Artists

Shilpa Gupta

Press release

Starting point of Shilpa Gupta's solo exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof is the monumental work TRUTH, situated at the intersection of language, power, and control. As visitors move through the oversized letters within the exhibition space, the artwork questions the mechanisms that preserve or obscure truth. The sculptural installation reveals how collective progress depends on protecting and interrogating truth. Complemented by additional works by the artist, Gupta's exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof is presented in dialogue with the museum's display of works by Joseph Beuys. This parallel presentation highlights similarities in their approaches to language, participation, and social reflection. As part of the anniversary programme, the exhibition underscores artistic exchange as a central theme of Hamburger Bahnhof since the museum's founding. Shilpa Gupta (born 1976 in Mumbai, India) lives and works in Mumbai. Gupta's multidisciplinary practice, encompassing installation, video, sculpture, and performance, engages with the social structure of society as well as with shared histories and their sociopolitical consequences. Her installations often explore how information and emotion are conveyed through the written, spoken or sung word and how these are shared or systematically suppressed. Gupta's selected solo exhibitions include: Centro Botín, Santander (2024); Amant, New York (2023); MAXXI L'Aquila (2023); M HKA, Antwerp (2021); Dallas Contemporary, Dallas (2021); Barbican Centre, London (2021); Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (2010). She received the Possehl Prize for International Art 2025. Following Naama Tsabar, Andrea Pichl, and Delcy Morelos, this is the fourth exhibition by a female artist in dialogue with the Joseph Beuys collection presentation in the Kleihues Halle at Hamburger Bahnhof. The exhibition is curated by Sam Bardaouil, director of Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, and Ulya Soley, curator at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. The exhibition is supported by Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions e. V. A special exhibition of the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.