The first of a set of four triptychs, titled 'In this vessel lies the seven seas; in it too, the nine hundred thousand stars' - drawn from Kabir's verses - in which Gupta seeks out the cosmos in frying pans

If you are used to Subodh Gupta’s maximalism – his populous steel pots and pans, his aesthetic of metallic excess – then his upcoming show in the city could come as a surprise. Opening tomorrow at Mahalaxmi’s go-to film production space, Famous Studios, Anahad/Unstruck, presented by New Delhi's Nature Morte gallery, is a blend of two Guptas – the one that continues to be rooted in the nation’s socio-economic upheavals and the other that now wants to wilfully free fall in deep space.

"Can you find the cosmos in a frying pan?" asks Subodh Gupta, when we meet him at Famous Studios. It sounds atrocious – that a grimy tava with oil residue clinging to its base could evoke a question like this. "But, why not?" challenges the 52-year-old artist, quoting from the 15th century mystic, Kabir. "Kabir talks about the body as a vessel and how the entire universe resides in the vessel. It also draws the connection between food and the cosmos [anna he purna bhrama]," he explains.

 
Subodh Gupta with his sculpture which uses compressed found objects and scrap cloth. Titled 'Aakaash, Paataal, Dharti (Space, Depth, Surface)', the 3.5 tonnes cube will see performers interacting with it during the opening and on select days through the show. Pics/Satej Shinde