For all the art aficionados out there, the Kathmandu Art gallery has brought to you a mega-art exhibition of the year at Le Sherpa, Maharajgunj entitled “Love Revisited”. The exhibition was inau­gurated by the EU ambassador to Nepal Ms. Veronica Cody on March 13, and will continue until April 13. The event showcases about 35 different art projects crafted by eminent artist and former Chancel­lor of Nepal Academy of Fine Arts, Ragini Upadhyaya Grela. Through the exhibition, Upadhyaya wants to convey a message about various fac­ets of love to art enthusiasts and the general public alike. Upadhyaya has been inspired by the various hues of love such as ‘warm red, romantic pink, green of mother earth and peaceful white’.

 

This is Upadhyaya’s 61st solo art exhibition. It allows visitors to see how love has evolved over the years and the significance of the human heart in making love a success. The artist has used various techniques such as mixed media style, and met­al/aluminum printing to craft her artworks, which are dedicated ‘to all the mothers and daughters’ of the world who have experienced love and pain in all forms. The exhibi­tion is about the continuation of her journey as a woman artist, the cel­ebration of the International Wom­en's Month as well as the power of mother earth.

 

“Generations of women have often been shackled by male dom­inance and a patriarchal society, wherein women’s roles are given little importance. It’s high time we realized the variety of ways women have showered love upon men, with unending loyalty and trust,” says Upadhyaya. “In love there is always pain. Love and pain share a unique, ubiquitous and great relationship.”

 

Upadhyaya says women and wom­anhood have always been an inspi­ration for her. Her artworks in this exhibition are about the purity of love and love in the age of social media. She has also made a compar­ison between the various roles wom­en play as someone’s girlfriend, wife, mother, daughter, grandmother and so on. Upadhyaya’s art especially highlights the power of love, vari­ous aspects of love, womanhood, patience and sacrifice women make for their family.

 

The artworks showcased in the exhibition have been given various titles, such as welcome time, time wheel, sound of love, heart (series), flying time with love, in one, love triangle, love in the air (series), kumara, love and pain (series), the kiss, shadow of love, love time (series), around the stupa, cross culture, etc.

 

The price of the artworks range from Rs 25,000 to Rs 800,000. And 10 percent of the proceeds from the sales will go to the projects run by Shivata Love Foundation Nepal, an NGO.

 

“Love provides a special linkage between our hearts and minds, transcending the physical limita­tions of our bodies. My life start­ed as a blank canvas from the moment I was brought into this beautiful world by my loving par­ents. They put their colors and shaped me into who I am today. Lat­er, my society, country and teachers molded me in even better ways. My creations are an open diary of my life, which I want to share with everyone,” says Upadhyaya.