SELECTED EXHIBITION

Two years ago we showed Manu Parekh's brilliant Banaras paintings for the first time in London. Since then he has completed a cycle of immense panoramic works, exhibited in India to great acclaim and the subject of a recent book on the artist. We include one of these paintings in this exhibition and a whole series of new smaller paintings. These are exhilarating visual statements, depicting his unique interpretation of the organic iconography of the great city.Parekh's own description of the life cycle of Banaras as organic theatre is most apt. Theatricality in Parekh's work is self evident. This can perhaps be traced back to his early interest in Gujarati theatre but also to an instinctive visual extravagance. Parekh paints expansively and with an inner confidence, never more so than in these landscapes. This is not narrative painting but rather a heartfelt identification with the fundamental life forces that are central to Banaras the place.