Who Is Subodh Gupta? The Man Behind Ananya Birla’s Viral Met Gala Mask | Met Gala

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]The Met Gala always delivers surprises, and this year one of the most talked about debuts belonged to none other than entrepreneur and artist Ananya Birla.

[00:00:10]>> Let's go.

[00:00:14]Styled by Rhea Kapoor, Ananya Birla arrived in a dramatic costume couture look by Robert Wun. A sharply tailored black blazer with a sculpted silhouette paired with a voluminous gunmetal organza skirt and sheer mesh gloves. The look balanced old-school couture drama with a modern industrial edge, instantly making her one of the most discussed names on fashion's biggest night. But the real showstopper was the stainless steel mask created by acclaimed contemporary Indian artist Subodh Gupta.

[00:00:45]Crafted using stainless steel spoons, dubbars, and everyday kitchen utensils found in countless Indian homes, the sculptural face piece transformed familiar objects into wearable art. So, who is Subodh Gupta? The man behind Ananya Birla's viral Met Gala mask and the artist who turned desi bartans into one of fashion's biggest talking points.

[00:01:07]For you, the bartan, Subodh, it really remains an essential part of your expression.

[00:01:14]And I don't know how many of you know, but Subodh, because his roots are so important to him, he's actually taken his art back home to the Bihar Museum, uh and has never tried to, as he rises up the sort of social elite ladder, disown those roots. So, can we talk a little bit about the bartan? Sure. When you are artist, you always look for the language. Yeah. A language become a very important. I trained as a painter, I I honestly I paint. Painting is the most important for me, and one of the toughest medium to to paint.

[00:01:49]But you know, time passes, you [music] making art. 15 years after passing art the school, I did only painting, nothing else. Mhm. No sculpture. Yeah.

[00:02:02]>> So, once I got all the UNESCO scholarship in Delhi, and UNESCO scholarship was a three Indian artists and three European artists. We worked together in one place in Sanskriti Kendra in OPJ place in Delhi.

[00:02:19]During that time, I thought that I'm going to experiment and do something.

[00:02:23]So, my first sculpture installation, I thought I just went back. Any anything you write or anything you think for me is an art. I always go back my home.

[00:02:35]Back >> [music] >> to my where I'm coming from.

[00:02:37]>> Back to your roots.

[00:02:38]>> Back to my roots.

[00:02:39]So, I was remembering what is the most important thing I grew up with.

[00:02:44]And I remember we sitting in the patla and eating a lunch, breakfast, and dinner. A whole family sitting on it. Later, they have a table and chair, but mostly we grew up with the sitting in the patla.

[00:02:57]So, we collected those. I think I collected 20 uh 30 40 of them. Mhm. And I start doing painting and putting objects and playing with it.

[00:03:08]>> And I did every patla I choose to one dream [music] of mine.

[00:03:14]What is very important and I try to put that.

[00:03:19]So, I will put [music] some herbs like a haldi in it. Then I will put some kind of food I remember memory I will paint on it. Then I did the bulb was hanging in my home. And I remember from childhood that bulb.

[00:03:39]>> Mhm. So, even put that bulb in it. So, that's how I made like 29 patla and it's called 29 mornings. I given the title of the That was my first installation.