Devi is in the Detail, an exhibition by Smruthi Gargi Eswar brings forward untold stories of Indian goddesses

The digital art exhibition explores  the idea of a goddess within every woman.
Lakshmi and Saraswati
Lakshmi and Saraswati
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Shrishti Art Gallery turned 20 in style with the launch of a month-long solo art exhibition, Devi is in the Detail, by Smruthi Gargi Eswar. Smruthi is an artist and storyteller who has studied at the Baroda Faculty of Fine Arts and Chitrakala Parishath,  Bengaluru. The digital art exhibition explores  the idea of a goddess within every woman. Talking about the exhibition, Lakshmi Nambiar, founder, says, “My mother had started this gallery 20 years ago, after she passed away I took over the reins. Also, our anniversary happens to be in the month of March, celebrating International Women’s Day. So, I thought this exhibition about the unseen side of our beloved goddesses is an apt one to mark the occasion. In fact, this time we didn’t have any chief guests for the inauguration as I believe all the women who attended the show were our chief guests.”
Parvati
Parvati
Rajeshwari
Rajeshwari


Fortune vs misfortune
One of the artworks which had us intrigued was from the Sister Misfortune series, Lakshmi and Alakshmi. “Alakshmi is the dark side of the ever-welcome Lakshmi, Goddess of Fortune, who really needs no introduction. Alakshmi is the goddess of misfortune who is minimally mentioned in our mythology as it’s human nature to shy away from the unpleasant. But how dark is dark? Is it as disturbing as we have been led to believe or is it merely the rest of the story? And thus, begins an exploration both disturbing and ultimately triumphantly life-affirming. An exploration not just of duality but of multiplicity. This is the complex universe of women appearing in various and beguiling avatars and goddesses of Hindu mythology,” explains Smruthi. The painting of goddess Parvati was another work that spoke a thousand words. Parvati covering her face with a lotus is the story behind the Lingam and the Yoni — a lipped disk-shaped form — the Yoni (the emblem of the Devi) with the phallic Lingam on the canvas (the presence of the god Shiva). Furthermore it showcases how their union symbolises fertility and it was a curse by the Rishis which associated god Shiva and goddess Parvati with reproduction. The story of the virgin mother, Rajeshwari, is told over and over again in mythology where it is mentioned how several devas and asuras died or suffered when they tried to capture her. Goddess Rajeshwari’s story has been effectively captured in the painting as the goddess of creation. The exhibition is filled with such rare stories of the goddess mentioned in our mythology like Tara, Ganga, Aparna, Sita, Durga, Prakriti, Gauri, Gramadevi, Saraswati, Kamakshi, Ardhanarashwari and Radha.

Smruthi Gargi Eswar
Smruthi Gargi Eswar

“Even in this time and date it is important to highlight how culturally rich we were, where women had power and it was not imperative to adhere to certain stereotypes like now. It is my way of telling everyone that we come from the land of great goddesses and we should break the stereotypes,”
concludes Smruthi.

Ongoing till April 12 at Shrishti Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills, (11 am to 7 pm).
— reshmichakravorthy@newindianexpress.com 
Twitter: @reshmi190488

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