Art installation Corruption depicts politicians as mice, at Modern Art Gallery in Bhubaneswar on Independence Day. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 16: Aspiring artists studying at B.K. College of Art and Crafts have depicted their idea of independence on canvas at the five-day exhibition titled Independence in Art.

The exhibition that commenced on Wednesday at Odisha Modern Art Gallery, displays 29 paintings and one art installation.

Artist Laxmipriya Pradhan has sketched a bearded old man with gleaming eyes and has named it “Freedom fighter”.

Artist Sumitra Chowdhury has depcited a dagger piercing through the book of the Indian Constitution with Mother India shedding tears in the background.

Most of the artworks, are dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi.

Janmejaya Pradhan, in his unique artwork, has presented four stalwarts of Indian freedom struggle — Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, B.R. Ambedkar and Gandhi — carving out India using pens.

The solitary art installation at the exhibition is one of the most interesting works.

It depicts mice with tricolour shawls around their necks, representing politicians, feeding on giant sweetmeats painted in saffron, white and green.

The sculptor, Laxmipriya Pradhan, has used mud to create it and titled her work “Corruption”.

A handful of artists have gone beyond the past and used contemporary metaphors to express themselves.

The exhibition hardly has any abstract paintings.

The founder of the gallery, Tarakant Parida saidthat though the students had taken up a good cause, they still needed to grow conceptually.

“The art students need to understand that freedom is not just about Gandhi or Mother India. They have to work harder on their concepts,” said Parida, also an eminent artist.