PRESS RELEASE
Chintan Upadhyay, Mistake
24 September – 25 October 2008
Opening Tuesday 23 September, 6.30 – 9.00
Chintan Upadhyay is to have his first London solo exhibition at Aicon gallery this autumn, with a
series of new works including four very large-scale paintings, four sculptures and an installation.
Referred to as the "Pope of Indian Political Pop", Upadhyay's output concerns the modern and
rapidly changing world, and man's struggle to keep abreast of developments without compromising
traditional values. Upadhyay is best known internationally for his concerns surrounding female
foeticide in India and China, and how modern technology (such as sonography, which is meant to
diagnose health problems in the unborn child) is being abused in order to know in advance the sex of
an unborn child. Upadhyay furthermore explores how the pressure to conform to an ideal of
perfection (as permutated through the media and a modern consumer society) could go wrong when
applied to genetics.
In Mistake Upadhyay continues to host his fears and criticisms of genetic engineering and child
foeticide within the image of the body of a male baby. The freestanding sculptures show babies with
multiple hands and hands, posing as if gods from Indian mythology. When transferred to human
babies, the traditional, supernatural capacities of the gods look contrived and repulsive. Painted onto
their bodies are elements recognizable from Indian miniature painting, as if 'stolen' from their
original context and positioned here to ensure that his modern creations also 'fit' into the traditional
canon of Indian visual representation. That the images clearly jar with their surroundings is a
metaphor for how contemporary ideals of perfection cannot simply be amalgamated into traditional
societies.
Upadhyay has been investigating female infanticide and foeticide for the last few years, making two
projects related to it in 2006 and 2007 (Tentua Dabaa Do (Kill Her)). The artist's adoption of the
swastika for his installation at Aicon has connotations of both Nazi ideology and male chauvinist
ideology, and he critiques them here while connecting the issue of female infanticide directly with the
male chauvinist ideology still persisting in India.
Of his work, Upadhyay states "I use familiar symbolism with all its identifiable exoticism. My art is
all about addressing socio-political issues that come along with the process of globalization. I am
interested in subjects that are vital to human beings' thinking process…My babies are not simple
malformed babies. They are the malformed ideologies pushed amongst us by hegemonic forces for
achieving certain vicious ends."
Aicon Gallery, 8 Heddon Street, London W1B 4BU
Tel: +44 20 7734 7575, Fax: +44 20 7734 0090, london@aicongallery.com
www.aicongallery.com
Chintan Upadhyay was born in Partapur, Rajasthan in 1972. He gained both his Batchelor's and his
Master's in Fine Art from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S.U Baroda, Gujarat, India. He has exhibited in
numerous group and solo exhibitions internationally and won numerous awards for his work.
Upadhyay is also the founder of the Artist Initiative 'Sandarbh', a not for profit artist-run organisation
that works in rural areas of India, for more information, go to www.blvs.blogspot.com.
Chintan Upadhyay lives and works in Mumbai.
Forthcoming exhibitions at Aicon Gallery include TV Santosh early 2009.
For further press information and visuals, please contact
Rhiannon Pickles on rhiannon@picklespr.com
Aicon Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 11am to 7pm
Tel: +44 20 7734 7575 / email: london@aicongallery.com