Design

Must-visit art exhibition: The Curious Seeker by Madhvi Parekh

AUG 14, 2018 | By Lamiyah Sultan
Untitiled, Water Colour & Gouache on Handmade Paper by Madhvi Parekh. Kaliadaman oil canvas by Madhvi Parekh. Photograph Madhvi Parekh courtesy DAG. The Last Supper by Madhvi Parekh.
“I like to create magic on canvas, giving it the illusion of an embroidered fabric from a distance but when you take a closer look, you see it’s a painting,” explains artist Madhvi Parekh, when we meet at the launch of her newest exhibition. Hosted at the Mumbai outpost of the Delhi Art Gallery, it’s a retrospective covering her impressive 50-year-long career.As we enter the Kala Ghoda space packed with 67 canvases, our eyes are quickly drawn to a work titled The Last Supper — featuring five large glass panels inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s famous masterpiece. Parekh finished the piece using reverse painting, a technique new to her oeuvre, and one that she picked up from fellow artist Nalini Malani.
Discussing the challenges of working on such a large scale, the 76-year-old artist admits she prefers it “because the hand has room in these to follow through on an idea or a whim without exacting the same kind of thought and planning that goes into smaller pieces.”Her husband of 60 years, artist Mannu Parekh recalls gifting Madhvi a book of geometric patterns by Paul Klee, a Swiss German expressionist artist, which sparked her interest. “From then on, I knew she was on to something,” he adds.Exhibition until: October 27Time: Monday to Saturday 11:00 am to 7:00 pmVenue: DAG, 58, VB Gandhi Marg, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001