Dr Mangalagiri Chandramouli is showcasing his second exhibition at Pegasus Art Gallery, which conveys his unending support for the feminist struggle and his love of all things in nature. Most of his paintings are of people in profile and are mostly done using acrylic paints.Dr Chandramouli, who comes from Atmakur in the district of Nellore, is a retired civil surgeon with a specialisation in ophthalmology. He has been witness to the sufferings of the rural women and wished to portray that through this valuable medium, “Ever since my childhood, I always had an interest in art and also inclinations to highlight the problems such as this kind of inequality. You see, in Ramayana , Sita was put to a test by Rama and, in the Mahabharata , Draupadi was disrobed by Duryodhana. Women face a number of hurdles in day-to-day life and they form part of my themes.”
This was especially clear during his seven years serving in Araku Valley in Visakhapatnam, where he saw the need for a discourse in a not-so-progressive society. “Even the most skilled doctors are not able to spend more than a year there; but I was there for seven! There, I also saw the beauty of nature, and that’s why you can see so many landscape paintings in this collection. I first started as a landscape artist.” Alongside the powerful feminist-themed paintings, expect rich autumnal toned landscape pieces.
A troubled eye
Certain pieces in Dr Chandramouli’s collection cannot help but evoke pangs of pain in the beholder. A piece titled Nirbhaya, based on the Delhi Rape Case, shows five headless men surrounding a helpless and angelic woman. The thought-provoking piece is even more topical now, given the rapists were recently sentenced to death. He shares, “I actually did this painting when the assault had just taken place. But seeing these culprits with no heads makes it more real.”
Another particularly captivating piece is Mother is Supreme God which highlights a single woman, simply dressed, sitting in a godly position as she holds a child. She is worshipped by various Hindu gods and Sai Baba and by Jesus Christ too. Clear indication of the exalted position of the mother figure Dr Chandramouli’s almost divine appreciation for her.Other pieces also display various sinful behaviours, such as greed. Brutal Men shows a sorrowful nude woman breastfeeding a child and a man’s hand violently grasping her other breast, as if to question how we, as society, treat women; is their purpose solely to bear children and please men?
Dr Chandramouli successfully peels back the layers of shameful treatment meted unto women for centuries and invites guests to the show to do the same and create a cohesive and constructive conversation. “When I saw the paintings go up in Pegasus, I felt very proud. I owe many thanks to everyone has helped me make this real, especially Chandana Khan madam, who inaugurated the event, and has long encouraged the exhibition. Volga Madam is also someone I am grateful for; she attended as a special guest. She told me to show the greatness of the woman, not the atrocity. Women do a lot we don’t appreciate: in terms of family life, politics, making a name for themselves in everyday society. And that’s how I’m moving forward and that should be on show next year!”
The exhibition of Dr Mangalagiri Chandramouli is on till 30 May from 4pm till 8pm, at Pegasus Art Gallery, Prashasan Nagar.
