Gieve Patel

Gieve Patel was born in Mumbai in 1940. He was a general physician, a self-taught artist, a poet and a playwright.

He held his first show in Mumbai in 1966 at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai. Later, he went on to have several major exhibitions in India and abroad including Bose Pacia, New York; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts; Gallery Threshold, New Delhi; Gallery Chemould, Mumbai and The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai.

His works are direct and unambiguous, achieving an objective precision. He addresses social realities, but avoids the reductivism of hardline political positions. Patel painted satirical portraits of politicians. Since 1991, Patel has consistently explored the central image of the water well. He often refers to it as the navel of the earth and it is his place for contemplation. 

In his later works, Patel’s finely tuned painterliness is seen as the surfaces of his works are mottled with a carefully modulated series of textures. Old age is a subject tackled in these works, but the series of paintings also offer us an opportunity to contemplate mastery. 

His poetry works include ‘Poems’ followed by ‘How Do You Withstand, Body’ and ‘Mirrored Mirroring.’ His plays include ‘Princes’, ‘Savaksa’ and ‘Mr Behram’. He also edited a collection of poetry, which was published in 2006. 

Patel passed away in Mumbai in 2023