Known for his socially-engaged paintings, sculptures and installation work, Probir Gupta builds up a complex image-base of resistance. Drawing his references from history, world economy, cinema, media and mythology, Probir’s activist endeavour comments on the urgencies of the present. Probir received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata [1981] and went on to study at École National Supérieure de Beaux-arts, Paris [1982]. He continued to live and work in Paris until 1987 before coming back to India. His first solo exhibition in France was held at Caen, Normandie [1984], followed by a significant exhibition at Palais Des Beaux-arts, Brussels [1986].
Some of his selected solo exhibitions include Family is Plural, curated by Shaheen Merali, Anant Art at Bikaner House, New Delhi [2019]; Desert Scrap, Nature Morte, Berlin [2010]; Probir Gupta, Alexia Goethe Gallery, London [2008]; At Half Mast, Bose Pacia, Kolkata [2007]; To Whomsoever it May Concern, Bodhi Art, New York [2007]; Found Objects, Anant Art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata [2007]; The Nymph and the Adult, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane [2007]. He has participated in seminal national and international group exhibitions all over the world including India Art Fair, New Delhi [2019, 2020], Kochi Muziris Biennale [2018-19], Busan Biennale, South Korea [2016], The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today, The Saatchi Gallery [2010], 4th St.Petersburg International Biennale of Contemporary Art, Russia [1999], Homage to ARTAUD by 20 Contemporary artists, Eicher Gallery, New Delhi [1997], VIth Indian Triennale, Bharat Bhavan [1995], Liberty of Maison des Cultures du Monde et Musée des Invalids, Paris [1990], Collective Exhibition in Brussels [1986] and Théâtre Renaud Barrault, Paris. Other exhibitions include Fragile Hands, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, When Violence Becomes Decadent, Freies Museum, Berlin [2014] and The Indian Parallax, Birla Academy Kolkata [2012] were curated by Shaheen Merali.
The artist lives and works in New Delhi.