Chintan Upadhyay

Some Lesser Known Facts About Chintan Upadhyay

• While growing up in Rajasthan, Chintan was inspired by miniature paintings and worked on them.
• He was later introduced to styles of abstract expressionism by his father who was a teacher at the Rajasthan School of art, Jaipur and a member of the Takhman 28 group, a group of Experimental Artists of Rajasthan.

  

• Later, Chintan moved to Vadodara as he feared that he would not be able to grow as an artist at the Jaipur School of Art.

• After he moved to Vadodara, he was highly influenced by the works of renowned Indian artists Gulam Sheikh and Bhupen Khakhar; however, he decided to create his own style of work.

• He was intrigued by the scope for meaningful juxtapositions, which analyzed the relationship between two contrasting things that are formed after they are placed together. Following his interest, he began experimenting with various still-life artworks.

• One of his earlier works included a telephone as a phallus which he described as a “representation intended to exemplify masculine consumerism.”

• While pursuing graduation, he met Hema, and in 1997, they moved to Mumbai. They got married to each other a year later.

• Later, he began practising caricature and he created a series of paintings with visual jokes and puns.

• Thereafter, he also created eerie images.

• According to him, he usually leaves his paintings incomplete as he believes “an unfinished painting suggests the possibility that the artist may return to complete the piece.”

• He often changes his painting style after working with a particular style for 4 or 5 paintings as he does not want to create a signature style for himself.

• Many art magazines and art critics described Chintan’s work as a transformation from “initial arrogant and erotic expressionism to market-friendly populism.”

• In 2002, Chintan gave an art exhibition titled ‘Baar Baar, Har Baar, Kitni Baar?,’ stating his opinions on the Gujarat riots at the Sarjan Art Gallery in Baroda. His performance included various drawings, petrol-blasted canvases, video projection, and a nude body artist (done by himself).

  

• In 2003, Chintan Upadhyay started a rural art residency program, Sandarbh. Chintan started the program with his cousins Lochan and Yatin Upadhyay.

• In 2004, Chintan worked along with Hema and created a collaborative artwork titled ‘Made in China’ in the Viart in Delhi.

  

• In 2007, Chintan’s artwork titled “Sorry Does Not Make Any Difference I” was auctioned for USD 91,000 at the auction house Christie’s New York in New York City, United States of America.

• Over the years, he switched from paintings to sculptures. His signature motif became baby heads. In 2009, he displayed his sculptures at the Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur. He titled it “Iconic Shrine.”

  

• His most known sculpture project is the Pet Shop project which involves the creation of a “model baby” for every season, known as the Baby fetish.

  

• In 2010, Chintan filed for divorce from Hema in a family court in Mumbai and it was finalized in 2014. He filed for divorce based on cruelty.

• During that time, he took a break from his work and travelled to various countries including Mexico, Germany, and Hungary.

• After he returned to the country, he moved to Delhi.

• In 2014, he was featured on the cover of The Times of India newspaper as a pregnant man in a house dress.

  

• He has addressed various social issues like female foeticide in Rajasthan through his performances.

• Chintan Upadhyay has performed various solo shows across the globe including Nature God at the Sakshi Gallery in Taipei, Mistake at the Aicon Gallery in London, and New Indians at the Galerie Natalie Seroussi in Paris.

• Upadhyay has participated in shows held at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai, India.