Style : Paresh has also briefly experimented with abstracts, which was more of freeing the limitations of a landscape. One would still see an odd ship or a tree though not in a representative manner. Even when he did go back to painting figures the contextual setting was more often neglected. The focus was on the figure, specifically the faces, with their myriad expressions, closely cropped and juxtaposed with their surrondings. The colours are vibrant and dazzle the viewer. The stylized, simplified figures have a story of their own, transporting one to an exotic land.
Virtuosity of medium is not the message the spirit behind the man and his talent are. It has taken a long time for Paresh Maity to reach where he is, “the execution of the work itself may take little time, but to get there it has taken me 20 years”.
About the Artist & his work :
Born : 1965 in Tamluk, West Bengal.
Education :
B.F.A. Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata
M.F.A. College of Art, New Delhi.
Art Career : While in school he made clay images of gods and goddesses and sold them to earn money for his education. He started painting watercolours of river scenes while still at school and then then oil painting thereafter.
Paresh’s adventurous, experimental personality has prodded him to explore in all mediums – drawings, watercolours, oils, mixed media, installation and sculptures, photography and filmmaking. Paresh’s uniqueness lies in his rediscovering the charm, flavor and magic of India in his paintings. Rajasthan has been the human inspiration behind his work, Shantiniketan the spirituality of mind, body and soul, in Agra he visualized the beauty of Taj, in Ajanta-Ellora he recreated the amazing Buddhist frescoes, in his magical series on Kerala he captured the destination in its pristine colours to the serene ghats of Varanasi and the Himalayan heights of Himachal Pradesh. He has done series of works on almost all facets and destinations of India and then across the seas to London, Venice, China and Japan. He has painted them all.
Exhibitions : He has participated 79 Solo Exhibitions worldwide. Some of them given below :
2017 : Art Stage Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore & Forty Years of Watercolour, Lalit Kala Academi, New Delhi, presented by Art Alive Gallery;
2016 : Art 16 presented by Gallery Sumukha, Olympia, London & Art Stage Singapore, presented by Sanchit Art, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore;
2015 : Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, presented by Art Alive Gallery, Sydney, Australia ; Art 15 presented by Gallery Sumukha, Olympia, London & Art Stage Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore ;
2014 : The Arts House, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Singapore ; Art Stage Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore & Art 14, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Olympia, London ;
2013 : Art 13, London Olympia, Singapore presented by Gallery Sumukha & Visual Arts Gallery, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Hong Kong ;
2012 : The Arts House, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Singapore ; Art Stage Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore & ‘Kolkata Taj Bengal’, presented by Jaguar Land Rover with Gallery Sanskriti, Kolkata ;
2011 : Chivas Studio, New Delhi and Mumbai; Gallery Sumukha in association with Wei-Ling Contemporary, Malaysia in Bangalore & Kuala Lumpur & Art Stage Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore ;
22010 : Joint show with Steve McCurry, Chicago, Tourism Centre in association with Art Alive Gallery & Group show, Shizaru Art Gallery, London ;
2006 : Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto, USA & Visual Arts Gallery, presented by Gallery Sumukha, Hong Kong ;
2005 : Arts India, New York. Gallery in Cork Street, London, in association with ICICI Bank ;
2004 : Alliance Francaise, Singapore, presented by Gallery Sumukha with Easel, Singapore;
2000 : CIMA Art Gallery, Kolkata; Gallerie Aspekte, Germany & ‘Venetian Odyssey’, Hotel Aryanbika, Debrecen, Hungar; Gallerie Mohanjeet, Paris ;
1996 : Gallerie Ganesha, New Delhi; ARKS Gallery, London & Paracelsus Rotenfleskdinik Ausgestelt, in association with Galerie Aspekte, Germany .
Awards :
2017 : Award from Bihar Government
2016 : Eastern Eye Editor’s Special Award for contribution in field of art in Royal Festival Hall, London
2014 : Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India, New Delhi
2014 : Cartier Award, St. Moritz Art Masters, Switzerland
2013 : Hall of Fame by Hello (Times of India Group), Mumbai; Shera Bengali Award in Kolkata by ABP
2012 : Dayawati Modi Award for Art, Culture & Education, New Delhi
2005 : Indo-American Society, Mumbai
2002 : Royal Watercolour Society, London
1993 : British Council Visitorship
1992 : Pt. Ravishankar Award from College of Art, New Delhi
1989 : National Scholarship Award, Government of India, New Delhi
1988 : Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Celebration Award & Governor’s Gold Medal from Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata
1985 : Best Water Colour Painting Award, Government of West Bengal & Indian Society of Oriental Art, Kolkata
1983 : Gold Medal, U.S.S.R.
