installation

documentation of photo-based installation and sculptures.

upward mobility

for upward mobility, gupta photographed a staircase inside the former corcoran gallery of art. constructed in beaux-arts signature style, the stairs match the gallery’s marble floors and are flanked by polished brass railings and an american flag. yet the stairs lead nowhere—a whitewashed wooden board that frames a once-used doorway is the only destination.

gupta uses this image as a classic example of a “thomasson,” a term coined by japanese artist genpei akasegawa to denote a useless object that may be perceived as a conceptual artwork. upward mobility suggests an architectural leftover, a relic that has no purpose but is still maintained.

at the scale it is presented, the 50-foot banner is much larger than life but also strangely illusive. the work makes it difficult to ignore the ideals of the american dream and questions its purpose and preservation. 

this project was commissioned by the washington project for the arts and made possible with the support of the dc commission on the arts and humanities’ public art building communities grant program.

heritage

commissioned for the smithsonian asian pacific american center, gupta collaborated with artist daniel wilke on woodworking and fabrication. heritage features a photograph of a found situation. banal at first glance, the image of christmas lights casually strewn across the vinyl siding of a suburban home mimics the patterns of the american flag. printed on cotton fabric and displayed in a custom-built mahogany case, the work hints at heritage as artifact and challenges us to reconsider the symbols of american life.