The Gallery of the College of Staten Island (CSI) is privileged to have an exhibition of the extraordinary photographs by Sunil Gupta. The exhibit is entitled “Imagining Childhood; Living with HIV in Delhi,” and is organized by the Gallery’s curator, Professor Nanette Salomon.
The Gallery will host an opening reception with the artist on Wednesday April 5 from 5-7 p.m. The exhibit will run through June 2, the same date as CSI’s commencement ceremony.
While Gupta is an international artist who has lived in his native India, Canada and the United States, his primary identification has always been with Delhi where he currently resides. His works are part of the permanent collections of major international art museums and galleries and he has prominent gallery representation on several continents.
Gupta has always directed his creative energies towards the production of a socially responsible art. His riveting photographs eloquently capture an unsensationalized reality of those living with HIV. The exhibition at the College of Staten Island focuses particularly on children diagnosed with this condition who are in the care of the NAZ Center in Delhi, a facility for the care of women and children whose funding is always in jeopardy.
Unlike conventional photojournalism that stresses the pain of sufferers or the exotic quality of third world poverty, Gupta’s photographs are personal, compassionate, without being sentimental, images of a particular kind of childhood. They are colored by his own memories of his childhood in India and by his diagnosed condition, which he has openly made a part of his work.
An illustrated brochure will accompany the exhibition with an essay written by Professor Siona Wilson, substitute assistant professor of art history at the College of Staten Island. Sunil Gupta will present a discussion of his photographs in The Gallery on Thursday, April 6th.
Both the opening reception and artist discussion are free and open to the public. The CSI Gallery is located in the Center for the Arts at 2800 Victory Boulevard in the Willowbrook section of Staten Island. General hours are Monday through Thursday, Noon to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, Noon to 3:00 p.m. For more information, call 718-982-2553.
The event is co-sponsored by the Women’s Center, The Conversations on Diversity Series, Office of Academic Affairs, the Dean for Humanities and Social Science, the Center for International Service, and the College of Staten Island Student Government.
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