The Historic Palimpsest of Bela Gupta
ICAC (International Confederation of Art Critics, UK)

In the select works of Bela Gupta, there is a recurring motif of historical engagement that transcends mere representation. Gupta navigates the complex terrain of cultural memory and colonial narratives through her interweaving of iconography, setting and character, evident across her paintings and installations. Each work serves not only as a piece of visual art but also as a dialogic space where past and present collide and converse in a layered exposition, often interrogating the ironies and absurdities of human existence.
In some of her works, there is a conspicuous dialogue between the regality of the British Empire and the Indian cultural landscape, both architecturally and symbolically. The juxtaposition of imperial figures against the backdrop of Indian monuments is jarring, evoking a sense of historical dissonance that is both critical and reflective. This deliberate anachronism seems to critique the sanitised narratives often associated with colonial history, revealing a more complex interplay of domination and resistance.
In others, namely her reinterpretations of The Last Supper, she reimagines a canonical scene with inserts of modernity and markers of colonial presence. The inclusion of contemporary and colonial-era figures disrupts the traditional biblical tableau, creating a space where the sacrosanct and the vulgar merge. This blending of temporal layers suggests a subversion of the original narrative, perhaps pointing to the enduring impact of colonial and post-colonial discourse on contemporary society.