Several young and senior artists from India have turned Mahatma Gandhi into a ‘tour de force’.

Spotting the trend writer Anindita Ghose mentions in The Mint article on eve of the freedom fighter’s birth anniversary (October 2): “One reason for this well could be that trends seem to be a weighty factor in contemporary art. Another probably could simply be that the concerns emerging artists like Balaji Ponna and Debanjan Roy, wish to raise - mindless modernization as well as capitalism - are best highlighted when they are juxtaposed against the icon who still stands for quite the contrary.

Debanjan Roy uses him as a metaphor in his recent ‘India Shining’ series for portraying a fast disappearing India of genuine austerity. His striking fibreglass sculptures impress not only for their size, but also for their colors (cherry red and metallic silver) and their precision. The Mahatma is presented as a call centre employee in one of the installations whereas he is shown listening to an iPod in another.

In these works, one can witness Gandhi running into, and adopting, the ways of the new, materialistic India. His headphone-wielding Gandhi got a warm reception at Aicon gallery in the US earlier this year. Aicon unveiled a limited series of miniature versions for buyers.

Prominent artist Atul Dodiya has employed Mahatma Gandhi as a constant motif throughout his career. Jitish Kallat and Subodh Gupta too have done works based on his life and philosophy.