Couch Potato

For Anupam Sud, the human body has been a site of vulnerability as well as of protest against established social conventions. In this case, she provides a delightful reversal of roles by depicting a male nude languidly lazing on a sofa, a smirk on his face. Fruits placed before him allude to similar placements in compositions with female nudes to allude to sexuality and fertility. The title, however, appears to indicate the privileged position men hold in society. The eloquence with which human anatomy has been utilised by the artist to give expression to the work’s core idea bears Sud’s stamp of perfection—every muscle, bone, and sinew, is in a state of lassitude, apparent through the character’s indolent expression.