Subodh Gupta

In the back of a gallery we stumbled upon the works of Subodh Gupta, entitled "Still, Steal, Steel."  Three sculptures stood around the back of this gallery, eery constructions of large proportion heads made up of metal objects (steel, one could guess).  Except for the handcrafted look of the facial features, these heads wore the remains of hundreds of discarded nick-knacks, including pans, ladles, and cups to name a few.  They were military in uniform, the heads wearing a ski-mask, gas-mask, and helmet respectively.  Perhaps this was a comment on the rigidity of process and structure that current military practices have, or of the cold composure the ideal soldier has in battle.  Maybe the use of hundreds of very small objects to construct a large objects is an allegory to modern militaries.  The faces are american and unexpressive, combining with the material and unsaturated colors for a hard, cold feeling as one walks around them.  Gupta executed the facial features extremely well, and overall I was very impressed by his craftsmanship here.