Manisha Parekh
Overview
Manisha Parekh (b. 1964, Uttarsanda, Gujarat). Parekh lives and works in New Delhi, India.
Parekh received her BA from M.S. University, Baroda, in 1988, and MAs in Painting from M.S. University, Baroda, in 1990, and Royal College of Art, London in 1993
One of the few artists in India today who continue to explore an exclusively abstract language, Manisha Parekh’s distinct aesthetic subtly references the geometric draftsmanship of Nasreen Mohamedi, her teacher at Baroda. Also palpable are the ethereal abstractions of V. S. Gaitonde, and the more gestural ink drawings of Jeram Patel. Her practice, which is often in celebration of the art and craft traditions of her native land, straddles painting, collage drawing and sculptural installation to create works that incorporate both the geometric and the organic.
Material is Parekh’s metaphor. Her most recognised works are the ones where she layers biomorphic shapes cut from handmade paper into dense fields of pattern and energy, sometimes perforating the surface and adding other materials such as cord, rope and metal.
Her work has been exhibited extensively within India, including solo exhibitions such as ‘Chromatic Flight’ at Nature Morte, New Delhi (2023), ‘A River Inside’ at Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai (2020), ‘Line of Light’ at Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai (2017), ‘Regarding Embodiment’ at Nature Morte, New Delhi (2016) and ‘Epiphanies’ at Bhau Daji Lad Museum Special Project Space, Mumbai. Internationally, Parekh has shown in Lahore (Pakistan), Singapore, USA, London, Amsterdam among others. Her work is part of public and private art collections in India and internationally, including the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Delhi, Lalit Kala Akademi, Ahmedabad, Jehangir Nicholson Collection, Mumbai, Royal College of Art, London, Davey & Chester Herwitz Collection, Boston, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Cologne, and Robert Lodar Collection, London.