Overview

At 47-A, Chopra’s durational performance derives from his constant coming to terms with the expected publicness of his private studio life. On January 10th, 2024, set against a glass window, and in full view to passers-by, he draws wearing an ambiguous, metallic costume. His garment alluding to the lead, aluminium, chromium, and cadmium found in the lipsticks with which he is drawing. As he rubs the cosmetic product against the glass a synthetic smell, almost intoxicating, fills the space. A long-term exposure and frequent use can lead to the accumulation of these toxic heavy metals in our bodies. A soundscape of natural and unnatural sounds fills the space – gushing winds carrying birds are interrupted by gunshots and planes passing – as an acute awareness of threat. With the layering of lipstick over lipstick and sound over sound, Chopra builds an uncomfortable, cyclical density. It envelopes us now.

Chopra’s performance is about this accumulation and that of toxic histories and ecological contamination. His landscapes, saturated, and in solarized hues of lipstick stand testament to these. As he slowly presses gateway papers used for architectural planning onto the lipstick drawings, the opacity sharpens the image. It is as though, exhausted, he is shutting us out again while leaving us with a vision. These papers over time also absorb and gather the image as an imprint, providing stillness and stability to the agility and unpredictability of performance.

~ Mario D’Souza

Costume designed by Loise Braganza
Documentation by Shivani Gupta

Nikhil Chopra | Line of Fire | Digital Catalogue

Slideshow of Performance Documentation Images from Blackening VI: Engine No. 3157 | 2017 | Science and Industry Museum, Manchester