Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Sunil Gupta

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.gupta17
Creators:
Gupta, Sunil, 1953-
Kerr, Theodore
Dates:
2017 May 31 and April 1
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
5 Items
sound files (6 hrs., 38 min.) Audio
digital, wav
240 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview with Sunil Gupta conducted 2017 March 31 and April 1, by Theodore Kerr, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at the Visual AIDS office and the Archives of American Art office in New York, New York.
Scope and Contents
Gupta speaks of his childhood in Dehli, India; early same-sex sexual experiences; moving to Canada at age 15; adjusting to North American same-sex practices; discovering gay liberation ideology at Dawson College; working at a bathhouse and in the Canadian Army Reserves; his first photographic work for a gay newsletter in college; his first serious romantic relationships; dropping out of Columbia University's MBA program to take photography courses at the New School; moving to London and taking a master's in photography at the Royal College of Art; photography sessions with gay men in London and India; early political and artistic responses to HIV/AIDS in London; the stigma of HIV/AIDS in India; the genesis and significance of images from his book Queer; his development of race-consciousness and local political activity in London in the mid-1980s; being diagnosed with HIV; navigating London's gay and HIV-positive landscapes in the 1990s; living and working in India in the mid-2000s; HIV/AIDS care and activism in India; becoming a spokesperson for HIV/AIDS in the Indian media; India's cultures of same-sex desire and queerness; photographing for his exhibitions Sun City and Love Undetectable; marrying his current partner, Jaran Singh, in 2011; and Singh's and his own current academic research. Gupta also recalls Lisette Model, Philippe Halsman, George Tice, Bill Brandt, Jean Fraser, Kaucyila Brooke, John di Stefano, Jan Zita Grover, Hinda Schuman, Doug Ischar, Simon Watney, Cindy Patton, Sean Strub, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Sunil Gupta (1953- ) is a photographer, educator, and curator based in London, England and New Delhi, India. Theodore Kerr (1979- ) is a writer and organizer in New York, New York.

Administration

Sponsor
Funded by the Keith Haring Foundation.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript is available on the Archive of American Art's website.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

System Details
Recorded on Tascam DR-100MKII R000327.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
AIDS (Disease) and the arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art museum curators -- England -- London -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art museum curators -- India -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- England -- London -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- India -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographers -- England -- London -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographers -- India -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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