Sooj and I attended the Opening Reception for Herb Alpert’s Black Totem Series at Ace Gallery Beverly Hills. Lots of people dressed in black (myself included), free booze, news camera, sculptures. It was fun.
Of the piece, Gupta said…
… “Very Hungry God”, was made in 2006 for the Nuit Blanche annual all-night festival in Paris. My work was conceived to be shown in a church in Barbes on the outskirts of Paris which is largely inhabited by an immigrant population.
I made the work in response to the stories I read in the news about how soup kitchens in Paris were serving food with pork so that Muslims would not eat it. It was a strange and twisted form of charity that did not continue for long but raised conflicting ideas of giving and the way we have become now.
Outside the church I served vegetarian daal soup as a form of “prasad” (in India when you go to a temple or a guduwara you are offered food with the blessing). I liked the mix of the Catholic church and my intervention using a symbol that many artists have used before – the skull – and its many connotations.
‘Very Hungry God’ is like a vanity, but also the idea of food and the utensils is very much part of my language dealing with ideas of the everyday and turning them into iconic symbols.
Link: Subodh Gupta
Coming to auction at Sotheby’s upcoming Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale (L10002), is a pretty significant, 6-ft. bronze sculpture (edition of 6) from Alberto Giacometti. Pre-estimates have it selling for between 12 and 18 million pounds (GBP).
The practical side of me prevents me from doing wish lists. Besides, the impulsive side of me already memorized my credit card numbers. =)
So, here then, is a list of things I will be picking up after Christmas, when 2 or none of the items pictured here will be on sale.
Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese Diplomat who helped thousands of Jews escape Lithuania, during the Holocaust, by issuing them visas to Japan. He risked his life to listen to his conscience. Hero!
Gilt offered some amazing masks by designer Claudia Hapeman.
Handmade Norse God mask with headdress made of faux fur, ostrich feather, coque feathers and gold leafed horns.
My new skull ring. It came out of Ron Bryant’s workshop, One Too Many. It is a relatively new ring he just carved. When I first saw images of it, I knew I had to have one. … Continue Reading
Would have been cooler if it was made of porcelain and the bear’s head came off…. like a cookie jar.
Ezra of Fast Boy Cycles built this bike after being diagnosed with “ass cancer.”
Pretty inspirational if you ask me.
