Flower Sutra by Manu Parekh

An Exhibition by Manu Parekh

It is not possible to separate Manu Parekh and Banaras. Like Ram Kumar, he has been painting the various dimensions of Banaras for years. Both the physical and spiritual aspects of Banaras are visible in his art. Recently, his solo exhibition was held at Nature Morte Gallery in Delhi, in which flowers are at the centre.

Nature Morte is pleased to present a new body of work, "Flower Sutra," by one of Delhi's most prolific senior painters. Continuing an artistic practice that began in the 1970s, Manu Parekh shows no signs of slowing down or resting on his laurels. The exhibition of works on canvas and paper created in the past few years is evidence of a mind that continues to challenge how the heart can come together with the hands to create works of passion and bravura.

In his latest works, Parekh continues his lifelong engagement with dualities: order and chaos, stillness and movement, creation and decay. A painter attuned to life’s energies, he channels these tensions into compositions that pulse with rhythm and contrast. Energy is central to Parekh’s practice, made visible through his brushstrokes. Layers build upon each other: thick impasto meets delicate washes, jagged lines cut through fluid colour, creating a surface that hums with spontaneity and intention. His paintings don’t just depict movement; they embody it, drawing the viewer into their restless depths. Rather than impose order, Parekh embraces flux. His brushwork reveals movement, capturing the restless energy that animates both nature and human experience.

Manu Parekh, Madhavi Parekh and Nupur Kundu

Amitava Das, Madhavi Parekh and Mona Roy

Uma Shankar Pathak, P R Daroz and Sambit Panda

Suraj Kumar Kashi and Uma Shankar Pathak

Flowers, a recurring motif across cultures, anchor his work in a broader artistic lineage. In Indian miniatures, they symbolize abundance; in Dutch still life, transience. Here, they mark both change and continuity, dissolving and reforming within the painted surface. As Parekh has noted, "Where there is faith, there will be the presence of flowers. Life, birth, marriage, and death: flowers will be there. I have visited the Vatican, Ajmer, Nizamuddin Auliya's dargah, gurudwaras, and Banaras. There were only two things common to all these places: faith and flowers."

Dr. Ved Prakash Bhardwaj

(Photographs by Praveen Mahtoo)