The pair of white elephants in oil and acrylic has been created in a colourful, expressive and emotive manner. They encapsulate a gamut of human emotions: love, harmony, closeness and intimacy. Inspired by the divine Airavata, the pair of elephants signify peace and remain a very powerful metaphor for current times. Despite their mammoth size, they are rendered with a certain lightness, nimble grace and sophisticated, floating and suspended feel. These life sized pachyderms exude a sense of emotion that is rooted in Indian culture and traditional heritage, capturing the journey of life
Paresh Maity was born in Tamluk in 1965. After his primary education, he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata, followed by Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the College of Art, New Delhi being the top of his class in both. Spanning nearly four decades of his artistic oeuvre, he has created and explored various mediums including watercolour, oil and acrylic paintings, mixed media, sculptures and photography. During the last 35 years, he has held 88 solo exhibitions and his work that includes a diverse ensemble of landscapes, abstracts, portraits and figures has been widely exhibited in galleries, museums and art fairs in India and across the globe.
Paresh Maity’s art has been collected by numerous private collectors across the world and is also present in public collections such as the Rashtrapati Bhawan (President’s House, India), the British Museum in London, the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Tata Iron & Steel Co. Ltd., Hindustan Lever among many others. In 2010, he completed an approximately 850- foot mural, one of the longest paintings in the world for the International terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. Paresh Maity has been felicitated by various national and international institutions including the Royal Watercolour Society, London, the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, British Council, and is recipient of one of the highest civilian awards, the Padma Shri, from the Government of India.