Sunil Gupta

Russell and Robert meet legendary UK based queer artist/photographer Sunil Gupta (b. 1953, New Delhi India).

From Here to Eternity is Gupta's first major retrospective, offering a complex and layered view of his unique transcontinental photographic vision. 

Born in New Delhi, India, relocated to Montreal, Canada, before studying at the Royal College of Art in London, Gupta has been using photography as a critical practice since the 1970s. Subversive, impulsive, personal and political, Sunil Gupta's socially engaged projects have focused on such issues as family, race, migration and the complexities and taboos of sexuality and homosexual life. His work has been instrumental in raising awareness around the political realities concerning the fight for international gay rights and of making visible the tensions between tradition and modernity, public and private, the body and body politics. Bringing together works from across his divergent and extensive career, From Here to Eternity features a range of series’ from street photography (Christopher Street, 1976) to narrative portraits (From Here to Eternity, 1999), along with highly staged and constructed scenes (The New Pre-Raphaelites, 2008) and a selection of early investigations into digital image making (Trespass, London, 1992-1995). From participating in New York's active Gay Liberation Movement in the 1970s to his more recent campaigning for gay liberation in India, Sunil Gupta has been inspirational to generations of photographic activists and LGBTQ+ rights campaigners.

What does it mean to be a gay Indian man? This is the question that follows me around everywhere I go and is still ever present in my work – Sunil Gupta

This special episode was recorded on 22nd July 2020. Follow Sunil's artworks on Instagram @sunilgupta7402 and visit Sunil's major retrospective at Photographer's Gallery, London until end of January 2021:

https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibition/here-eternity-sunil-gupta-retrospective

For images of all artworks discussed in this episode visit @TalkArt. Talk Art theme music by Jack Northover @JackNorthoverMusic courtesy of HowlTown.com We've just joined Twitter too @TalkArt. If you've enjoyed this episode PLEASE leave us your feedback and maybe 5 stars if we're worthy in the Apple Podcast store. Thank you for listening to Talk Art, we will be back very soon. For all requests, please email [email protected]

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