A flight of fancy: Noida Airport decked in art
India, May 28 -- Rising early is a habit that comes naturally to artist Paresh Maity. So then it isn't a surprise to see and feel the joyous orange and yellow hues of sunrise from his palette adorn the otherwise banal walls of a transit area, in the artwork Jagriti (Awakening). This is not one but six huge panels that took birth in the artist's studio and are now displayed, to encapsulate the rich heritage of Uttar Pradesh, at the soon to be operational Noida International Airport.
The oil acrylics on canvas exude warmth to the commuters and induce intrigue in the mind of onlookers to know more about their creation. Maity shares, "Around two years back when the concerned authorities asked me to visit them to give a demo of what is coming up at the airport, they were very clear about wanting to incorporate art in it... Though not open for public viewing yet, but two of my public art installations are now exhibited as per the concepts that I had submitted then."
Resting his hand on a hut-shaped installation, which is his other work titled Mystic Abode, Maity reveals, "This is a 2014 installation sculpted using more than 8,000 brass bells, and steel bars," sharing that this 12 x 14.5 x 8.5 feet work has been earlier exhibited in Saint-Maurice, Switzerland. "When they (officials) saw it, they were so happy and said this must be part of the airport... We are constantly living in this volatile, uncertain world where there is no peace. So my art, which is always aimed to bring joy, peace and harmony, perfectly blended with this place as it would interact with people who would be travelling from here."
As the chiming of bells fills the air, the sight falls back on the panels with the colossal paintings and thus unravels their interconnection that is established with the thread of sacred rivers like the Ganga and the Yamuna. Alongside are the historic places along their banks. "The first panel depicts Varanasi and the second turns to the Sanchi Stupa of Sarnath," shares Maity, as he walks towards his depiction of the Taj Mahal in the third panel.
"I wanted to make these works classical because public art is for everybody... It's for everybody to enjoy and uplift their soul and glory," he sums up....
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