Magic Wands

Details

Subodh Gupta (b. 1964)
Magic Wands
chrome plated cast aluminium
59 x 1 x 1 1/8 in. (150 x 2.54 x 4.6 cm.)
Executed in 2002
Set of 28

Provenance

Phillips de Pury, New York, 17 November 2006, lot 150
Art & Public, Geneva

Literature

Subodh Gupta: Gandhi's Three Monkey's, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, 2008, p. 91, illustrated
C. Mooney, 'Subodh Gupta: The Idol Thief', ArtReview, December 2007, p. 54, illustrated

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Sale room notice

Please note that the diameter is approximately is 2.8 cm.

Lot Essay

In this work, Gupta fetishises the ordinary bamboo pole and by titling the work, Magic Wands, he elevates its mystical and shamanistic qualities. Its common-ness is prevalent in Indian society as the most basic of building and scaffolding material in a newly burgeoning economy. Channeling Gandhi (see lot 47) and Minimalist artist, Eva Hesse's 1968 fibreglass installation, Accretion, Gupta cleverly layers his work with multiple interpretations that belie its simple elegance.

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