artist profile
Chintan Upadhyay
born
1972
lives and works
Mumbai, India
education
BFA, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat, India, 1995
MFA, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat, India, 1997
about the artist
Bold, rich colors suffuse the work of Chintan Upadhyay, where he features an earnest baby as an alter ego who is forced to weather the onslaughts of the modern world. In painting or in sculpture, Upadhyay’s chromatic intensity evokes the bustling energy of urban India, sites in which the past clashes into the present. The artist juxtaposes iconography derived from classical miniatures and contemporary subcultures, and imprints these on the baby’s face and body. He speaks through the baby, also, in urgent protest against and profound concern for genetic politics, as medical technology is misused and abused to aid the lethal tendencies—gender preferences—of a patriarchal society. Upadhyay is the founder of the artists’ initiative Sandarbh, a nonprofit organization set up for residencies, workshops, and programs, and dedicated to promoting the arts and raising awareness about contemporary artistic practices in rural areas of India. Recipient of the Charles Wallace Foundation Award, the artist has completed a residency in Bristol, UK, and has gone on to mounting solo exhibitions nationally and internationally. Working as a painter, sculptor, and performance artist, Upadhyay has participated in shows held at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai, India; the Seoul Art Center in Seoul, South Korea; and the Chelsea College of Art in London, UK. He was also included in Roundabout at the City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand and Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel.
