Born in 1980, Manish Nai is a frontline Indian abstract artist He received a Diploma in Drawing and Painting from the L S Raheja School of Art in Mumbai The artist utilises unusual materials including jute, newspaper, concrete, and cardboard to create his body of work Rooted in daily life themes, he utilises these materials and turns them into elegant geometric forms This visual representation of his art is reflective of the passing of time and the effects of light, water, or gravity on the material

His works consist of large-format diptychs, collages on jute, and canvas His relationship with jute is deeply personal which the artist often uses to create his artwork His father owned a jute factory but suffered heavy losses The artist used the unused jute from the factory to create his body of work A closer look at the work reveals his belief in the process of creation and not one particular image His other work, utilising newspapers, showcases the diversity of Indian society as 100 newspapers in 19 different languages are distributed daily in India

The artist has exhibited his works at notable venues in India and abroad including Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi (2019); Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai (2017, 2019); Para Site, Hong Kong (2018); Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (2018); NTU CCA, Singapore (2018) and more He participated in the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India (2014) and Shanghai Biennale, China (2012) The artist continues to work and lives in Mumbai