| Medium | : | Charcoal |
|---|---|---|
| Height | : | 17 inch / 43.2 cm |
| Width | : | 14 inch / 35.6 cm |
| Dimension | : | W: 35.6 cm × H: 43.2 cm |
A delicate 1998 charcoal drawing by Manu Parekh, featuring an ethereal human profile interwoven with fragile linear motifs, reflecting themes of memory, restraint, and psychological introspection.
Manu Parekh | Untitled | Charcoal on Paper | 17 x 14 inches | 1998
This untitled drawing by Manu Parekh reveals the artist’s deeply introspective and lyrical approach to the human form, rendered through fragile, meandering charcoal lines. A side-profile face emerges delicately from a web of linear marks, its features—nose, eye, and mouth—suggested rather than fully defined, allowing absence and erasure to play an equal role in the composition. Intersecting the visage are horizontal lines punctuated with knotted forms, evoking threads, bindings, or fragile ties that appear to both suspend and constrain the figure within the pictorial space. Scattered organic shapes—suggestive of birds, bows, or floating fragments—introduce a dreamlike rhythm, blurring the boundaries between body, memory, and environment. The restrained palette and subtle stains on the paper enhance the sense of vulnerability and impermanence, reinforcing themes of isolation, introspection, and psychological tension. Parekh’s mastery lies in transforming minimal gestures into a haunting emotional landscape, where the figure feels simultaneously present and dissolving—an embodiment of inner consciousness rather than physical reality.
Manu Parekh’s paintings on the infamous Bhagalpur blindings in 1980 reveal his deep response to humanity, in much the same way as Guernica was picasso’s response to the horrors of war.
Born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Manu Parekh studied at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay. With influences as varied as Arshile Gorky, Roberto Matta, S. B. Palsikar and Rabindranath Tagore, Parekh has always sought to explore his inner landscape through art.
Perhaps best known for his Banaras series, Parekh’s works are characterised by his intuitive use of colour, bold brushstrokes, and prominent lines. He has experimented with colourful abstractions, sexual imagery, and figuration, responding as much to nature as to daily life and social issues. The women in his works are represented as nature spirits, plant forms, germinating seeds and allegorical figures, recalling mythological traditions.
Stage designer, art designer, actor and artist, Manu Parekh brings diverse perspectives to his work. Craft has been a long-term interest and association with the Weavers’ Service Centre as a consultant designer gave him the opportunity to work with craftsmen. He has travelled widely across India studying the indigenous techniques and styles of folk artists.
Parekh received the President of India’s silver plaque and the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society’s award in 1972, and the national award of the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, in 1982. In 1992, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India. His retrospective show at National Gallery of Modern Art also travelled to Mumbai and Bengaluru. He lives and works in New Delhi along with his artist wife, Madhvi Parekh.
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