Archana Srivastava launches her art exhibition in the presence of actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha

It was a pride moment for eminent artist Dr. Archana Srivastava when a bit of Bollywood turned up for this arty evening at the Lalit Kala Academy on 4th October 2015. Mumbai-based artist Archana Srivastava exhibited some of her creations called Divinity for patrons in the capital.
The art exhibition was launched in the presence of Actor and Politician Shatrughan Sinha. Bollywood celebrities like Sunil Shetty, Huma Qureshi, Armaan Kohli, Jackky Bhagnani graced the occasion along with former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja and ace playback singer Suresh Wadekar.


Lord Krishna’s numerous leelas; or divine acts and Radha’s intense love for Him have been celebrated extensively in both literature and miniature painting in ‘Divinity’. In addition to conventions, Archana has added her own visual vocabulary particularly to paint the transcendental aspect of the lord, Vaishnava philosophy being her lodestar. She has commenced her series with an invocation to the Dashavataras – the ten avatars of Vishnu, arrayed in a circle, Krishna on the top affirming his supreme status.

Shading light on this exhibition artist Archana Srivastava said, “I am an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. Mere mention of this word conjures up myriad images of His numerous mesmerizing ‘leelas’ in my devout mind. The artist in me has always been yearning to portray this vivid mental imagery on canvas and present the same before the viewers. ‘Divinity’ is my latest collection of paintings based on my musings on Lord Krishna. An eternal guide to the faithful, He is the sole inspiration behind this exhibition.”


Dr. Archana Srivastava is a contemporary artist with a background of Indian history and culture, who, in last two decades, has experimented with different genres like figures, abstracts, landscapes and portraits. While oil on canvas remains her favourite medium, she has adopted various themes for her solo exhibitions in the past. In her solo exhibition titled “MONTAGE” in November 1999 at “Nehru Centre Art Gallery”, Mumbai, her seven-part narrative series on Budhha was devoted to Gautam Buddha, his life and his philosophy. This won her “Nirdhar Woman 2002” award presented by Dragon Palace Temple Trust, Kamptee in collaboration with Mother Noriko Ogawa Society, Japan. With her exhibition titled “REFLEXIONS” in “Jehangir Art Gallery”, Mumbai in October 2001, she paid tribute to various Indian classical poets and also portrayed urdu verses by famous Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib.


The exhibition will be on till October 18.