Born in 1961 in Mangalore, Sudarshan Shetty is known for his enigmatic sculptural installations, often featuring moving parts. He is one of the most innovative members of the generation of contemporary Indian artists who have carved out a place for themselves on the international scene. Other members include Subodh Gupta, Bharti Kher and Jitish Kallat. Sudarshan Shetty creates poetic constructions which both question the merging of Indian and Western traditions and explore domestic issues. The exhibition of Sudarshan Shetty turns the gallery into a home. It deploys an installation of hybrid crockery: the Indian-produced china vases and plates have been broken and put back together with fragments of teak, a wood that is typical of India.

By raising the question of the fragility of familiar objects and of age-old customs, Sudarshan Shetty explores the possibilities of syncretism as applied to the private sphere. A teak wooden carpet is laid out in the gallery’s small room, appearing to cover a body lying on the floor. Shroud or recumbent statue ? Street scene or crime scene ? With his interplay of references to elements as varied as the Muslim funeral tradition and contemporary production of fake Persian carpets in India, the artist opens the door to a multiplicity of interpretations and provides food for thought on the mystery of familiar objects.