Ways of Seeing

Indian Express

25-04-2025

What if Vincent Van Gogh did not have a Dutch grandfather who was an art dealer, and instead, the painter of Starry Nights was a professor of political science at the University of Delhi?
No one will ever really know. But at the Lokayata Art Gallery in Hauz Khas Village, Simple Mohanty's solo art show promises to testify to the lingering influence of expressionist depictions of the power of nature, centuries on.
A line in Lust for Life by Irving Stone, a biographical novel about Van Gogh, is what Mohanty cites as a formative influence for her to pursue art despite a full-time career as a college professor. 'How difficult it is to be simple,' it reads.
The pinks, purples and blues of Mohanty's flowers and figures often meet strokes in sunset skies that are not meant to capture their beauty in minute detail, but instead evoke the whimsy of their very presence. She says that for her, 'beauty and passion for life' triumph over technique.
A painting by Dr. Simple Mohanty.
Mohanty's art has been featured in several shows in Delhi and Jaipur, including the India Art Festival and the International Lalit Kala Mela. At Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, where she works as an Assistant Professor, her focus is on political theory and political philosophy.
'John Stuart Mill, a Western political philosopher, recovered from the strict regimen of his father when he started to read Romantic poetry. I see myself in him. Art opens up so many shades,' says Mohanty.
In her paintings that will be on display, one of them is Lady with Cat, where she plays with minutely detailed whiskers and eyes on the feline animal, contrasted against a faceless woman. Another, Spring in my Garden I, sees different sets of flowers separated by nondescript dividers — but a parrot is perched on one of them. Mohanty emphasises that the common theme in her art and what she teaches is anti-anthropocentrism, a philosophy that argues that humans are not the centre of the world. 'I sincerely believe that our disconnect from nature has bred a host of dysfunctions… the entire enlightenment's focus on man as being the centre of the universe has led us away from the real deal in life.. finding meaning, connection and love,' she says.
From winning awards, getting her work to reach online New York-based exhibitions thanks to innovations during the pandemic, to returning to the 'glory' of the offline realm, this artist has always maintained: 'Things are not as they seem.'
The exhibition is on till April 27.