Must-visit art exhibition: The Curious Seeker 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