Life Lines

This exhibition is titled LOL,Gupta’s tongue-in-cheek comment on the internet slang for “laughing out loud”. “In the context of the exhibition,I would interpret LOL as the laboratory of life or life of lunatics. There is an absurdity to life,” he says.

The protagonists are his trademark two-dimensional decapitated creatures with zebra lines and labyrinthine patterns. If the acrylic on canvas Ouch depicts the dependence on technology with gadgets — from an antenna to a computer mouse — emerging from a human skull,in the fiberglass installation The Love Tree,several hearts are spread across the floor below a tree. “It’s like the leaves that have fallen from the tree. The tree is a symbol of love,and this work portrays how we treat it,” says Gupta.

The titles of the works throw hints about the thought process of the artist. While Dream on Little Child Before Shit Happens seem a tad cynical,in Haalal Candy Gupta has a human machine that doubles as a device which slaughters animals and produces candy. “We project a pretty picture of tomorrow before our children,and at the same time indulge in actions like slaughtering animals,” says the Delhi College of Art graduate. Eventually,though,he says that nature will survive. “There is decay followed by rebirth,” he adds.

The exhibition at Palette Art Gallery is on till January 16. Contact: 41743034