Shilpa Gupta Untitled, 2014 Mixed media 16 x 40 inches Gupta recounts the story of a world that is constantly in search of identity and in constant transformation. The artist gathered stories of people who, for various reasons, be it fear of political persecution, social prejudice, personal aspiration or embarrassment, decided, at a certain point in their lives, to change their surname. Initially, the search was limited to her circle of relatives and friends, but over time it was also extended to areas not known to the artist, until more than one hundred stories of changed surnames emerged. Formalised as a kind of archive, these fragments of stories cover a trajectory running from the personal to the collective sphere. “When you fill in a form, the first thing that you are asked for is your surname” explains Gupta.
