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Come Out
A Special Project by Sunil Gupta'Come Out' is a special project by Indian–Canadian, London-based photographer Sunil Gupta titled Come Out – featuring a never-before-exhibited series of black-and-white photographs shot in London from 1985 to 1995.
Using photography, Gupta theatrically engages with the mores of the public sphere as well as the imaginations of the private and intimate, upholding a narrative focus on marginalized groups who navigate such intersplices through play and performance. These interventions often bear autobiographical weight thus nurturing Gupta’s viewpoints with an exceptional sensitivity into mainstream cultural consciousness to re-center subjects such as racism, alternative sexuality, migration, queer issues and marginalia.
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On view as part of a special project by Sunil Gupta, Come Out features a series of never-before-produced photographs shot in London from 1985 to 1995, when the Pride movement as a cultural phenomenon was yet to take ideological and performative shape in cultural imaginations around the world, especially in England. These photographs divulge the oppressive systemic apparatuses within which intersectional sub-cultures were overpowered and rendered invisible in the throes of mainstream society in London in the eighties and nineties. During this time, the British government enforced unequivocally homophobic legislatures, including Clause 28, which made it illegal for town halls to fund any cultural activity that may be promoting homosexuality as a “pretended family relationship”. Moreover, under such a repressive regime, almost 60,000 people were arrested under persecution for “cruising” or engaging in same-sex intercourse, charged as solicitation or prostitution. In response to these denigrations of freedom, the queer community frequently erupted in waves of peaceful demonstrations, often joining other causes and movements that were gaining stead in opposition to Margaret Thatcher’s reigning ministry. Gupta once again approaches the public field as a site where diverse individuals come together to posit their self-actualized identities, therein celebrating an expansion in the visibility of gay life in London. In many ways Come Out reveals the origin story of Pride movements: before there was Pride, there was first protest.
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About the artist
Born in 1953 in New Delhi, Indian–British–Canadian photographer Sunil Gupta has a master’s of arts from the Royal College of Art, London, and a PhD from the University of Westminster, London. Gupta has been involved with independent photography as a critical practice for over five decades, focusing on race, migration and queer issues.
He is a professorial fellow at UCA, Farnham, visiting lecturer at Kingston University and visiting tutor at the Royal College of Art, London. He was lead curator for the Houston Fotofest in 2018.
The artist lives and works in London, UK.
Come Out: A Special Project by Sunil Gupta
Past viewing_room
