Exhibition

The Lovers by Sunil Gupta & Charan Singh

From: 22nd February 2025 10:00 am

To: 3rd May 2025 4:00 pm

New Art Exchange, Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham, UK

New Art Exchange

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The Lovers sees internationally renowned artist Sunil Gupta present his critically acclaimed photographic series, Lovers: Ten Years On (1984/85), alongside a new body of work produced with artist and husband Charan Singh, titled Lovers, Revisited (2023/2024). Created 40 years apart, both collections depict LGBTQIA+ couples, as directed by the sitters, photographed in their homes.

Gupta, born in India, moved to the UK from Canada in the late 1970s at a time when the Gay Liberation Movement was gaining momentum and challenging the idea that “homosexuality” was a mental disorder. Over the years, Gupta consistently focused on issues of representation, racial identity, and LGBTQIA+ activism, including AIDS and HIV awareness. 1984 marked the end of his first long-term relationship of ten years and the beginning of the Lovers: Ten Years On photographic series. At this pivotal moment in his life, he began to create portraits to reframe the lives of gay couples that would challenge the prevailing commercial stereotypes of LGBTQIA+ relationships in visual culture.

Like Gupta, Singh’s artistic practice also engages with the void of representation for him personally and his communities. This exploration of absence has long been central to both artists’ critical projects, and their recent collaborative practice has fostered a dynamic dialogue between their works. In Lovers, Revisited, Gupta and Singh picture couples from all over the world today and reshoot participants from the original series 40 years later. In doing so, they revisit the dialogue within the original series, documenting cultural shifts and reflecting on the changing visibility of LGBTQIA+ communities today.

This new exhibition at New Art Exchange (NAE), marks nearly four decades since the 28 black-and-white Lovers photographs have been seen together in their entirety – the collection has only been exhibited once, back in 1985. Juxtaposed against the 12 new works from Lovers Revisited, the timing of this exhibition goes beyond a celebration of the original series milestone to act as a reminder of the past and the ongoing struggle for visibility for LGBTQIA+ communities, particularly in a time when the UK grows less safe for queer people. The Lovers stand as both a celebration of the past and a vital reminder of the need for continued advocacy and representation in the face of ongoing challenges.

Please join us for the exhibition launch event on Friday 21st February, 6 pm til late. Click here to book. Details of a gallery talk by Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh will be announced in the new year.

NAE acknowledges the support of the Art House in Wakefield and curators Damon Jackson-Waldock and Emily Ryalls in creating this exhibition.

Website

https://www.nae.org.uk/event/the-lovers-by-sunil-gupta-charan-singh/

Booking Link

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