Art Alive Gallery
Presents
Paresh Maity
Luminous Terrains
Preview & Book Launch: Saturday, 28th February, 2026
Center for Contemporary Art, Bikaner House
The show will be on view at CCA, Bikaner House till ,10th March, 2026.,
Art Alive Gallery brings to you Paresh Maity: Luminous Terrains, a solo show of the
renowned artist. The prominent solo exhibition, presenting a body of work that re-looks at
ecology and diversity of landscapes across India, Venice and France through Maity’s
creative expression. Following the massive success of his last solo exhibition, Infinite
Light at Bikaner House in 2022, this will be his next large-scale public exhibition. The
show will preview alongside the launch of the publication on the artist with contributions
by eminent authors Partha Mitter and Kishore Singh.
The vast geographical and cultural landscape of India, Venice and France has been
captured vividly by Paresh Maity, one of India’s most versatile contemporary artists; the
bountiful nature and diversity of the world has always inspired him. Being an avid traveller,
he has travelled the lengths and breadths of the countries tapping into newer experiences
with nature and spirituality.
The exhibition presents a suite of oils, acrylics and drawings that express the serenity of
the Dal Lake in Srinagar, breath-taking views of Venetian lagoons, the timeless beauty of
the river ganga flowing through the ghats of Varanasi, the picturesque French Riviera, the
vast deserts and colours of Rajasthan and the rugged beauty of Madhya Pradesh.
Nature has always been a central muse for Maity’s visual language. For Maity, connecting
with nature is a spiritual experience, one which gets translated to his canvasses where
his inspirations find refuge. Experimenting with myriads of mediums including oil
paintings, mixed media, sculptures and installations, he captures the essence of nature
through his work which stems from his experiences of travel. This body of work being
presented in 2026 is a visual diary of his experiences.
“In this exhibition, Paresh pays ode to Claude Monet and Edouard Manet, to Vincent van
Gogh, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Camille Pissarro, not borrowing but building on their
foundations to offer in these suites of paintings an Indian interpretation and likely
conclusion of light and colour. The light is different in his Venice paintings and those of
the South of France, milder, crisper, clearer, almost translucent. The Indian series has
more intensity, light filtered through dust, becoming almost tangible, something to be felt
and not just seen.”
-
Kishore Singh, Writer & Curator
“For me, nature is represented through my landscapes. I keep going back to places, again
and again, to gain a deeper understanding, a deeper meaning, a deeper philosophy of
nature, captured with the help of light and colour, something that changes not by the hour
but by the minute. Even though I have been painting landscapes for five decades now,
they have kept evolving as paintings.”
-
Paresh Maity, Artist
“Paresh translates what he absorbs, light, movement, colour, and silence, into a visual
language that is instinctive and unmistakably his own. While he is deeply rooted in
drawing and observation, his practice is equally shaped by movement across places,
cultures, and states of mind. Luminous Terrains is both a celebration of an artist’s journey
and a moment of reflection for the gallery itself, completing 25 years in the art fraternity.”
-
Sunaina Anand, Founder & Director, Art Alive Gallery
ART ALIVE GALLERY
Founded in 2001, Art Alive Gallery was envisaged with the vision of fostering meaningful
engagement between artists, art connoisseurs, and enthusiasts. Based in New Delhi, the
gallery has established itself as a significant platform for contemporary art in India.
Through thoughtfully curated exhibitions, walkthroughs, workshops, artist talks, and
extensively researched books and catalogues, Art Alive Gallery offers a holistic
presentation of modern, contemporary, and emerging artistic practices from across the
country. Its endeavours nurture a collaborative creative ecosystem contributing to a
lasting legacy that resonates with audiences worldwide.
As the Gallery marks 25 years in the world of art in 2026, it celebrates a substantial
journey shaped by cherished associations with renowned artists, curators, critics and
patrons. Over the years, Art Alive Gallery has had the privilege of working with legendary
masters such as S. H. Raza, Krishen Khanna, Jogen Chowdhury, Anjolie Ela Menon,
Manu Parekh, and Laxma Goud, among others. Today, the gallery continues to
collaborate with an esteemed roster of senior masters and mid-career contemporary
artists, including Sakti Burman, Thota Vaikuntam, Shibu Natesan, Paresh Maity, Jayasri
Burman, Arpana Caur, Maité Delteil, S. Harsha Vardhana, Tara Sabarwal, Chandra
Bhattacharjee, Yashwant Deshmukh, Maya Burman, and Anjaneyulu G. The gallery also
works steadily in promoting young talent from the country and offers its space for
incubation of new narratives and fresh creative vision across mixed media, ceramics, and
new mediums. Artists such as Smriti Dixit, Partha Dasgupta, and Vipul Rathod exemplify
this forward-looking approach.
Art Alive Gallery has also made a significant contribution to the documentation and
archiving of contemporary Indian art through its publishing initiatives that began with the
establishment of an independent publishing wing in 2005. Its portfolio of publications
includes notable titles such as Faces of Indian Art (2007), A Life in Art: S. H. Raza (2007),
The World on a Canvas: Paresh Maity (2010), Sakti Burman: A Private Universe (2015),
and 20th Century Indian Art (2022). The latter, a landmark volume published in
association with Thames & Hudson, traces the history of Indian art across the
subcontinent and South Asia from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Recent
publications include Thota Vaikuntam: Redefining the Cultural Gaze (2024), which offers
critical insight into the artist’s evolving practice through scholarly texts and rich visuals;
Jayasri Burman: The Whisper of Water, The Song of Stars (2025); and Tumi Ma (2025),
the first comprehensive collection of poetry by artist Jayasri Burman, launched at the
Kolkata Literary Meet and India Art Fair, and later presented at JLF London.
A regular participant in leading international art fairs and cultural events, Art Alive Gallery
continues to aspire towards creating aesthetically engaging visual experiences, promote
emerging perspectives, and supporting the growth and global recognition of Indian art.
25yearsofArtAlive
