Major works by European masters go pop and desi in artist Neha Kapil's series

It seems like a Botticelli but it isnrsquot In Neha Kapilrsquos remixed version of the hugely popular The Birth of Venus mdash painted in the 15th century by the Florentine Sandro Botticelli mdash the composition is remarkably similar except for an overhaul of the featured characters In Kapilrsquos painting instead of Venus sailing placidly we have a curvaceous woman wispily clad in a lal paar saree and decked with jewels and flowers Kapilrsquos heroine is a village belle rather than the sublime Roman goddess of love Please say hello to Satyavati mdash the woman who smelled like fish mdash from the MahabharataBirth of Satyavati by Neha Kapil which reimagines Botticellirsquos famous paintingTitled Birth of Satyavati this painting is part of Kapilrsquos ongoing series of desi remixes I was lucky enough to get to see the original The Birth of Venus a few years ago while studying in Italy Since then itrsquos been one of my favourite paintings not because itrsquos such a recognizable painting in popular culture but because it represents a lot of traditional beauty standards in the Western world says Kapil 22 Based in Minneapolis USA this visual artist adds If Caucasians could lsquoborrowrsquo aspects of our culture I thought it would be interesting to practise reverse cultural appropriation on recognisable Western paintings This is how I got the idea of Indianising The Birth of VenusHylas and the Nymphs 1896 by John William WaterhouseKapil started these desi remixes soon after she graduated from the University of Michigan where she studied art design and psychology Other completed works in this series include Urvashi and Visha Kanyas Urvashi pays homage to the eponymous apsara and King Pururavas lsquoUrvashi was returning from her task of breaking the rishi Vibhandakarsquos penance when she was abducted by a demon Pururavas chased the demon away freeing Urvashi The brief moment they touched changed their lives foreverrsquo writes Kapil on her website www nehakapilartcom For Urvashi Kapil took up Michelangelorsquos The Creation of Adam Here the lovestruck king holds on lightly to the tassel of Urvashirsquos girdleVisha Kanyas Kapilrsquos ldquodesi remixrdquo of Waterhousersquos paintingI chose works by celebrated European artists because Irsquove always appreciated classical art and realism Growing up I took art lessons from a woman trained in classical realism and an expert on the works of the old masters Being around her my love for the classics only grew says Kapil While The Creation of Adam and The Birth of Venus have been borrowed by popular culture repeatedly remember Lady Gagarsquos ArtPop album cover or the poster for Spielbergrsquos ET Kapil appropriates a relatively lesser known work by John Williams Waterhouse titled Hylas and the Nymphs in which a young lad is abducted by water nymphs Visha Kanyas as Kapil calls her painting shows a prince falling for the charms of young women who in fact are assassins trained to overthrow opponents with their powers of seduction Legend has it that these dangerous beauties had poison running in their veins rather than bloodI wanted the figures in my versions to correspond to examples of strong women who arenrsquot commonly celebrated in mythology Indian mythologyrsquos stories are about men fighting epic battles so I wanted to create something about herstory Moreover Western art traditionally has always celebrated sexuality and the human body however as Indians we tend to shy away from the topic of sexuality says Kapil adding that she loves Hindu mythology for its current relevance Western mythology is just stories Indians grow up hearing these stories mdash they are part of our festivals and still very much alive in our cultureKapil who has also visualised Bollywood pop culture first researches European art for pieces that show interactions between men and women Next she researches Indian story books to find examples of clothing lifestyle jewellery and other accessories mdash all of which come together in desi remixes which use acrylic and oil paint While Kapilrsquos men and women may not have the same detailing as Botticellirsquos they have the flavour of Raja Ravi Vermarsquos vivid pop lithographsThe desi remix series Kapilrsquos way of engaging with her Indian roots is currently available only online While the artist has not decided whether she will exhibit these works or not she tells us that a future work in this series might be inspired by Gustav Klimt Perhaps The Kiss with Draupadi smooching her five husbands