Mumbai: The double murder of artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer has shocked the artists’ fraternity. Commenting on the murder, Mr V.S. Upadhyay, Hema’s father-in-law, told the media: “I’m not in a position to doubt anyone, police investigation will reveal facts.”
Contemporary painter Raj More, a friend of Hema, recalled her as a cheerful and passionate human being and a prominent painter. “We can’t accept the brutally, her death has shaken us.” He said the artists had rushed to police station the moment they heard of the murder.
Another friend of the artist who did not wish to be named said, “I know them since they were in love and decided to marry, It was art bound them. Whatever happened in her life, she remained strong and her art always spoke loud instead of words.”
Hema was seen one of the rising stars of her generation of artists. Born Hema Hirani in Baroda in 1972, Upadhyay studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Sayajirao University. There she met and married her husband Chintan in 1992 and migrated to Mumbai in 1998.
Hema and her husband Chintan, also known as the poster couple of art world came into limelight when Hema filed a case against Chintan under the Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. In her complaint, she had stated that Chintan had made obscene paintings on the walls of her room in their marital home located in Juhu in Mumbai.
She claimed that her estranged husband was doing so to humiliate her. After this in 2010 they got separated Thereafter, Chintan moved to Delhi and Hema stayed in Mumbai. Hema had her first solo exhibition, titled Sweet Sweat Memories, at Gallery Chemould in 2001. In the same year, Hema also held her first international solo at Sydney.
The artist repeatedly used patterned surfaces, which quote from Indian spiritual iconography and traditional textile design.
