meenakshi Kumar
August 1st 2003 | Femina | “To mark the world environment day, painter Manav Gupta created a series of paintings, ‘Rainforests on my eyot’ at The Park, New Delhi. Seen here Chief Minister Sheila Dixit wielding the paintbrush (on Manav’s canvas)” | Events
Delhi Times Entertainment Plus (Special Edition ) | “Intimate Whispers on my Eyot, the recent exhibition of Manav Gupta is about love- the sensuality of the gaze- the timeless metaphors of dreams, the soft caress of awakening dawn and the receding dusk immersed in the romance of water colours.” Habiart Gallery Till September 4
April 15th 2003 | HT City | All for The Girl-Child: A Mix of Music and Art | Barsha Nag Bhowmick
April 16th 2003 | HT City | Mudgal’s Music, Gupta’s Art: A concert with a heart | Somashukla Sinha Walunjkar
April 26th 2003 | Delhi Times | Fashion With Passion | Gupta’s collaboration with Satya Paul | Delhi is Talking about.
June 2003 | Times Of India | Artist Manav Gupta has brought a series of paintings on nature.|
August 2003 | Hindustan Times | Vinita Faridi | Nothing Careless About The Whisper |
April 12, 2003 |Times of India |Amitaha jugalbandi
Feb 08, 2003 |Times Of India | Picture Perfect |
Till September 4 | Times of india | Intimate Whispers, Habiart Gallery |
2002/2003 |The Times Of India | Poetry In A Pub | Loveleen Kakkar
2002
November 2002 | Society | A brush with the President
April 2002 | First City | Umbilical Cords of Earth | April 2002 | First City | Manav Gupta | The artist is stubbornly watercolourist
April 6 2002 | HT CITY, Hindustan Times | In Perfect Consonance with Nature’s figures | Meeta Mishra
April 23 2002 | Financial Times | There is Big Money in Art | Sanjay Kumar Singh
2002 | Deccan Herald | Medium Matters
June 8 2002 | City Express | Lyrical Landscapes
Bangalore Times | Dancing to the Beat of Poetry | Nayare Ali
Today – “The Capital’s Afternoon Newspaper” | Now, a Brush with Birla | Vanita Singh
June 2002 | Swagat | Calendar Of Events| Art exhibition of paintings by Manav Gupta comprising the series “Foliage, Figure, Intimate Whispers |
Today | From Pen to Palatte | Gupta and Kalam | 2002
June 8 2002 | City Express Bangalore | Ram Jeth Malani and Shatrugan Sinha Inaugurate Manav Gupta’s Pururupa: Sense to Essence” | Leela Palace Bangalore | Lyrical Landscapes
June 2002 | The Bangalore Age | Ram Jeth Malani and Shatrugan Sinha Inaugurate Manav Gupta’s art exhibition.
June 10 2002 | City Express Bangalore | Painter Poet Philosopher
June 2002 | The Times of India | Magic and Art | MP Shatrugan Sinha and Former Law Minister Ram Jeth Malani Inaugurate Gupta’s show at the Leela Palace
June 9th 2002 | City Reporter | Many forms – Unmodified Nature
Nov26-Dec2, 2002 |Neighbourhood Flash Magazine | Romancing With Earth And Eyes |
2002 | Paintings by Manav Gupta | Sparks | Shiela Gujral
2001
February 26th 2001 | First City | Manav Gupta’s Exhibition at the Roosevelt house
February 24 2001 | Self Taught Painter of Many Colours
February 2001 | First City | Manav Gupta’s Exhibition at the Roosevelt house
February 2001 | Inside Outside | Colours That Speak
February 2001 | Around Town | Art and the Artist
March 03, 2001 | Hindustan Times |Shelly Anand | Timeless Metaphors Of Dreams
March 1st 2001 | Delhi Times | The Countdown has begun
March 9, 2001 | The Statesman | Art for Gujarat
2000
February 26th 2001 | First City | Manav Gupta’s Exhibition at the Roosevelt house
February 24 2001 | Self Taught Painter of Many Colours
February 2001 | First City | Manav Gupta’s Exhibition at the Roosevelt house
February 2001 | Inside Outside | Colours That Speak
February 2001 | Around Town | Art and the Artist
March 1st 2001 | Delhi Times | The Countdown has begun
March 9, 2001 | The Statesman | Art for Gujarat
March 03,2001 | Hindustan Times |Shelly Anand | Timeless Metaphors Of Dreams
1999
May 1999 | India Today | Recommendations | Works by Manav Gupta
May 31, 1999 | Outlook | He Is Different
June 12, 1999 | The Telegraph Weekend Magazine | Rajlaxmi Bhattacharya | Mixed Media
June 09, 1999 | Asian Age |Nandini Dasgupta |A Poet And A Painter
June1999 | Times of India | Poetry On Canvas ….Having made waves in Calcutta, Manav shifted base to Delhi
July 1999| First City| Preview Art |Timeless Metaphors And Dreams. Gallery Freedom Till July 7th
June 04, 1999 | The Statesman | Soumik Mukhopadhyaya | Progressing On Promise. Abstraction or realism, earth tones dominate the works of Manav Gupta
3rd June 1999 | Delhi Diary | Art Scene : Manav Gupta’s India Awaiting
JUNE 1999 | MUST SEE MUST DO | Delhi Times | His exuberant and reflective paintings depict his acute sense of colouration
June 1999| Indian Express| Review, Art Critic Nirupama Dutt | Words date the visuals
June 1999 | Hindustan Times HT Sunday Magazine | Poonam Goel |Painting It His Way
CATALOGUE- India Awaiting Timeless Metaphors of Dreams, May 30th, 1999
1997
1997 Inside Outside Manav Gupta and his expressions of freedom.
1997 Impressions Ajanta Mallick A poet and a painter, Manav Gupta’s exhibition of water colours and sculptures at the Taj Bengal.
April 15, 1997 | Femina | Touch Wood: A wood from the designer.
September 1997 The Economic Times
Dec 15, 1997 Femina Emerging Forms Flowing Colours.
1996
1996 | The Telegraph | Gargee Bhattacharjee | Different Strokes – Why Manav Gupta is an artist with a difference
1996 | The Statesman | Young Artist First Solo Birla Academy Of Art And Culture.
FEATURED READING for the Month of December, 2021 – South Africa, Exhibition, 2013
essays, news, reviews
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) |
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excerpt | media coverage | South Africa
High Commission of India, Pretoria 21st February, 2013 – 15th April, 2013 as the launch of Travelling Trilogy III,“RAINFORESTS AND THE CIRCLE OF LIFE” eminent Indian artist Manav Gupta at National Museum of Cultural History 149 Visagie Street, Pretoria |
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Youtube | South Africa News