Manisha Parekh

Manisha Parekh (b.1964, Uttarsanda) completed her BFA in Painting from Maharaja Sayajirao University (1988), MFA in Painting from Maharaja Sayajirao University (1990) and a second MFA from the Royal College of Art, London (1993). She was one of the founding members of Khoj International Artists' Workshop. 

Parekh is among the few contemporary Indian artists who continue to explore an exclusively abstract visual language. Her works draw from a range of influences, including the ethereal abstractions of Gaitonde, the geometric precision of Nasreen Mohammedi (one of her mentors in Baroda), and the gestural ink drawings of Jeram Patel. Her practice also references the craft and textile traditions of her native land. The artist straddles painting, collage and drawing to create works that incorporate both the geometric and the organic. Her most recognized works are created by layering shapes cut from handmade papers into dense fields of pattern and energy, sometimes perforating the surface and adding other materials.

Her works have been exhibited in various solo shows nationally and internationally. Her recent solo exhibition was at Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai. Her works are part of several prestigious public and private collections, including the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Delhi; Lalit Kala Akademi, Ahmedabad; Jehangir Nicholson Collection, Mumbai; Royal College of Art, London; the Davey & Chester Herwitz Collection, Boston; Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Cologne; and the Robert Lodar Collection, London.

Parekh lives and works in New Delhi.