Sutapa Biswas (born 28 November 1962) is a

British Indian British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. Currently, the British Indian population exceeds 2 million people in the UK, making them the single largest Ethnic groups in the United Kingdo ...

conceptual artist, who works across a range of media including

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

time-based media Time-based media is a term coined by museum conservators for durational works of art that unfold over a period of time. This work often relies on technology, but includes mediums such as performance art and social practice (art) , social practice ...

Early life

She was born in

Shantiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and ...

, West Bengal, India, in 1962. At the age of four, she moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, with her family, and grew up in

Southall Southall () is a large suburban town in West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

. Between 1981 and 1985 she studied at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

for her BFA. She then studied art the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London from 1988-1990. From 1996 to 1998, Biswas studied at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

Career

As a conceptual artist, Biswas works in a variety of mediums, including performance, film, photography and installation. During the 1980s, Biswas was primarily a painter. For instance, her paintings ''Housewives with Steak-Knives'' (1985) and ''Through Rose-Tinted Windows'' form part of the Bradford Museums and Galleries permanent collections on display at

Cartwright Hall Cartwright Hall is the civic art gallery in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, situated about a mile from the city centre in the Manningham district. It was built on the former site of Manningham Hall using a gift of £40,000 donated by Samue ...

. She also worked in video. ''Kali'' (1984) is a thirty-minute video that the artist made while a student at the University of Leeds. It documents a performance by the artist as

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

and her fellow student as Ravan. Kali – whose name means the ‘black one’ – is the

Hindu goddess Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Deities in Hinduism are as diverse as its traditions, and a Hindu can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, even agnostic, atheistic, or humanist. Julius J. Lip ...

of time and change and within

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...

she was created to inhabit more than one representation (hence her multiple appearances in the performance) to rid the world of evil, which is here embodied by Ravan. Biswas often draws from myths and iconography from ancient Hindu mythologies, speaking of the symbolism she says 'I want people to research into my culture, as I've been doing into European and Western culture'. In 1985, Biswas's work was exhibited at the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

, London, in the exhibition ''The Thin Black Line,'' an exhibition of young Black and Asian women artists curated by

Lubaina Himid Lubaina Himid (born 1954) is a British artist and curator. She is a professor of contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire. For instance, her film ''Birdsong'' captures the story of young Indian boy who longs to own a horse and is filmed against the backdrop of an English period home. Biswas is also keen to use humour and satire in her work. In her painting 'The Last Mango in Paris' depicting two women talking and peeling mangos the caption below reads. ''M: 'If you were to be re-born, and had a choice what would you come back as?' B: 'If I were to be reborn again, I would be born an English dog, because in England they look after their dogs really well. She is keen to use her work as a platform for people to begin to address their own racism. Biswas was the 2008 Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at the Yale Centre for British Art, and is a European Photography Award nominee. She is currently a Reader

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

, UK.

Collections

Biswas' work is held in the following public collection: *

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

, London

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*1987 ''Sutapa Biswas'', Horizon Gallery, London *1992 ''Synapse:'' Sutapa Biswas,

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established ...

, London, (texts by Gilane Twaadros and David Chandler). *2021 'Lumen', Sutapa Biswas, BALTIC Contemporary *2021 'Lumen' Sutapa Biswas,

Kettle's Yard Kettle's Yard is an art gallery and house in Cambridge, England. The director of the art gallery is Andrew Nairne. Both the house and gallery reopened in February 2018 after an expansion of the facilities. History and overview Kettle's Yar ...

, Cambridge

Group exhibitions

*1985 The Thin Black Line, [Selected by

Lubaina Himid Lubaina Himid (born 1954) is a British artist and curator. She is a professor of contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire.Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

, London *1986 The Issue of Painting, Rochdale Art Gallery. *1986 Jagrati, Greenwich Citizens Gallery, London *1986 Unrecorded Truths, The Elbow Room, London *1987 Creation For Liberation 4th Open Exhibition: Art by Black Artists, Brixton Village, London *1987 Critical Realism: Britain in the 1980’s through the Work of 28 Artists, Nottingham Castle Museum, Nottingham *1987 State Of The Art: Ideas And Images in The 1980s,

, London *1987 The Image Employed: The Use of Narrative in Black Art *1988 Along the Lines of Resistance: an Exhibition of Contemporary Feminist Art, elected by Sutapa Biswas, Sarah Edge and Clare Slattery Cooper Gallery, Barnsley *1988 The Essential Black Art,

Chisenhale Gallery Chisenhale Gallery is a non-profit contemporary art gallery based in London's East End. The gallery occupies the ground level of a former veneer factory on Chisenhale Road, situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, near Victoria Park, To ...

, London *1988 Graven Images: Art, Religion and Politics,

Harris Museum and Art Gallery The Harris Museum is a Grade I-listed building in Preston, Lancashire, England. Founded by Edmund Harris in 1877, it is a local history and fine art museum. History In the 19th century, it became legal to raise money for libraries by local ...

, Preston *1989 Fabled Territories: New Asian Photography in Britain, City Art Gallery, Leeds *1989 The Artist Abroad: An Exhibition of Work Influenced by International Travel,

Usher Gallery The Usher Gallery is an art museum in Lincoln, England. The gallery displays a collection of artworks by painters such as J. M. W. Turner and L. S. Lowry. Established in 1927, it is run as part of Lincoln Museum. History James Ward Usher wa ...

, Lincoln *1989 Intimate Distance, The Photographers’ Gallery, London *1989 The Other Story: Afro-Asian Artists in Post-War Britain,

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

, London *1990 Disputed Identities, Camerawork, San Francisco *1992 Fine Material for a Dream...?: A Reappraisal of Orientalism: 19th & 20th Century Fine Art and Popular Culture Juxtaposed with Paintings, Video and Photography by Contemporary Artists, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston *1992 The Circular Dance, Arnolfini, Bristol *1992 Who Do You Take Me For?, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane *1993 Beyond Destination: Film and Video Installations by South Asian Artists,

Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery () is an England, English art gallery, gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Listed building, Grade II listed, neo-Gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henr ...

, Birmingham *1993 Disrupted Borders, Arnolfini, Bristol *2023 Women in Revolt!: Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990, Tate Britain, London *2024 The Time of Our Lives, The Drawing Room, London

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biswas, Sutapa 1962 births Living people Feminist artists People from Birbhum district Indian emigrants to England Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Alumni of the Royal College of Art English people of Bengali descent Artists from the London Borough of Ealing British contemporary artists People from Southall