Manisha Parekh Spinning Secrets
September 11, 2009

GALLERY NATURE MORTE
A1 NEETI BAGH, NEW DELHI 110 049 INDIA
OFFICE: (91) 11- 2956-1596 GALLERY: (91) 11-4174-0215
info@naturemorte.com / www.naturemorte.com


Manisha Parekh: "Spinning Secrets"
September 11th to October 16th, 2009

Nature Morte is pleased to present New Delhi artist Manisha Parekh's fifth solo show with the gallery and her second in our Neeti Bagh space. Continuing with her signature style of abstraction, Manish Parekh 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. New sculptural works will expand this vocabulary into three dimensions, exploring the qualities of man-made fabrics. Also on view will be gouache paintings, in which images evolve through the logic of a pre-determined set of works, and wall reliefs made from jute ropes that approximate a calligraphic symbology.

The artist's newest direction for her work is in a suite of graphite drawings. While taking off from her established language of bio-morphic abstraction, she introduces references to both landscapes and astronomical diagrams. While among the most minimal works the artist has created in years, they are perhaps the most pregnant with references. Manisha Parekh is one of the few artists working in India today who continues to explore an exclusively abstract language. It could be said that her works are indebted to the ethereal abstractions of Gaitonde and the geometric draftsmanship of Nasreen Mohammedi (who was one of her teachers in Baroda), as well as the more gestural ink drawings of Jeram Patel. She has developed an artistic practice which also pays reference to the craft and textiles traditions of her native land.

Manisha Parekh was born in Gujarat in 1964 and raised in New Delhi. She holds an M.A. in painting from both the Royal College of Art in London (1991-93) and the M.S. University in Baroda (1983-1990). She has held fourteen solo exhibitions of her works since 1991, in venues such as BodhiArt, New York (2008), Berkeley Square Gallery, London (2006), Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai (2006 & 1999), the British Council in New Delhi (2002) and the Foundation for Indian Art in Amsterdam (1999). The artist lives and works in New Delhi.


Nature Morte is open Monday through Saturday, from 10am to 6pm and closed on Sundays. For more information, contact Geeta Bajaj at (011) 4174-0215.

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