Marching to Baroda

What is most striking about The Baroda March shows is the freshness of ideas. Some works may be quiet and uncomplicated — but not simplistic— while others embody dynamism and strong emotions. All of them have been executed in a manner that is uncommon and invigorating.

For instance,the paintings of Nimesh Patel,titled Reproduction before Revolution,are immediately captivating but rather straightforward. Two large horizontal canvases hung in different parts of the gallery space represent the same idea. In one,the left side of the canvas is dominated by multiple images of Marilyn Monroe in her most famous pose,towards the centre is a machine,and on the right some working-class women. In the second work,the left side of the canvas has images of Amitabh Bachchan,the centre the same machine and the right working-class men. Patel has juxtaposed the lives of the rich and famous with those of the working-class. Bachchan is his favourite film star. “Patel comments on the fact that we are all individuals and we are all unique,but we all have our role models and try to be like them,” says Krishna.

Among the displays are works by Twisha Patel,Ajay Lakhera and Amita Bhatt,all of which having a lot of movement. Bhatt’s massive charcoal on canvas work that hangs on one side of the gallery space,elicits conflicting emotions. Dominated largely by images of men and birds,these works are often almost violent and disturbing. But the birds lend an eerie serenity to the work. In contrast,Soundscape is a relief painting by Hardik Kansara that is much more quiet with a red wall as a background and a blue table with a couple of items on it in the foreground.

The Baroda March famously began as a result of one of Krishna’s trips to Baroda. “My criteria is that the artists should have studied there or worked there for a number of years,so Baroda gets into them,” says Krishna.