Prof. Chinmay Shesh Mehta – creator, thinker, administrator, teacher, painter, architectural designer – a multifaceted personality in total who owns the international fame for his Batik art was born on 24th of January, 1942 in Badi Sadri of Udaipur. In writing about this imaginative Rajasthani mind, the greatest difficulty was deciding on where to begin with. Like his art work, he and his multidimensional talents are perfect in every aspect. Be it canvas, cloth, walls, doors, a flat land spread over several square meters, or whatever art he has worked on, he always seems to seek some new beauty. WHAT DID HE STUDY AND
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Mehta took up M.A. in Visual Arts/ Painting and Ph.D. on ‘Treatment of Space in Miniature paintings in Rajasthan’ from Agra University in 1963 and since then he has been known as an imaginative creator and an efficient administrator who has contributed to the Indian art world for the past 40 years. He is currently the President and Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Rajasthan University for more than four successive terms before which he had held some highly respectable positions in many institutions and organisations. So far, 13 exhibitions have been organized by him and his fellow painter Meena Mehta on Baktikala in the country and around. The exhibitions portrayed the folklife of Rajasthan in a special ornate style. He was greatly into allegorical paintings in the eighties.
AN INNOVATIVE MAKER :
An experimental creator. After the eighties he was keenly interested in experimenting folk art-based murals. His shift or if being more precise, evolution from the two-dimensional perspective to the three-dimensional environmental design became more pronounced in the art world and his innovative art mind is what is in front of us today as Choki Dhani and Ek Dhola Ri Dhani.Choki Dhani has been added to the list of historical places of interest in Jaipur, completely owing its popularity and fame to Prof. Mehta. This has led to similar results in five other cities of the country.
CHAUKI DANI AND DHOLA RI DHANI :
The architectural beauty of the resorts of Chauki Dhani in Jaipur assert to a combination of ethnic and vernacular styles. And this was followed in the cities of Hyderabad, Rajkot, Jaipur, Udaipur and Dausa. In Dhola Ri Dhani of Hyderabad, there is a seating arrangement for about a hundred persons. One of the many interesting things we come across here is the use of scribe desks, cushions and masanas in place of tables and chairs in Mandari. Traditional posts have been used in Bindola (restaurant). Rythmic garlands and decorations are adorned throughout the courtyards. Prof. Mehta has Broken the laws of rhythmicity and proportion at many places along the 'space' of the dynamic equilibrium and has painted every corner of these dhanis with the fragrance of folk culture These disproportionately settled streets, squares and stairs, clumps of haphazardly spread huts seem to be keeping their unique harmony with the undisturbed beauty of nature. Taking a step ahead from the tradition. For the first time, ancient pools have been used as swimming pools in these Dhanis. After studying Shekhawati's stepwells, umbrellas and stairs closely, Prof. Mehta took the concept of swimming pools into pools.The sculpted stone railings and chhatris around the pool restore the Shekhawati architecture. A health club has also been established near the pool. The traditional chapel of the pool sangri has also been made. Wearing Rajasthani dress every day at different places around, evening Folk artists should be ready to showcase their talent.
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COUPLED BEAUTY OF MODERNITY AND ETHNICITY :
AWe can see a wonderful amalgamation of tradition and modernity in Mehta’s works, that which will have his own signature styles. Many of the Indian artists were and are the collateral damage to the fast-growing pace of the western modern artworks. If suppose were not destroyed they still were influenced by the western styles, so is our cultural heritage. Of the very few Indian painters, whom the so-called wave of foreign modernity did not touch,
Prof. Mehta is one. It does not mean that he did not value those international changes and experiments in art through the decades. Looking at his vast canvas of achievements spanning five decades it is so evident that like many faces, layers and layers of talent from him are still emerging. Yet, he is a humble, polite, soft spoken and a simple personality. Apart from experimenting arts and hosting exhibitions, he has also contributed significantly to the development of educational institutions in the country. He engaging with the Jaipur Visarat Festival and village cultural tourism has been an integral part in preserving and propagating the art and culture. He is a national academy awardee for arts. There is no limit for the medium and surface for talent and so is the creative artist in himself.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE INDIAN ART WORLD :
Development of the first full-fledged faculty of fine arts with the introduction of BFA and MFA degree courses in the Rajasthan University was done by him. He has also been in the UGC’s panel and committees on Fine Arts and Arts History. He was the former chairman of Rajasthan’s Lalit Kala Akademie. He has also served as the member of the General Council of Sangeet Natak Academy in New Delhi. He has delivered a lecture and hosted an exhibition at the State University of New York in 1977 on account of a special invitation by the university. He has been honoured as the speaker at the international symposium on Indigenous Art: Tradition, Identity and Challenges. His murals beautify the walls and spaces of many public places of importance. His murals beautify the walls and spaces of many public places of importance. Raymond showroom in Jaipur, murals of Natraj restaurant in Jaipur, embossed frescoes in the façade of Ganapati Plaza are all works of wonder. Still after decades and expertise he is ready for challenges posed in and by the art and culture of the country and the world. Maybe that is what made him who he is today
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