Venue Details

23.01.25 - 16.03.25

Government Museum, Egmore

10:30 AM - 6:30 PM (Fri closed)

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Charan Singh (b. New Delhi, India 1978) MFA (UCA), PhD (RCA) uses the mediums of photography, video and text to explore his 'pre-English language' gay life and his close involvement with HIV/AIDS work and queer community activism in India. His first institutional solo was commissioned by The Art House, Wakefield. Previously his work and writing has been shown at Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Contemporary Art Museum Houston, New Art Gallery, Walsall, Camden Art Centre, Photo South Asia, TAP Review, and On Curating. Singh has been commissioned by Visual Aids, Arcus Foundation (NYC), and Fierce (Birmingham). His work is in several private collections.

PRESENTING ARTIST

Sunil Gupta is a British/Canadian citizen, (b. New Delhi 1953) MA (RCA) PhD (Westminster) who lives in London and has been involved with independent photography as a critical practice for many years focusing on race, migration and queer issues. A retrospective was shown at The Photographers’ Gallery, London (2020/21) and The Image Center, Toronto. He is a Professorial Fellow at UCA, Farnham. His latest book is “We Were Here: Sexuality, Photography, and Cultural Difference, Selected Writings by Sunil Gupta”, Aperture New York 2022. His work is in many private and public collections including; the Tokyo Museum of Photography, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Royal Ontario Museum, Tate, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. His work is represented by Hales Gallery (New York, London), Materià Gallery (Rome), Stephen Bulger Gallery (Toronto) and Vadehra Art Gallery (New Delhi).

It was the summer of 2009. You insisted that I visit your studio in Delhi. You were keen to show me the picture you’d made of my friend as part of your series The New Pre-Raphaelites, a lavishly colourful series portraying queer desires. That was my first encounter with photography which wasn’t mediated through the press. I was puzzled by the images, and I naively asked, “what would it do?” You said something like “I use my camera to learn about myself and as proof that I exist.” So, in a way –– photography was the reason why we met!

We did drop politeness immediately. I think that kind of peculiar formality didn’t suit us. The following year, you formally introduced me to the nitty-gritty of photography when I began assisting you in the studio. During this time, you encouraged me to consider photography as a possible medium to tell my stories to the world. So much has happened since then.

Once you told me that you “arrive at a picture” rather than invent it, while describing the Exiles series. It was one of the most fascinating things I had heard at the time, and it stayed with me ever since. All these years I was trying to unpack these words to find a true meaning for collaboration, especially when so many artists use it, to describe their practice. You remained true to your subject matter, even though at times it was difficult, but your determination has been inspiring to many people, including myself.

I am delighted that you suggested I should curate this exhibition. It presents me with an opportunity to delve into the language of love and courage that infuses your work with compassion. It is important to note that your work foregrounds friendship as a transformative and radical practice of care, and conviction. The interconnected themes in this exhibition beautifully illuminate the essence of queer solidarity. A solidarity that does not shy away from enduring questions of postcolonialism and its responsibility towards creating an intersectional and more equitable world. Moreover, this exhibition serves as a site to pause, reflect and appreciate a remarkable journey through a lifetime’s work to explore –– why photography? And the answer to which lies within one’s own encounter of this exhibition.

For me, “cruising” has always been an important entry point into your practice. This is an invitation in a similar vein to be a flâneur, to meander around the courtyard of the museum, discovering your work on translucent structures holding together an eternal queer desire. One that reveals, revolves, peels off, and then moulds you into in an atmosphere of love. This space is not just about queer joy, and tender feelings but it is also a space to raise some uncomfortable questions such as ethical image-making practices or the absence of the gay Indian subject within the history of photography. These distinctive qualities of the exhibition offer us a unique perspective, transforming the retrospective of an artist's oeuvre into a portal for futurity – which is made with love and light and its infinite possibilities. It becomes a space where we can envision and dream of a future for a gay Indian image. 

© Charan Singh

Delhi/London 2024