Madhvi Parekh

Madhvi Parekh

Madhvi Parekh (born 1942) is an Indian contemporary artist living in New Delhi.[1]

Her work revolves around childhood memory, women’s craft, folk art and Indian myths. Although her inspirations are traditional, her style is contemporary as she was greatly influenced by Paul Klee. It represents folk art but does not draw from any one specific folk tradition.[1]

Early life

Madhvi Parekh was born in the village of Sanjaya near Ahmedabad, Gujarat where her father was a Gandhian school teacher and postmaster.[2]

In 1957, at the age of fifteen, she married Manu Parekh, an Indian artist who studied at the JJ School of Art. They moved first to Ahmedabad, then Mumbai where she did a course in Montessori training. In 1964, they then moved to Kolkata where they lived to 1965 before moving to New Delhi.[3]

Career

Initially, Madhvi Parekh did not aspire to become an artist herself but her husband Manu inspired her to take up art. She started painting in the 1960s while pregnant with their first daughter, Manisha.[4] In 1968, Madhvi exhibited her work for the first time at the Birla Academy in Kolkata. One of her paintings was selected to be in the annual show of Lalit Kala Akademi and then purchased by the national institution helping to launch her career.[3] In 1973 she had her first solo show at the Chemould Art Gallery, Kolkata.

Madhvi Parekh started painting by depicting memories of her childhood and fantasy. Her paintings are vivid and surreal. She started painting in traditional folk style and later gradually moved towards oil and acrylic on canvas and watercolor on paper, which allowed her the freedom to broaden her artistic imagination as well as find a language to express her views on women, children, urban and rural.[5]

Her daughter, Manisha Parekh is also a well noted Indian artist.[6]

Influences

Madhvi Parekh's early works have been inspired by narratives and folk stories from her childhood spent in a rural part of India. Traditional floor designs of Rangoli made art a part of everyday household ritual for Madhvi, and this morphed in the first introduction to early forms of painting.[7] In the initial days of their married life, artist-husband, Manu Parekh gifted Madhvi a book called Pedagogical Sketchbook by Paul Klee, a Swiss German artist[8] which formed an early influence on her style. Parekh's influences also include the Italian contemporary artist Francesco Clemente.

Beginning with many solos, Madhvi participated in notable group shows such as, Play Turkey and Yugoslavia in 1985, Watercolours by Four Women Artists, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal in 1987 and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai in 1987.[9]

Awards and recognition

Year	Award / Recognition
2017	Kailash Lalit Kala Award
2003	Whirlpool Women's Achievement in the World of Fine Art
1989-91	Government of India Senior Fellowship
1989	Fund for Artist Colones, Residency Fellowship at Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA
1989	USIA Fellowship for extensive travel in USA
1979	National Award from Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1970-72	French Government Scholarship for Fine Arts to study in Paris

Select exhibitions

Solo

• The Curious Seeker I Madhvi Parekh: Retrospective, DAG Delhi, Mumbai, and New York, Sept 2017 - Oct 2019[10][11][12]
• The Last Supper, The Seagull Foundation for the Arts in Kolkata, New Delhi, 2011[13]

Group

• The Self and the World, presented by Gallery Espace at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, 1997[14]
• Through the Looking Glass, paintings by Nalini Malani, Madhvi Parekh, Nilima Sheikh, Arpita Singh, Bhopal, New Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore, 1987 - 1989[15][16]

Publications

• Singh, Kishore, ed. (2017). Madhvi Parekh: The Curious Seeker , New Delhi: DAG Modern. ISBN 978-93-81217-65-8.

References

1. "Madhvi Parekh". Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
2. Milford-Lutzker, Milford-Lutzker (Fall 1999). "Intersections: Urban and village art in India". Art Journal. 58 (3). New York: 22–30. doi:10.1080/00043249.1999.10791950.
3. Parekh, Madhvi; Sinha, Gayatri; Garimella, Annapurna; Singh, Kishore (2017). Madhvi Parekh: The Curious Seeker. New Delhi, India: DAG Modern. ISBN 9789381217658. OCLC 1004674042.
4. Khurana, Chanpreet (27 September 2017). "Dots and dashes: How artist Madhvi Parekh developed her own language to tell stories of her youth". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
5. Sinha, Gayatri (1997). The Self & The World: An Exhibition of Indian Women Artist. New Delhi: National Gallery of Modern Art. p. 43. OCLC 79458970.
6. "Manisha Parekh". Saffronart. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
7. "Madhvi Parekh". Delhi Art Gallery. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
8. Matra, Adila (4 November 2017). "Here's why Madhvi Parekh is an artist of her own making". India Today. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
9. "Madhvi Parekh". Art Heritage | Art Gallery New Delhi. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
10. "Madhvi Parekh: Realising a never envisioned dream". India Today. 20 August 2018. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
11. "The Curious Seeker - Madhvi Parekh: Retrospective". Delhi Art Gallery. 2017. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019.
12. "Madhvi Parekh: The Curious Seeker". NYC Arts. 26 September 2019. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
13. "Madhvi Parekh - The Last Supper". Seagull Foundation for the Arts. 2011. Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
14. "The Way To A Womans Art". Business Standard. 25 April 1997. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
15. Through the looking glass: Nalini Malani, Madhvi Parekh, Nilima Sheikh, Arpita Singh: Exhibition of Paintings by 4 Women Artists from 10 November to 1 December 1989. New Dehli: Centre for Contemporary Art. 1989. OCLC 1106823476.
16. "Through the Looking Glass" (Image of cover of catalogue). Center for Contemporary Art (New Delhi, India). 1989. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023 – via Asia Art Archive.