Paresh Maity's luminous world

The artist takes his experiments with light and colour forward in his ongoing solo, 'Luminous Terrains', on varied landscapes

- Avantika Bhuyan

'The Sacred Confluence', oil and acrylic on canvas; and left Paresh Maity.

The ghats of Varanasi came alive at Delhi’s Bikaner House last month as artist Paresh Maity showcased some of his monumental canvases in his solo, Luminous Terrains, presented by Art Alive gallery.

Series such as Mahakumbh beckoned to you with their scale, but a closer look revealed multiple narratives unfurling in different parts of the canvas. Maity created a living landscape of people, telling the stories of ardent devotees, boatsmen and bystanders through his brushstrokes.

The Delhi-based artist evoked the ethereal quality of the river in works such as Sacred Confluence through a play of light and colour. Also on view was The Light of Varanasi, a work done in 2024, which was a little different from his usual landscapes. Maity created dreamlike imagery with fantastical worlds superimposed on the ghats of the Ganga. Nebulous cloud-like shapes floated near the temple shikharas, chequered surfaces were spread across the stairs leading to the river, and hot air balloons landed smoothly on the boats.

Some of the works on show at Bikaner House have now moved to Art Alive, which is hosting landmark exhibitions such as Maity’s to mark its 25th anniversary. Luminous Terrains features oils, acrylics and drawings that revisit terrains across India, Venice and France. It becomes apparent that the landscapes don’t just allude to physical spaces but the emotionscape of the artist, the play of light and shadow reflecting the painter's inner world.