Dal Lake to Mahakumbh, Maity returns to landscapes

New Delhi: In the late 19th century, Impressionists changed the course of art by stepping out of their studios and into the open air. Painters like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir sought to capture fleeting light and atmosphere directly from nature, often working outdoors to seize a passing cloud or a reflection in water.That same impulse — to go out, observe and respond to landscape and light — anchors artist Paresh Maity's new solo exhibition ‘Luminous Terrains', organised by Art Alive Gallery at Bikaner House. Following the success of his 2022 show ‘Infinite Light', the exhibition marks the renowned contemporary artist's return with a body of work devoted entirely to landscapes across India, Venice and France.
"The last solo had many things mixed—painting, sculpture, watercolour, ceramics, mixed media. The new show is mainly oil and acrylic on canvas and drawings (pen and ink on paper). And it's fully dedicated to landscapes," Maity told TOI. It brings together views of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the ghats of Varanasi, Rajasthan's desertscapes, the Venetian lagoons, the French Riviera and the rugged charm of Madhya Pradesh in the sensorial language of Impressionism."I started my life with landscapes because I grew up in the historic town of Tamluk (in West Bengal), a place with lush green fields, open spaces, ponds and lakes. And I believe the more you go close to nature, the better off you are in life. People are forgetting that. So, I thought let me go back to landscape and show people that nature is everything."The artist's sustained engagement with landscape has also been visible in The Times of India's Art of India (AOI) exhibition series. Maity presented large canvases across AOI's Delhi and Jaipur showcases this year, and is set to unveil more works at the upcoming Mumbai edition in March. At Bikaner House, he unveiled a 45-foot-wide Mahakumbh triptych, rendered as a vast expanse of faith and harmony. "You've probably never seen a painting that big," he says proudly.Alongside the show, Art Alive Gallery will launch a new publication on the artist with essays by historian Partha Mitter and art critic Kishore Singh. For Maity, the book extends the exhibition beyond its limited run. "A book is like a library. An exhibition happens for a few days. But the book will continue the legacy of both art and artist," says Maity.‘Luminous Terrains' is on view till March 10 at Centre for Contemporary Art in Bikaner House.