#MeToo: Artist Subodh Gupta accused of repeated sexual misconduct in Instagram post
The post revealed that the 54-year-old made unwelcomed advances on several occasions.
By ET Online | Updated:
BCCL
High-profile artist Subodh Gupta has been accused of repeated sexual misconduct on Thursday by a co-worker. Recalling the experiences of several women on social media, an art writer also came out to corroborate their #MeToo stories 'as a witness'.
The anonymous post on Instagram surfaced on a handle known as 'Scene and Herd'. Posts on this handle have been aggressively exposing inappropriate behaviour in the Indian art world. Rosalyn D'mello, who has been actively writing for art in the past decade, backed the allegations and expressed fear that the world of art would be 'dismissive' of the them.
She further added that she backed the post which is the latest in India's #MeToo movement against sexual harassment. She wrote 'as a witness' and also penned awareness of the fact that it “will come at a huge personal cost and may directly impact my livelihood as an art writer”.
One of the curator's of this year's Serendipity Arts Festival and among India's most successful contemporary artists, Gupta, received several messages and calls for a response. But all of these went unanswered.
Oragnisers of the annual art festival in Goa, too, refused to release a statement on the incident for now.
Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2017. The man behind seven novels, a short-story collection and screenplays, Ishiguro was born in bomb-hit Nagasaki in 1954, and moved to England at the age of 5.
The post, which is penned by a former co-worker of the artist, listed a series of such incidents with several women along with her own ordeal.
Despite warnings from several people about the artist urging women to be 'careful' around the artist, the writer said that she was 'surprised' to see that no one spoke up.
“I have personally received multiple inappropriate advances and unwanted touching from him, even after clearly saying no. I know I am not alone,” she wrote.
In one incident, she revealed that the artist repeatedly asked an assitant to pose nude for him despite continous refusals.
“He then said, ‘can you find one of your friends to do it? Only if they have a good body', followed by a ‘creepy' laugh,” the post said.
Gupta has been accused of “offering massages to young women working with him”.
The post also brought forward two incidents when, after confrontation over inappropriate behaviour, Gupta dismissed the assistant and in the other one asked if saying he was drunk would make things okay.
“After having advances rejected or being confronted for inappropriate behavior, he has dismissed an assistant as ‘too young and inexperienced' or naïve, and accused her of being unable to deliver on her professional duties...
“On a different occasion, when confronted by an assistant who witnessed his behavior, he responded, ‘she just looked so sexy. Ok, maybe, write one email saying sorry, I got too drunk, will that make it ok? I'm the artist, and she just works as an assistant, it should be ok no? What do you think?” the post read.
D'mello then came out to corroborate the allegations on Facebook and Instagram.
“My first fear was that the art world was going to be dismissive of it once again because by dissing the site (Scene and Herd) so much, many had seemed to find a convenient way to de-legitimise its testimonies,” she wrote.
D'mello, who has worked with a gallery representing Gupta named 'Nature Morte' wrote that she had been hearing about “almost all the instances mentioned in the herdandscene testimony” since September this year. However, she could not expose Gupta because the stories were not for her to tell.
“I want to state that the post pertaining to Subodh is not ‘made up' or isn't ‘revenge' or isn't ‘attention-seeking'. They are true. They happened. Unless you choose not to believe them. That's your prerogative,” she wrote.
Earlier, allegations had been levelled against artists like Jatin Das and Riyas Komu, the co-founder of Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Sotheby's India MD Gaurav Bhatia was also accused in the #MeToo movement.
Komu and Bhatia had stepped down from their positions following after their representative organisations initiated an inquiry into the charges.
The anonymous post on Instagram surfaced on a handle known as 'Scene and Herd'. Posts on this handle have been aggressively exposing inappropriate behaviour in the Indian art world. Rosalyn D'mello, who has been actively writing for art in the past decade, backed the allegations and expressed fear that the world of art would be 'dismissive' of the them.
She further added that she backed the post which is the latest in India's #MeToo movement against sexual harassment. She wrote 'as a witness' and also penned awareness of the fact that it “will come at a huge personal cost and may directly impact my livelihood as an art writer”.
One of the curator's of this year's Serendipity Arts Festival and among India's most successful contemporary artists, Gupta, received several messages and calls for a response. But all of these went unanswered.
Oragnisers of the annual art festival in Goa, too, refused to release a statement on the incident for now.
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The post on Instagram revealed that the 54-year-old made unwelcomed advances on several occasions. These included incidents like 'grabbed the hand, touched the stomach, breasts, shoulders, pulled at bra straps, rubbed the thighs' towards several co-workers. The post, which is penned by a former co-worker of the artist, listed a series of such incidents with several women along with her own ordeal.
Despite warnings from several people about the artist urging women to be 'careful' around the artist, the writer said that she was 'surprised' to see that no one spoke up.
“I have personally received multiple inappropriate advances and unwanted touching from him, even after clearly saying no. I know I am not alone,” she wrote.
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In one incident, she revealed that the artist repeatedly asked an assitant to pose nude for him despite continous refusals.
“He then said, ‘can you find one of your friends to do it? Only if they have a good body', followed by a ‘creepy' laugh,” the post said.
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Gupta has been accused of “offering massages to young women working with him”.
The post also brought forward two incidents when, after confrontation over inappropriate behaviour, Gupta dismissed the assistant and in the other one asked if saying he was drunk would make things okay.
“After having advances rejected or being confronted for inappropriate behavior, he has dismissed an assistant as ‘too young and inexperienced' or naïve, and accused her of being unable to deliver on her professional duties...
“On a different occasion, when confronted by an assistant who witnessed his behavior, he responded, ‘she just looked so sexy. Ok, maybe, write one email saying sorry, I got too drunk, will that make it ok? I'm the artist, and she just works as an assistant, it should be ok no? What do you think?” the post read.
D'mello then came out to corroborate the allegations on Facebook and Instagram.
“My first fear was that the art world was going to be dismissive of it once again because by dissing the site (Scene and Herd) so much, many had seemed to find a convenient way to de-legitimise its testimonies,” she wrote.
D'mello, who has worked with a gallery representing Gupta named 'Nature Morte' wrote that she had been hearing about “almost all the instances mentioned in the herdandscene testimony” since September this year. However, she could not expose Gupta because the stories were not for her to tell.
“I want to state that the post pertaining to Subodh is not ‘made up' or isn't ‘revenge' or isn't ‘attention-seeking'. They are true. They happened. Unless you choose not to believe them. That's your prerogative,” she wrote.
Earlier, allegations had been levelled against artists like Jatin Das and Riyas Komu, the co-founder of Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Sotheby's India MD Gaurav Bhatia was also accused in the #MeToo movement.
Komu and Bhatia had stepped down from their positions following after their representative organisations initiated an inquiry into the charges.
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