Culture & Travel

Artist Paresh Maity Is Chasing The Light In His New Solo Exhibition

'Luminous Terrains' is being hosted by Art Alive Gallery in Bikaner House, New Delhi

ByRadhika Bhalla

Artist Paresh Maity painting ‘Winter Blooming’ that is on display at his solo exhibition, ‘Luminous Terrains’ with Art Alive Gallery at Bikaner House.

Artist Paresh Maity has been chasing light ever since he can remember. And the walls of Bikaner House in New Delhi bear witness to this lifelong pursuit, where his 93rd solo exhibition, ‘Luminous Terrains’ is being hosted by Art Alive Gallery. Landscapes and rivers come alive on canvases of every size; splashes of colour illuminate the surfaces and textures. You, the viewer, stand in front of these works, and in a trice, you’re almost present with him as he paints on the spot.

With ‘Luminous Terrains’, Paresh Maity has created a sophisticated suite of artworks. Through it, he ushers in a modern Indian Impressionism, paying homage to the greats while celebrating his own oeuvre.

“Ever since I was a little boy, for over five decades, I have been acutely aware of the importance of light. I’ve always observed light. I paint during the day because I can see the clarity and beauty of things. Every morning, I go for a walk and look at how the light streams in, and later how it changes during the day,” Paresh Da (as he is fondly called, the monicker referring to an older brother) shares with The Word. Magazine.

“My desire has always been to show this through my art, be that with paintings, installations, ceramics, or other mediums. As I always say, light is life,” he continues.

‘Luminous Terrains’ comes four years after his previous solo ‘Infinite Light’ with gallerist Sunaina Anand’s Art Alive Gallery, also held at Bikaner House. This time around, we witness a renewed pre-eminence with the medium that makes Paresh’s works come alive—celebrating both his own craft and 25 years of the Delhi-based gallery.

“I have painted seven cities/regions through these works, across India, Italy, and France. These are places I have been visiting for years, chasing the light and trying to really capture how it plays within an artist’s mind,” he explains. “In the Varanasi series, you see the light of the diyas during the evening aarti. You see it early in the morning when the sun rises and casts a golden glow over the ghats. Then, during the early morning of the Mahakumbh, you witness millions of people, so united, so beautiful, so harmonious in the way they are together.”

A large triptych captures this essence, with Paresh Da’s signature boats forming the foreground for the impeccable, individual details of the people, their garments, their postures, their hopes and dreams on a hallowed land.

“Then, in Madhya Pradesh, there is a city called Maihar known as a ‘Mecca’ of Hindustani classical music and home to the Sharda Mata Temple. I have been visiting it since 1996, and have always been drawn to the rugged, reddish brown terrain, with the Khaprail tile houses and the beautiful village smoke,” he recounts as we stand in front of the painting from the region.

Moving into a room lined with vivid yellow paintings, one wonders which part of the world we are in now. “Oh, those are yellow mustard fields from the Aravalli hills in Rajasthan!” Paresh Da exclaims. “When you drive through Rajasthan during winter, you see miles and miles of that yellow—it’s so beautiful. To me, it is a dialogue between the Earth, the universe, and the flowers. It’s unbelievable.”

The Indian landscape returns, once again, through calmer, softer hues of the Dal Lake in Srinagar. There are pink lotuses in the lake, reminiscent of Claude Monet’s Water Lillies, and one asks, should that come as a surprise? For when we turn towards Paresh Maity’s works that were made in the south of France, he speaks of the artists who inspired him in his youth…Monet, Édouard Manet, Paul Cezanne, Van Gogh. “Everybody was there to capture that unique light and create Impressionism. So when I first visited France in 1993, I went to those spots and could not believe how the light played on top of the sunflowers and the medieval villages,” he reminisces.

In one large canvas, we see a French hamlet with an unexpected red field in the foreground…here, the artist took the liberty to paint lavender fields as red, Indian soil. It is a fine example of Paresh Maity’s expression…while his creativity is roused by the world, it is firmly rooted in his motherland.

The final destination of this exhibition is Venice, “the most lyrical and romantic place that was painted by everyone from J.M.W. Turner to Canaletto and John Singer Sargent. Every musician who visited Venice composed there, as did every writer… I think, everybody gets inspired in Venice,” he shares.

From the time Paresh Maity first took to the arts at the age of seven, watching the Durga idols being made by artisans in his hometown of Tamluk in West Bengal, he’s travelled far and wide. But ask him about his personal journey, and offers a candid truth: “You never get support to become an artist. I think that is very unfortunate, because people think an artist won’t be able to survive, they will go hungry. But, ultimately, it is God’s wish and destiny, and then, nothing can be stopped.”

So what is the larger impact of these artworks under ‘Luminous Terrains’? As Sunaina Anand explains, “This new body of work is particularly significant because it reflects Paresh Maity’s continued engagement with landscape as a deeply personal and spiritual space. His work occupies an important position in the narrative of contemporary Indian art, particularly in the way he explores the evolving relationship between humans and nature. In many ways, Paresh’s work resonates strongly in the present moment, subtly evoking a sense of hope and positivity for the future which is of utmost importance in contemporary times.”

As the gallery celebrates 25 years this year, it felt fitting to open the season with a solo dedicated to the artist. “Art Alive Gallery shares one of the longest artist-gallery associations with Paresh Maity, dating back to 2002,” she explains. “As the gallery celebrates 25 years this year, it felt both natural and meaningful to present this mega solo exhibition. Over the decades, we have witnessed Paresh’s artistic journey evolve in remarkable ways and this exhibition becomes a celebration, not only of his practice but also of the dialogue between the artist and the gallery that has matured over time.”

‘Luminous Terrains’ is on view at Bikaner House, New Delhi till March 10, and for those who are interested in viewing the art, they can be seen via a special appointment with the gallery.

Artist Paresh Maity Is Chasing The Light In His New Solo Exhibition

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