Madhvi Parekh

1942

Is born in village Sanjaya, Gujarat.

1962

The couple move to Bombay with Manu working for Weavers’ Service Centre.

1964

Move to Calcutta.

Begins her career as a self-taught painter with Paul Klee’s Pedagogical Sketchbook as her guide.

1968

She is part of a group show at Birla Academy in Calcutta.

1969

Joint Show with Manu Parekh at Chetna Art Gallery, Bombay.

1972

Her first solo show at Chemould Art Gallery, Kolkata

1975

The couple shift to New Delhi. Recognised with a ‘Certificate of Merit’ at the Women’s International Exhibition, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Has a solo exhibition at Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi. Participates in the third International Triennale India, New Delhi, organised by Lalit Kala Akademi.

1976

Attends the first of a few art camps at Kasauli initiated by Vivan Sundaram.

1977

Joint show of Heads at Dhoomimal Art Gallery with Manu Parekh, New Delhi.

1978

Geeta Kapur grounds Paul Klee’s influence on Parekh’s work: ‘Starting as so many Indian artists do with the enshrined figure of Paul Klee, Madhvi virtually insinuates herself into modernism using certain characteristic features such as a centralised and synoptic motif. Even more relevant to the Klee aesthetic, she foregrounds by obsessive markings the surface itself, inscribing it, then layering it with a superscript like a pictogram and through this projection blocking any form of illusionism.’

1979

National award from Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.

1982

Has a solo exhibition at Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay.

1985

Has a solo exhibition at Al-Khaleeja, Kuwait

1985-87

Forms an informal group of women artists with Nalini Malani, Arpita Singh and Nilima Sheikh. Through the Looking Glass, their joint exhibition, travels to Bhopal, New Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore and is considered one of the most significant exhibitions of contemporary Indian art

1992

Documentary film Dwitya on Madhvi and Manu Parekh by Suraj Purohit, sponsored by Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Has a solo exhibition at Sakshi Gallery, Madras.

1993-94

Has an exhibition of thirty years of her work sponsored by Seagull and Vadehra Art Gallery in New Delhi, Bombay, and Calcutta. Opening show of Centre of International Modern Art Gallery, Calcutta, features her work.

1994

Is a participant at IWALEWA-Haus, Bayreuth, Germany.

1996

Is part of ‘Inside Out: Contemporary Women Artists of India’, a travelling show by Middlesborough Art Gallery, U. K. Participates in ‘Watercolour Show’, Gallery Espace, New Delhi. Is part of ‘Harmony’, Nehru Centre, Bombay.

1997

A landmark exhibition of fifteen women artists curated by Gayatri Sinha, ‘The Self and the World’, features the four women artists who came together for Through the Looking Glass. Exhibitions at Gallery Bose Pacia Modern, New York, and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.

2001

Show at Chemould Art Gallery, Mumbai.

2004

Show at Nature Morte, New Delhi. ‘Fair and Furious: Feminine Fables’, Jebiwool Art Museum, Seoul.

2005

Travels to Jerusalem, visits Yad Vashem, the memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. ‘The Margi & the Desi: Between Tradition and Modernity’, organised by Gallery Espace at Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi.

2006

Show at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi.

2007

On a visit to South Africa, is charmed by the performative use of masks.

2010

Sees Leonardo da Vinci’s mural, The Last Supper, at Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.

2011

Paints her monumental work, The Last Supper. The same year, her paintings based on the same theme are exhibited at St Thomas’s Chapel, Bishop’s College, Kolkata, sponsored by the Seagull Foundation.

2013

‘The Last Supper’ exhibition, sponsored by the Seagull Foundation, is held at Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

2017

‘Madhvi Parekh: The Curious Seeker’, DAG’s retrospective on the artist, opens in New Delhi. Kailash Lalit Kala Award, Chitrakutdham Trust. The Last Supper’ exhibition travels to a church in Goa.

2018

‘Madhvi Parekh: The Curious Seeker’ at DAG, Mumbai.

2019

‘Madhvi Parekh: The Curious Seeker’ at Archer Art Gallery, Ahmedabad. ‘The Last Supper’ exhibition is on view at the Gujarat Theosophical Society’s Mission Chapel. The retrospective travels to DAG, New York.