'Nidarsh' Art Exhibition Transports Visitors to a Mythological Realm

On the auspicious occasion of the ‘Great Night of Shiva’ (Maha Shivaratri), self-taught artist Darshan Thakur brings alive the vividness of mythology through his first solo exhibition ‘Nidarsh’.

Self-taught artist Darshan Thakur invented the title for his first solo exhibition by combining the first name of his wife Nidhi with his first name. This yielded the word ‘Nidarsh‘, which means ‘Example’. I felt the title to be apt, after strolling through the Ravishankar Raval Art Gallery with Darshan, who explained to me how he painted ‘nidarsh’ of Hindu mythological deities.

As a marketing head in the telecom industry since the past 14 years, this is the closet artist’s first solo exhibition. The show is a childhood dream come true for Darshan, who has come up with these paintings within just three months. What drove him to take such a big step and exhibit his work so unexpectedly early? “I couldn’t wait to achieve perfection. In life, I follow iconic artist Salvador Dali’s quote, ‘Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it’,” he mused, as he joyfully shared what his journey so far has been, “Art is like a window of freedom for me, not just an activity.”

The canvases aren’t radically large but contain vivid colour combinations and geometry, using mixed medium of acrylic, oil, and watercolours. The 40 artworks are extensively based on mythology, of figures like the Samadhi, Trimurti, Shiva, Shiva-Parvati, Maha Kali and Ganesha. The paintings look to me like the work of a painter who has been practising art since eons. An internal growth in Darshan’s sense of aesthetics is visible in the maturity of his strokes.

Visual art connoisseurs of the city can visit Darshan’s show at the Ravishankar Raval Art Gallery till February 15, between 3:00 pm to 07:00 pm.