The scale of Paresh Maity’s work grows larger as Mumbai hosts his solo after four years

Come November 10, the entire Jehangir Art Gallery will be filled with Paresh Maity’s imposing works. This art hub will showcase large-scale and latest creations of the Delhi-based artist during the week-long exhibition called Montage Moments Memories. The event shows his ambition to scale a creative high—and the size of his work is not the only criterion to judge that. This time, Mumbai will be privy to his exploration of various mediums—sculpture, photography and video work, apart from the regular watercolour and oil paintings—to produce some brilliant results.

“Exploring various mediums was a spontaneous decision. The search for change often offers a new dimension and helps in finding a fresh language,” says the 44-year-old. The exhibits include a suite of paintings titled Mystic City; bronze sculptural works from the Face to Face series with large angular faces; and Faces of Life for which the artists has worked over the photographed image in pen and ink. Apart from these, Maity, for the first time, presents a video work, Kolkata to Kozhikode, which traces India through the monsoon season. “The varied range of artworks celebrates Maity’s immense creativity,” says Sangeeta Chopra of Art Musings.

As the scale of his work grew, the artist found the challenges mounting. “Some of the oil paintings are 20x10, 20x6 and 20x5 feet big. Most of the sculptures are 20 feet and above in height and weigh around 500 kilos each. It’s difficult to carry out larger compositions. But when artists attempt public art, the size of their creations grows bigger,” he reveals.

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