Prabhavathi Meppayil

Contemporary Indian abstract artist known for her modernist and minimalist paintings, and installation art.

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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.

Born in Bengarulri in 1965 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. She lives and works in Bengaluru, India.

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