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Lot Essay
"[...] One kilo of war. How many kilos do you want? [...] Gold because gold equals power and money. Without it, without money you can't fight."
(Subodh Gupta, C. Mooney, The Idol Thief, Art Review, London, December 2007, pp. 52-57)
Through the shimmering sardonic splendor of this gold metric weight, Subodh Gupta quantifies the cost of war. The harsh realities and incalculable wealth of the arms dealing trade and the economic burden of war on the world's population are often overlooked in favor of the human and practical costs of battle and bloodshed. Whilst Gupta habitually manipulates found objects, juxtaposing materials and content, this is a unique example where the medium of gold is in itself the art work -- thus wittily quantifying the unquantifiable and invisible costs or war.
(Subodh Gupta, C. Mooney, The Idol Thief, Art Review, London, December 2007, pp. 52-57)
Through the shimmering sardonic splendor of this gold metric weight, Subodh Gupta quantifies the cost of war. The harsh realities and incalculable wealth of the arms dealing trade and the economic burden of war on the world's population are often overlooked in favor of the human and practical costs of battle and bloodshed. Whilst Gupta habitually manipulates found objects, juxtaposing materials and content, this is a unique example where the medium of gold is in itself the art work -- thus wittily quantifying the unquantifiable and invisible costs or war.