Chintan Upadhyay

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Chintan Upadhyay
चिंतन उपाध्याय
Born (1972-08-18) 18 August 1972 (age 53)
Partapur, Rajasthan, India
Education Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (BFA, MFA)
OccupationVisual artist
Known forPainter, artist, sculptor
Spouse Hema Hirani (m. 1998–2014; divorce)

Chintan Upadhyay (born 1972) is a contemporary Indian visual artist known for hismultidisciplinary practice across painting, sculpture, installation, and socially engaged art.His work frequently explores identity politics, consumer culture, and reproductive technology. He is particularly recognised for his “Designer Baby” series-sculptural forms that reflect on commodification and gender dynamics—which have been widely exhibited and featured in Sotheby’s South Asian art auctions, including a 2007 sale in New York. [1] [2]

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In 2002, Upadhyay co-founded Sandarbh, a non-profit Contemporary Arts initiative based in Partapur ( a small Village), Rajasthan, designed to bring contemporary art practices intopublic and marginalized spaces. Sandarbh has been recognized in curatorial literature for its role in expanding the scope of site-specific and socially engaged art in India. [3]

In October 2023, a Mumbai sessions court convicted him for criminal conspiracy and abetment in the murder of his estranged wife, Hema Upadhyay. He was acquitted in the related death of her lawyer, Harish Bhambhani, after the court found no direct evidence linking him to that killing and concluded Bhambhani was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” [4] The Supreme Court of India later suspended his sentence and granted bail in September 2024, noting that the case was based solely on circumstantial evidence and there was no allegation of direct involvement in the act.

He began his art career as a painter, but later created sculptures and installations. [5] His best known sculpture project is perhaps the Pet Shop project, which is an ongoing production of a "model baby" for every season, Baby Fetish. [6] [7] [8]

He was awarded the Charles Wallace Foundation Award for Residency in Bristol, UK in 2012. [9] [10] [11]

Early life

Chintan was born on 18 August 1972, in Partapur in Rajasthan, India. [12] He received a BFA degree in 1995, and a MFA degree in 1997, both degrees in painting are from the Faculty of Fine Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Vadodara, in Gujarat, India. [5]

He met artist Hema Hirani in 1992, and the couple married in 1998. [6] They settled in Mumbai, and worked together in many art exhibitions. [6] In 2010, they started the process of divorce, which was finalized in 2014. [6]

In December 2015, Upadhyay was accused and arrested in connection with the double murder of his estranged wife Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani. [13] Their bodies were found in khakhi-coloured cardboard boxes floating in a nullah. He was twice denied bail. [14] In October 2023, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison by a Dindoshi court. [6] [15] [16] . The Supreme Court of India later suspended his sentence and granted bail in September 2024, noting that the case was based solely on circumstantial evidence and there was no allegation of direct involvement in the act.

Solo shows

Following is the list of his solo shows: [17] [18]

Group shows

Joint shows

Honours and awards

References

  1. ↑ "Sotheby's draws $3.2m from South Asian lots". The Economic Times. 26 September 2007. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  2. ↑ Biswas, Sushmita (3 August 2008). "A baby boom". The Telegraph Online. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  3. ↑ Khubchandani, Suruchi (1 March 2010). "Alternate Art Spaces/ Enlivened Entities within Formalized Zones". Take on Art. 1 (2).
  4. ↑ Modak, Sadaf (12 October 2023). "Chintan Upadhyay case | Court says no conspiracy to kill Hema's lawyer: 'Was killed because he accompanied her'". The Indian Express. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Artist Bio". Aicon Gallery. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Mishra, Kavya (10 October 2023). "Who is Chintan Upadhyay? From Artist to Murder Convict in Hema-Bhambhani 2015 Murder Case, All About Him". News18. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  7. ↑ Tripathi, Shailaja (7 September 2011). "The art of making babies". The Hindu . ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  8. ↑ Tripathi, Shailaja (8 February 2013). "Time for Chintan". The Hindu . ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  9. 1 2 "About the Charles Wallace Trusts". The Charles Wallace Trusts.
  10. 1 2 "Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarships". British Council India.
  11. ↑ "Chintan Upadhyay". Art Cinnamon.
  12. ↑ Artists Directory, 2006. Lalit Kala Akademi. 2006. p. 634. ISBN   978-81-87507-26-0.
  13. ↑ "Double Murder Arrest". Times of India. 22 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "Artist Chintan Upadhyan Files Bail Plea for the Third Time". Mumbai Mirror. 5 January 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "'Brutal, but not rarest of rare': Judge gives Chintan Upadhyay life for artist-wife's murder". The Times of India . 11 October 2023. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  16. ↑ MS, Sahyaja (12 December 2023). "Double murder case: HC denies bail to artist Chintan Upadhyay". Hindustan Times .
  17. ↑ Nag, Ashoke (14 March 2008). "Proactive galleries help artists go places". The Economic Times. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  18. ↑ "The shocking artist". BusinessLine. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  19. ↑ "Artist Hema Upadhyay". Gallery Chemould. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
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