Showcasing his entire body of work of nearly 40 years, renowned contemporary artist Paresh Maity will hold India’s “largest” solo exhibition here from November 5. After opening at Bikaner House on November 5, the major multi-genre show will travel to four metro cities Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru over the course of five months, bringing together the various art forms that Maity has explored during his artistic journey. (Also read: Exhibition to show glimpse of India’s artistic development since independence )
Represented by Delhi-based Art Alive Gallery, Maity’s solo exhibition, ‘Infinite Light’, will also be showcased at the India Habitat Centre (IHC) from November 11 onwards.
The vast repertoire of artworks span a time frame from the 1990s to Maity’s most recent creations, combining elements of paintings, large scale installations, sculpture, theatre, and soundscape.
Talking about the show, curatorial advisor and poet Ranjit Hoskote said that the exhibition maps Maity’s “investment in painting, drawing, sculpture and installation, as well as his quiet and lifelong preoccupation with ceramics”.
“In each of these forms, Maity translates into aesthetic propositions his memories of landscape and riverscape, the sensations he has absorbed during his journeys across India and the world, and his ceaseless excitement in the face of the world’s changing moods and seasons,” Hoskote said.
The artworks explore the various emotions and experiences the artist has garnered over the years — ranging from the spiritual ghats of Benaras to the tranquil lagoons of Venice, the colours of the Indian landscape to the grandeur and celebration of Indian festivals.
“This exhibition is a culmination of years of quest, seeking to capture the essence of nature. The most important inspiration in my work is nature. It is nature that makes me want to paint. As an artist I observe, perceive and imagine – an image forms itself which I then express on canvas,” Maity said.
He added that over the course of his long career, the way he saw his subjects has changed and a sense of minimalism has entered his creations.
“In life, while we try to capture what we see, we also keep changing our way of seeing changes. The way I looked at a landscape 30 years ago is not what I see now. A foundation of minimalist moods has entered my approach, it dictates what I translate onto the canvas or the paper,” he said.
Talking about the show’s Delhi chapter, Sunaina Anand, director of Art Alive, said that the exhibition attempts to capture the essence of Maity’s artistic practice – “the diverse materiality, the spiritual experiences garnered by his countless travels and his experiments with light, texture and forms”.
“This exhibition will showcase the distinctive aesthetic of the artist’s oeuvre created over three decades and spread over various mediums – oil, watercolours, mixed media, ceramics, textile and installation. Art Alive will celebrate this exceptional body of work through many programs such as curated walkthroughs, meet the artist sessions, workshops and much more,” Anand said.
The show will run from November 5-18 at Bikaner House, November 12-25 at IHC, and from December 1 to January 10 at Art Alive Gallery. Subsequently, Mumbai-based Art Musings will showcase Maity’s works from December 3. The Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA) in Kolkata will feature it from December 12, and the Gallery Sumukha will exhibit the works from February 4.
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This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.