Manisha Parekh

Manisha Parekh is an Indian contemporary artist whose practice explores the relationships between form, texture, rhythm, and space. Born into an artistic family, with painters Manu and Madhavi Parekh as her parents, she grew up surrounded by art and developed an early interest in materials and visual composition. She studied painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University, Baroda, before pursuing further studies at the Royal College of Art, London, on an Inlaks scholarship.

Working across drawing, painting, paper, and installation, Parekh creates compositions that balance formal precision with organic movement. Her works often employ a restrained palette, placing emphasis on the material qualities of ink, gouache, and layered surfaces. Through the interplay of lines, curves, and recurring shapes, she builds rhythmic structures in which simple forms evolve into complex visual relationships. Vessels, cellular patterns, and forms suggestive of the human body recur in her practice, reflecting her interest in the ways abstract configurations can evoke living systems. Over time, her approach has expanded from tightly controlled brushwork towards more fluid gestures and immersive, site-specific installations.

Parekh has exhibited extensively in India and internationally, with solo exhibitions in New Delhi, Mumbai, London, New York, Amsterdam, and Bonn. Her work has also featured in the Istanbul Biennial in 1999 and the Havana Biennial in 2001. In addition to her artistic practice, she has taught at M. S. University, Baroda. She lives and works in New Delhi.