Art daily : First major exhibition of Shilpa Gupta's work in the Midwest opens at The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

Shilpa Gupta, For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit, 2017–2023. Casts of 100 books in gunmetal, wooden and glass vitrines with light bulbs. © Amant, Brooklyn, NY. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

MADISON, WI.- I did not tell you what I saw, but only what I dreamt presents a collection of 12 works by the Mumbai-based artist Shilpa Gupta (b.1976).

Showcasing her expertise across various media, the exhibition features her interactive sound installations, sculptures, photographs, and drawings. A conceptual artist, Gupta’s distinctive approach challenges viewers to reflect on how information shapes our perception of reality in today's global society.

Guiding Gupta's art is her research into the power of language, examining how large-scale institutions and invisible structures adopt it to define and enforce societal norms.

She also considers language as a tool of resistance, empowering individuals to create new possibilities and challenge existing power structures. She applies these insights to explore issues surrounding the enforcement of national borders, cultural and social identity, religious and ethnic persecution, and the limits of free speech.

The exhibition’s title is drawn from the final lines of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko’s 1844 poem, “A Dream.” In the poem, Shevchenko criticizes Tsarist Russia’s oppression of the Ukrainian people and expresses his desire for an independent Ukraine, which led to his exile and imprisonment.

Gupta creates sparse installations that rely on unassuming materials, with contemporary technologies often playing a prominent role. In her interactive audio piece, Speaking Wall (2009–2010), the visitor wears headphones while walking on a platform of bricks on the floor as Gupta’s voice—in alternating authoritative and suggestive tones—directs one across an invisible and shifting border. In other pieces, the artist introduces objects such as flags and maps as visible indicators of geopolitical struggles over national borders and their arbitrary nature.

Inspired by her personal experiences yet deliberately elusive, Gupta’s art communicates across cultures. Often incorporating many languages and perspectives, the artist allows the visitor to arrive at their understanding of the work and formulate individual associations, depending on where or when one encounters her artwork.

This exhibition is curated by Ruth Estévez and coproduced by Amant and Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

Shilpa Gupta lives and works in Mumbai, India, where she graduated with a BFA in sculpture from Sir J. J. School of Fine Art at the University of Mumbai in 1997. Recognized throughout the global community, she has exhibited in leading international institutions, museums, and biennials for almost two decades, including recent solo exhibitions at Dallas Contemporary (2022); Barbican, London (2021); and the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (2021). Her work has also been featured in prominent group exhibitions at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2017); Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi (2017); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2014); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2011); Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk (2009); Tate Modern, London (2001); and the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai (2000).

Gupta has participated widely in biennials in Europe and Asia, and in 2019 was included in the 58th Venice Biennale. Her work is represented in the permanent collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris; Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Ǫueensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane; and Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, among others.

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