CHENNAI AEleven young artists from the Baroda School are showcasing their takes on themes as diverse as globalisation, terrorism and feminism in an art exhibition aptly titled "Con-figure". Figures, both human and non-human, act as metaphors to convey the artists' impressions on a wide range of contemporary issues concerning society.

Lokesh Khodke, for example, juxtaposes time, space and power to portray the condition of the marginalised in society. One of his works harks to the grim aftermath of 9/11. Puja Chauhan attempts to question the stereotypes of women in society through her life-size women cloth sculptures-the very medium of feminist art. Pradeep Cherian invokes religion to show religious intolerance and the absurdities of inequity in today's world. While Ashutosh Bharadwaj ridicules the consumer culture by mimicking the "subway" mindset, K.K. Muhamed leaves his realistic imprint on large oil canvases, one of which reads, "This is not a still life".

"In many ways, these artists are only trying to counter the media-generated images of realism-mediatic realism-and have used parody and surrealism to convey their perspective," says curator Jayashree Venkatadurai. The other participating artists include Viplav Sashi, Puja Vais, K.P. Reji, Satyanand Mohan, Chinnan and Shefali Jain.

These GenNext artists, who passed out of Baroda around four-five years ago, are questioning the ideas of our times in a medium that is both fresh and engaging. "This exhibition is also an attempt to build bridges between the Baroda artists and the artists and viewers of Chennai," adds Venkatadurai, who plans to take artists from Chennai to other parts of India in a reverse flow. The exhibition will be on from June 10 to July 31 at Hues Art, Eldams Road, Teynampet. A must-see show.

-By S.S. Jeevan

`Preparation for fourteen stations - Station-1'
oil on Canvas by Pradeep Cherian

`Preparation for fourteen stations - Station-1' is a large oil by Pradeep Cherian; the bird on the left is charmingly realistic; the man's form in the middle is typical Baroda school; too many elements confuse the issue.

Pradeep Cherian water colour on paper

The works of 11 young contemporary artists from Baroda reflect the conflicts in their minds

SPLASH OF COLOUR One of the works on display

`Con-figure' showcases the creations of 11 young contemporary artists from Baroda at the Hues Art Gallery. Most of them seem to prefer and feel at ease with watercolour as their medium. Ashuthosh Bharadwaj's works reveal attention to detail, be it in perspective, geometric forms or the musculature of the human form. `Children's Game' and `Relocation of Monument' by Chinnan in watercolour are decent efforts, though the former lacks clarity.

Puja Vaish's `Surveillance of the fittest' also stresses the perspective aspect of geometric shapes; artist's tools appear to be arranged on a pipe inside a drain with the roof removed and viewed from the top. Shefalee Jain's watercolours are pleasant. They picture the interior as also a landscape viewed from a balcony. Details of designs on the carpet, the dog disappearing outside the door and the bird in the balcony are realistic and handled with care. But one wonders why there are traffic cones inside a room. K. P. Reji's watercolour with touches of dry pastels shows a huge complicated blood red framework placed on a cart being pulled by a man — wonder, if it suggests the overburdened life of some young men of today!

Viplav Shashi's portraits of a man and a seated young girl in acrylics appear rather laboured; all the details are dealt with carefully; the areas of light and shade are clearly delineated without allowing the colours to merge. A doll usually brings cheer to a child; Sathyanand Mohan's oil on paper, on the other hand, shows how the enlarged shadow of the same doll could scare a child.

K. K. Muhammad's oil on canvas `This is not still life' is a black comedy; though the metal flowerpot has been painted realistically, the leaves, particularly the pink ones, look like tongues! His lithograph `Portrait' is a good effort with mild textural variations. `Preparation for fourteen stations - Station-1' is a large oil by Pradeep Cherian; the bird on the left is charmingly realistic; the man's form in the middle is typical Baroda school; too many elements confuse the issue.

The dry pastel works by Lokesh Khodke are neatly done; opposing geometric shapes with the suggestion of fire in the middle of a grid complete the theme `And the greatest of greats Manu went on making the rules ... the rules of the game'. In such paintings, the connection between the title and the imagery is not immediately clear. His `Flower study' is more like a coil of wire coming out of a broken egg and ending in a funnel speaker. But the technique is impressive.

Puja Chauhan has created fairly big cloth sculptures; one is of a lone-seated woman and the other shows two women seated opposite each other. The lone woman has a story placed at her feet about how Manju's daughter Preeti wants to live the way she wants to. There is nothing much to say about them except that it is not easy to make these stuffed forms.

The young artists seem to be in a state of flux regarding their ideas, mediums and techniques, being influenced by the global market trends, wondering whether to settle down to ideas and techniques which would sell or be true to their own ideas.

LAKSHMI VENKATRAMAN