Exhibition: Women of Urban India – By Olympe Ramakrishna
📅 Exhibition on view: March 8 – 18, 2025
📍 Venue: Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Française de Delhi
🕚 Timings: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
About the Exhibition
In Women of Urban India, Franco-Indian artist Olympe Ramakrishna presents a striking and vibrant series of portraits that explore the complexity of modern Indian women. While India stands as a global economic powerhouse, its deep-rooted traditions continue to shape its society. The artist captures this duality—modernity and heritage—through her unique artistic style, rich in color and contrast.
This collection features 12 portraits—11 women from Olympe’s close circle in Bangalore, alongside a self-portrait. These women, educated and active in contemporary society, represent a generation that seamlessly blends modern aspirations with traditional values.
Drawing inspiration from classical European portraiture, Olympe portrays her subjects with meaningful accessories—extravagant jewelry, delicate ear clips, a singing bird, or a simple bindi—allowing each woman to tell her own story. Their direct gazes exude confidence and challenge viewers to reflect on their perceptions of identity, femininity, and empowerment.
The bold, flat colors and intense contrasts bring an almost surreal quality to the artwork, transforming these portraits into symbols rather than mere representations. To further accentuate the fluidity and dynamism of Indian femininity, Olympe has digitally printed her original oil paintings onto large silks, reminiscent of saris. Suspended on wires, these floating canvases move gently, echoing the vibrancy of Indian streets where saris billow on terraces, waiting for their next adornment.
About the Artist
Olympe Ramakrishna is a Franco-Indian visual artist currently residing in Bangalore, India. Her artistic journey began in a small village in Normandy, northern France, where she was born into a family of artists, deeply immersed in a creative environment.
In Paris, she studied drawing and painting, honing her skills through live model sessions over seven years at the Beaux-Arts, the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, and the Atelier Artmedium. Her exploration of art also took her to London, where she studied life drawing at the Battersea Art Center.
As a female artist, Olympe is dedicated to representing women from a feminine perspective. She actively explores the complexity of feminine identity, aiming to provoke thought and inspire a deeper understanding of the diverse experiences that shape it. Through her art, she strives to alleviate societal pressures faced by women and advocates for a more nuanced and liberated representation of femininity.