Parul Gupta, ACAW Fields Review by Somak Ghoshal

Let me begin with a disclaimer and a clarification. The case study at the heart of this brief reflection on abstract art in South Asia is the work of the Delhi-based artist, Parul Gupta. But this essay is, by no means, either a detailed survey of her complex and evolving style or an attempt to trace the wide range of practices carried out by artists from the region working in this genre. Rather, it is only a statement of my personal discomfort with the way we, who are living and working in the arts in South Asia, are conditioned to create, look at and process abstraction in our arts - through an overwhelmingly Western perspective, ignoring the local histories that flow into our practices and, worse still, by divorcing our gaze from that part of our sensibility which is honed by music, theatre, literature and other performance cultures. My theoretical frame is informed by these twin concerns.