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. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mil ...

conceptual artist, who works across a range of media including

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and time-based media.

Early life

She was born in

Shantiniketan Santiniketan 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 later expanded by his son ...

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

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, with her family, and grew up in

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of 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 , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

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 research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

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 Samuel ...

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

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

and her fellow student as

Ravan Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and Rakshasa, rakshasi Kaik ...

– whose name means the ‘black one’ – is the Hindu goddess of time and change and within

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and reg ...

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

. 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 artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

, 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 is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

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

, 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 U ...

, 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 in ...

, 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. Kettle's Yard galleries, shop and caf ...

, 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 artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

, 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. Background The organisation focuses on a programme of commissioned exhibitions, events, performances and talks. The gallery occupies the ground level of a ...

, 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 the Collection. 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 Roy ...

, 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 Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...

, 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 English gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1877. Ikon was set u ...

, Birmingham *1993 Disrupted Borders,

, Bristol

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 London