
Prabhavathi Meppayil, l/hundred thirty one, 2018, copper wire embedded in gesso panel, 121.9 cm × 121.9 cm × 5 cm (48" × 48" × 1-15/16") © Prabhavathi Meppayil
Prabhavathi Meppayil

Details:
b. 1965, Bangalore, India
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Pace Publications:
Prabhavathi Meppayil invokes artisanal legacies, affinities with Indian culture, and Minimalist and Postminimalist concepts in her work. She emphasizes process, gesture, and the qualities inherent to her materials.
From a family of several generations of goldsmiths, Meppayil has adopted the use of precious metals and goldsmithing tools and techniques as integral to her practice. In some works, she embeds thin gold or copper wires onto the surface of white gesso panels to create delicately precise lines; in others, she creates patterned abstractions with a thinnam, a traditional tool used by goldsmiths to incise patterns into metal. Meppayil’s integration of craft-based labor and process-based art positions her work in unique dialogue with a complex history of material and artistic production.
Her work is held in numerous public collections, including the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Delhi; François Pinault Collection, Venice; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Samdani Art Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Prabhavathi Meppayil, fifteen six zero-0630, 2019, concrete and copper, 15 cm × 38 cm × 38 cm (5-7/8" × 14-15/16" × 14-15/16") © Prabhavathi Meppayil

Prabhavathi Meppayil, n/eighty nine, 2016, copper wire embedded in gesso panel, 48" × 60" (121.9 cm × 152.4 cm) © Prabhavathi Meppayil
Prabhavathi Meppayil
One-Artist Exhibitions
Prabhavathi Meppayil
One-Artist Exhibitions
Dates
Born 1965, Bangalore, India
Lives and works in Bangalore
Education
1992, Ken School of Art, Bangalore, Diploma in Fine Arts
1986, Bangalore University, BA
2022
Prabhavathi Meppayil, Pace Gallery, 540 West 25th Street, New York, May 13–June 18, 2022. (Catalogue)
2019
Prabhavathi Meppayil: Recent Works, Pace Gallery, 6 Burlington Gardens, London, April 26–May 25, 2019.
2018
Prabhavathi Meppayil: b/seven eighths, Esther Schipper, Berlin, June 8–August 11, 2018.
2017
Prabhavathi Meppayil, Galleryske, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, January 20–March 16, 2017.
2016
Prabhavathi Meppayil, Pace Gallery, 537 West 24th Street, New York, October 28–December 23, 2016.
2014
Prabhavathi Meppayil: berlinoneseven, Johnen Galerie, Berlin, September 17–November 15, 2014.
Prabhavathi Meppayil: nine seventeen, American Academy in Rome, April 2–May 12, 2014. Traveled to: Pace London, 6–10 Lexington Street, June 26–August 2, 2014. (Catalogue)
2013
Prabhavathi Meppayil: Recent Works 2013, Galleryske, Bangalore, December 14, 2013–February 8, 2014.
2010
Prabhavathi Meppayil: Recent Work, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, April 16–May 15, 2010. (Catalogue)
2007
Recent Works by Prabhavathi Meppayil, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, December 21–22, 2007.
2001
Prabhavathi Meppayil, Forum Schlossplatz, Aarau, Switzerland, June 16–28, 2001.
1999
Prabhavathi Meppayil, Chitra Art Gallery, Bangalore, 1999.
Prabhavathi Meppayil
Group Exhibitions
Prabhavathi Meppayil
Group Exhibitions
2024
Pace Tokyo: Special Preview, Pace Gallery, Tokyo, July 6–August 9, 2024.
2022
Other Worlds Than This, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York, July 23–November 6, 2022.
2021
Little Things: Parts I & II, Pace Gallery, Geneva, November 10, 2021–January 29, 2022.
Modern in Your Life, BassamFellows, Ridgefield, Connecticut, July 9–September 4, 2021. Co-organized by R&Company, New York.
Carve, Curve, Cane, R&Company, 82 Franklin Street, New York, June 22–August 27, 2021. Co-organized by BassamFellows, Ridgefield, Connecticut.
We Do Not Dream Alone: Asia Society Triennial Part II, Asia Society, New York, March 26–June 27, 2021.
2020
Fault Lines, Philadelphia Museum of Art, March 13–October 25, 2020.
Crafting Geometry: Abstract Art from South and West Asia, Sotheby’s, New York, February 28–March 16, 2020.
Seismic Movements: Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh, February 7–15, 2020.
Scripting Time Memory Ecology, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Delhi, January 29–June 30, 2020.
2018
Cosmopolis #1.5: Enlarged Intelligence, Organized by Mao Jihong Arts Foundation in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou. Traveled to: Dong Jiao Ji Yi, Chengdu, November 3, 2018–January 6, 2019.
Superposition: Art of Equilibrium and Engagement, 21st Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, March 16–June 11, 2018.
2017
Everything We Do Is Music, Drawing Room, London, November 30, 2017–March 4, 2018. Traveled to: Pasquart Kunsthaus Centre d’art, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, April 15–June 10, 2018. (Catalogue)
Yokohama Triennale 2017: Islands, Constellations & Galapagos, Yokohama Museum of Art, August 4–November 5, 2017.
The Mulberry Forest Becoming Ocean, Esther Shipper, Berlin, January 20–February 25, 2017.
2016
Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2016, Kochi, India, December 12, 2016–March 29, 2017.
The Mulberry Forest Becoming Ocean, Esther Schipper, Berlin, November 4–December 17, 2016.
The Horizontal, Cheim & Read, New York, July 6–August 31, 2017.
Dhaka Art Summit, Samdani Art Foundation, Bangladesh, February 5–8, 2016.
2015
Codes of Culture, Galleryske, New Delhi, January 22–March 18, 2015.
Approaching Abstraction, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai, January 13–February 20, 2015.
2014
Carte Blanche, Pace Chesa Büsin, Zuoz, Switzerland, February 20–March 30, 2014.
2013
Delhi Inaugural Show, Galleryske, New Delhi, November 25, 2013–January 2014.
2012
Everything/Nothing, Galleryske, Bangalore, October 6–November 24, 2012.
The Encyclopedic Palace, 55th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale, June 1–November 24, 2012. (Catalogue)
Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, May 18–September 2, 2012.
2011
Equator #1: Shadow Lines: Indonesia Meets India, Biennale Jogja XI 2011 [11th Yogyakarta Biennale], Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, November 25, 2011–January 8, 2012. (Catalogue)
2010
Orientations: Trajectories in Indian Art, Foundation De 11 Lijnen, Oudenburg, Belgium, 2010.
2008
Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art. Organized by Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, November 22, 2008–March 15, 2009. Traveled to: National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, April 17–June 7, 2009; Essl Museum, Vienna, September 2–November 1, 2009. (Catalogues)
The Sakshi Show, Sakshi Gallery, Kochi, India, April 17–23, 2008.
2007
Horn Please: Narratives in Contemporary Indian Art, Kunstmuseum Bern, September 21, 2007–January 6, 2008. (Catalogue)
Inaugural Show: New Space: Colaba, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, February 18–24, 2007.
Soft Spoken, Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2007. (Catalogue)
2006
The Inverted Tree, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi, 2007.
2005
Double-Enders. Organized by Jehangir Art Gallery and The Museum Gallery, Mumbai. Traveled to: Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi; Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore; Durbar Hall Art Gallery, Kochi.
Span, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, 2005.
Ten Years, Ten Artists, Gästeatelier Krone, Aarau, Switzerland, August 2005. (Catalogue)
South Asian Women Artists Residency Show, Finomenal Space Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 10–23, 2005.
Are We Like This Only?, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, March 19–25, 2005. (Catalogue)
2004
Subtlety-Minimally, Sakshi Gallery, New Delhi, 2004. (Catalogue)
2003
Recent works, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi, 2003.
Highlights, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, 2003.
2001
On the Edge of the Volume, Sakshi Gallery and Alliance Française, Bangalore, 2001.
Exile and Longing, Emerging Art Practices from Kerala, Lakeeren Gallery, Mumbai, 20001.
2000
Bhoomi Geetha: Song of the Earth, Red Chair Gallery, University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, 2000.
Prabhavathi Meppayil
Public Collections
Prabhavathi Meppayil
Public Collections
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Delhi
Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum, Ahmadabad, India
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Pinault Collection, Paris
Samdani Art Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Prabhavathi Meppayil
Periodicals
Prabhavathi Meppayil
Periodicals
2019
Doupas, Vassilios. “Prabhavathi Meppayil at Pace Gallery, London” (exhibition review). Contemporary Art Society, 10 May 2019. http://www.contemporaryartsociety.org/news/friday-dispatch-news/prabhavathi-meppayil-pace-gallery-london/
Frankel, Eddy. “Prabhavathi Meppayil: ‘Recent Works’” (Pace Gallery exhibition review). Time out London, May 14–20, 2019: 72, illustrated.
LaBarge, Emily. “Prabhavathi Meppayil” (Pace Gallery exhibition review). Artforum 58, no. 1, (September 2019): 270, illustrated.
Meppayil, Prabhavathi. “Prabhavathi Meppayil at Pace” (exhibition review). Phaidon, 10 May 2019. https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2019/may/10/prabhavathi-meppayil-at-pace/
"Prabhavathi Meppayil." In Great Women Painters, Phaidon: London, 2022: 197, illustrated.
“The 10 Exhibitions to See in November 2024” (Jhaveri Contemporary exhibition review). ArtReview, 7 November 2024. https://artreview.com/10-exhibitions-to-see-in-november-2024/
Wullschläger, Jackie. “Visual Arts – Prabhavathi Meppayil: Recent Works” (Pace Gallery exhibition review). Financial Times, 20–21 April 2019: 16.
2016
Droitcour, Brian. “Prabhavathi Meppayil” (Pace Gallery exhibition review). Art in America, accessed 30 November 2016. http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/exhibitions/prabhavathi-meppayil/
Enrico. “Prabhavathi Meppayil at Pace Gallery New York” (exhibition review). Vernissage.tv, 10 November 2016. Online video, 3:41. http://vernissage.tv/2016/11/10/prabhavathi-meppayil-at-pace-gallery-new-york/
“Galleries—Chelsea: Prabhavathi Meppayil” (Pace Gallery exhibition review). The New Yorker, 28 November 2016: 14.
Jayaram, Suresh. “What You See When You See: Prabhavathi M: Minimal Poetry Between Memory and Loss” (Kochi Biennale exhibition review). Bangalore Mirror, 26 December 2016. http://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/what-you-see-when-you-see-prabhavathi-m-minimal-poetry-between-memory-and-loss/articleshow/56174310.cms
Khurana, Chanpreet. “In This Indian Artist’s Stunning Works, Chance Plays a Powerful Role” (Gallery SKE exhibition review). Scroll.in, 3 February 2017. https://scroll.in/magazine/828349/in-this-indian-artists-stunning-works-chance-plays-a-powerful-role
Lempesis, Dimitris. “Art-Presentation: Prabhavathi Meppayil” (Pace Gallery exhibition review). Dream Idea Machine, 28 October 2016. http://www.dreamideamachine.com/en/?p=19940
Meppayil, Prabhavathi. “Prabhavathi Meppayil with Laila Pedro” (Pace Gallery exhibition review). Interview with Laila Pedro. The Brooklyn Rail, December 2016. http://www.brooklynrail.org/2016/12/art/prabhavathi-meppayil-with-laila-pedro
Meppayil, Prabhavathi. “The Artists’ Artists: Venkatappa Art Gallery, Bangalore, India.” Artforum 56, no. 4 (December 2017): 66.
Riley, Charles A. “Art Review: Rothko’s ‘Dark Palette,’ Meppayil’s Bright Minimalism at Pace” (exhibition review). Hamptons Art Hub, 21 November 2016. http://hamptonsarthub.com/2016/11/21/reviews-art-review-rothkos-dark-palette-meppayils-bright-minimalism-at-pace/
2015
Bent, Siobhan. “Exhibitions: Once in a Lifetime: Prabhavathi Meppayil” (Pace London exhibition review). Art Asia Pacific, vol. X (Almanac 2015): 277, illustrated.
2014
Carabelli, Fabrizia. “I monocromi di Meppayil” (American Academy in Rome exhibition review). InsideArt.eu, 2 April 2014. http://insideart.eu/2014/04/02/i-monocromi-di-prabhavathi-meppayil
De Sanctis, Linda. “Gesso e fili di rame l’arte Indiana della Meppayil” (American Academy in Rome exhibition review). La Repubblica, 3 April 2014: XVI.
Edward, Sassi. “Meppayil, arte a fil di rame” (American Academy in Rome exhibition review). Corriere della Sera, 8 April 2014: 11.
“Indiana, ma non pop” (American Academy in Rome exhibition review). Exibart.com, 6 April 2014. http://www.exibart.com/notizia.asp?IDCategoria=52&IDNotizia=42061
Jhaveri, Shanay. “Prabhavathi Meppayil” (Pace London exhibition review). Frieze, no. 166 (October 2014): 261, illustrated.
Maestosi, Danilo. “La magia dei colori di gesso nelle opere di Meppayil” (American Academy in Rome exhibition review). Il Messaggero, 3 April 2014.
Stampa, Ufficio. “Prabhavathi Meppayil, Nine Seventeen” (American Academy in Rome exhibition review). Art Noise, 1 April 2014. http://www.artnoise.it/ai1ec_event/prabhavathi-meppayil-nine-seventeen/?instance_id=
2013
“55th Venice Biennale (Il Palazzo Enciclopedico – Arsenale Part 4)” (exhibition review). ART it, 2013.
Ananth, Deepak. “Influential and Emerging: Nasreen Mohamedi & Prabhavathi Meppayil.” Art Asia Pacific, no. 83 (May/June 2013): 165, illustrated.
“Asia: Prabhavathi Meppayil” (GALLERYSKE exhibition preview). Modern Painters 25, no. 11 (2013): 46.
Carabelli, Emilia. “Quando l’arte si combina con il turismo” (Pace at Chesa Büsin exhibition review). Corriere del Ticino, 13 March 2014: 34, illustrated.
2012
Shankar, Karin. “Dual Enquiry” (Galleryske exhibition review). Art India 17, no.2 (June 2012): 100, illustrated.
2011
Jakimowicz, Marta. “Made for Each Other.” Art India 16, no.3 (September 2011): 36–39.
Sareen, Hemant. “Break the Cycle of Seeing: Indian Minimalism.” Art Asia Pacific 75 (September/October 2011): 94–103.
2007
Frehner, Matthias, Suman Gopinath and Bernhard Fibicher, etc. “Horn Please: Erzählen in der zeitgenössischen indischen Kunst” (Kunstmuseum Bern exhibition review). Berner Kunstmitteilungen, October–December 2007: 2–6, illustrated.
Prabhavathi Meppayil
Books and Catalogues
Prabhavathi Meppayil
Books and Catalogues
2022
Morrill, Rebecca, ed. Great Women Painters. London: Phaidon, 2022: 197, illustrated.
Prabhavathi Meppayil (exhibition catalogue). Texts by Rosalind Krauss, Michaela de Lacaze Mohrmann, and Mami Kataoka. Interview with Wells Fray-Smith. New York: Pace Gallery, 2022.
2017
Everything We Do Is Music (exhibition catalogue). Text by Shanay Jhaveri. London: Drawing Room, 2017: 26–30, illustrated.
2016
“Prabhavathi Meppayil: tw/one, 2016.” In Art Basel Unlimited 2016. Ostfilden, Germany: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2016: 134–5, illustrated.
Prabhavathi Meppayil. Addendum to Prabhavathi Meppayil: nine seventeen: 2014. New York: Pace Gallery, 2016.
2014
Prabhavathi Meppayil: nine seventeen (exhibition catalogue). Texts by Benjamin H.D. Buchloh, and Deepak Ananth. London: Pace London, 2014.
2013
55th Venice Biennale, The Encyclopedic Palace (exhibition catalogue). Massimiliano Gioni, editor.
Venice: Marsilio, 2013.
2011
Biennale Jogja XI 2011 [11th Yogyakarta Biennale] / Equator #1: Shadow Lines: Indonesia Meets India (exhibition catalogue). Yogyakarta: Yayasan Biennale, 2011.
2010
Prabhavathi Meppayil: Recent Work (exhibition catalogue). New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2010.
2009
Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art (exhibition catalogue). Munich, London, and New York: Prestel, 2009.
Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art (exhibition catalogue). Seoul, Korea: National Museum of Contemporary Art, 2009.
2008
Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art (exhibition catalogue). Tokyo: Mori Bijutsukan, 2008.
2007
Horn Please, Narratives in Contemporary Indian Art (exhibition catalogue). Ostfldern, Germany and New York: Hatje Cantz, 2007.
Soft Spoken (exhibition catalogue). Mumbai: Bombay Art Gallery, 2007.
2005
Ten Years, Ten Artists (exhibition catalogue) Aarau: Gästeatelier Krone Aarau, c/o W.A. Haller, 2005.
Are We Like This Only? (exhibition catalogue) Texts by Vidya Shivadas. New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2005.
2004
Subtlety-Minimally (exhibition catalogue). New Delhi: Sakshi Gallery, New Delhi, 2004.