Artist
Madhvi Parekh
Ahmedabad · New Delhi
Archer
Biography
Born in 1942 in Sanjaya near Ahmedabad, Madhvi Parekh is a self-trained artist whose practice draws deeply from folk imagination, myths, and everyday life. Her journey as an artist began in the late 1960s, encouraged by her husband, the painter Manu Parekh, who gifted her Paul Klee’s Pedagogical Sketchbook—a gesture that became pivotal in shaping her approach to form and composition. Parekh held her first solo exhibition at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata, in 1968. Since then, she has exhibited widely across India and internationally, with shows in London, Amsterdam, New York, Australia, and Kuwait. Over the decades, she has developed a distinctive style that blends figurative and abstract expression, characterized by rhythmic repetition of geometric shapes such as lines, circles, and triangles. Her visual language draws from folk and tribal motifs, mythic narratives, and domestic themes, transformed through a contemporary sensibility. Her recent significant exhibitions include “Cosmic Garden”, a collaborative project with Chanakya School of Craft at the Venice Biennale, Italy (2024); “Agradoot, Agents of Change” at Art Alive Gallery (2023); “Madhvi Parekh: The Curious Seeker” at DAG, Mumbai (2018); “Living Walls” at Art Alive Gallery (2013); “Fair and Furious: Feminine Fables”, Jebiwool Art Museum, Seoul (2004); Chemould Art Gallery, Mumbai (2001); “The Self and the World”, Gallery Bose Pacia Modern, New York, and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai (1997); and “A Critical Difference”, a landmark exhibition of nine Indian artists at Camden Art Centre, London (1993). Parekh has also participated in numerous workshops and collaborative projects, and her contributions to Indian contemporary art have been widely discussed in major publications. In 2022, her work was presented in collaboration with the House of Dior during Paris Haute Couture Week, reaffirming her relevance across artistic and cultural contexts. A documentary titled Dwitya (1992), produced by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, chronicles the artistic journeys of Madhvi and Manu Parekh. Madhvi Parekh lives and works in New Delhi
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