Amazing art display at Anupam Poddar’s home

The sprawling multi-family compound located in Gurgaon that Anupam Poddar shares with Lekha and Ranjan Poddar, his parents, living in the downstairs wing; and his brother, living across the undulating lawn, marks a confluence of art.

The walls of his study are plastered with Pakistani artist Rashid Rana’s red plates, depicting rotting meat. The collector quips they seem like landscapes or nudes. Another painting there is by Vivan Sundaram; it’s his ode to late Bhupen Khakhar—is much nicer.

Also hangs in the vicinity a painting of Tyeb Mehta. It’s perhaps the lone sedate, if beautiful, piece in his home. Opposite it, a low-slung metal sculpture by Sakshi Gupta tends to rise up & down, giving a feel as if the earth was breathing. It occupies almost half of the bedroom floor space.

Right in the centre of his dressing room lies an elongated, mechanical penis, which swivels back and forth - a whimsical work by artist Sudarshan Shetty, whose moving tables and hammers have nearly taken over the living room. Anita Dube’s sculpture of human bones by spreads across his dining table.

Analyzing Anupam Poddar’s love for art, The Mint writer Shoba Narayan mentioned in her column some months ago: “He collects edgy, risky and offbeat works by artists whom the world of art will hear a lot about. Poddar, industrialist G.P. Birla’s maternal grandson, makes it a point to change the art display in his spacious home once every year, or two at least.”

And what the writer got to see was merely a portion of his vast collection of contemporary art. In fact, much of it either is in storage or constantly travelling with some exhibition. According to her, Delhi collectors will tell us the fact that Anupam Poddar is a market maker. He will buy artworks he loves, but will also ensure the artists in his collection are rising stars. Many of the young artists and designers Poddar and his mother have discovered over the years are now marquee names in their fields.