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Lot Essay
Internationally acclaimed contemporary artist Nabil Nahas is renowned for his thickly encrusted starfish paintings of which the present lot is a stunning example. This monochrome large-scale square canvas is covered with abundant layers of thousands of irregularly shaped starfish sprawling and forming a magnificent pattern of oceanic nature. Sea stars from the echinoderms family, with radial symmetry, are found only in marine areas, in all levels of an ocean and the deep sea. Echinoderms are also the basis element of many limestone formations and thus of major geological importance. The repetitive pattern of the sea stars in this work is also reflective of the natural phenomenon of regeneration, to a point where in some cases, complete regeneration can occur from a single limb and a single arm can develop a new star with five pointed arms.
Born in Beirut in 1949, Nahas earned his M.F.A from the prestigious Yale University where he was schooled with the finest of Western abstract art. Growing up in the magical nature of the Middle-East of Cairo and Beirut and their surroundings, nearby the Mediterranean and Red seas, Nahas grew a fondness for starfish in the early 1990s in the United States. In 1991, Hurricane Bob had left the sand littered with starfish and Nahas started collecting them and after they had dried, applied them on the surface of his canvases and the dense and textured layers resulted in low-relief sculptures.
In contrast with most of the other flamboyantly coloured works from the celebrated starfish series, the present work is of a golden colour reminding us of golden sun-lit sandy beaches whilst referencing Islamic art influences that have been a part of Nahas’s youth and heritage. As such, Nahas’s work intersects geometric patterns inspired by Islamic art and architecture with American abstract painting of the mid 20th century. He refers to his penchant for the geometry of nature and thus the natural geometry of the starfish unveils the power of the beauty and complexity of nature.
According to Nahas, he explores the notions of process and perception as well as materiality in painting. This work is therefore a thought-provoking amalgamation of Abstract Expressionism, the art of the readymade and collage and art from the Middle-East that mirrors the boundless geometry of nature. From a short distance, the painting becomes thoroughly pictorial as the motifs seem to extend beyond the edges of the canvas – suggestive of an expansion of space, of a marine universe. His works have an all-over composition suggestive of biological growth with organic forms and the proliferation of nature.
The repetitiveness attributes a feature close to optical art, a kind of hypnotic effect. Nahas saw the multiple starfish as constituting a whole, as a satisfaction of plenitude. Repetition can give an impression of dullness however in the work of Nahas, the painting is so pictorially rich through this field of scattered starfish that it defeats any monotony. Like much of Nahas’s work, the technique and meaning come hand in hand. The starfish motifs are presented in varying attractive configurations. Between the process of assemblage and that of collage, this work sheds light on the high technicality of the artist’s work. Crowded with sea creatures and his unique interpretations of nature, his canvases emanate a wonderfully echoed oceanic infinity. Left with no more natural starfish in the late 1990s, he went on to fabricate them himself, casting them in resin. He even produced starfish out of Murano glass, works that were exhibited part of a collateral event of the 54th Venice Biennial, until he was finally able to procure starfish again used in his later series.
The artist’s beautiful creative process thus succinctly encapsulates the essence of a contemporary style by combining a distinct artistic perspective with unique technical manifestations, crafting a perfect union between a contemporaneous technique and a nostalgic visual lexicon.
The present work from 2011 is a truly exceptional composition that accurately captures the fascinating innovation of art as much as Nabil Nahas’s multifaceted background and multicultural inspirations. It is imbued with profound uniqueness as it comes to fruition through the fusion of abstract imagery and dynamic textural surfaces underlining the three-dimensionality of the work. Through these simplified forms, Nahas looks to fill the gap between reality and the imaginary.
Born in Beirut in 1949, Nahas earned his M.F.A from the prestigious Yale University where he was schooled with the finest of Western abstract art. Growing up in the magical nature of the Middle-East of Cairo and Beirut and their surroundings, nearby the Mediterranean and Red seas, Nahas grew a fondness for starfish in the early 1990s in the United States. In 1991, Hurricane Bob had left the sand littered with starfish and Nahas started collecting them and after they had dried, applied them on the surface of his canvases and the dense and textured layers resulted in low-relief sculptures.
In contrast with most of the other flamboyantly coloured works from the celebrated starfish series, the present work is of a golden colour reminding us of golden sun-lit sandy beaches whilst referencing Islamic art influences that have been a part of Nahas’s youth and heritage. As such, Nahas’s work intersects geometric patterns inspired by Islamic art and architecture with American abstract painting of the mid 20th century. He refers to his penchant for the geometry of nature and thus the natural geometry of the starfish unveils the power of the beauty and complexity of nature.
According to Nahas, he explores the notions of process and perception as well as materiality in painting. This work is therefore a thought-provoking amalgamation of Abstract Expressionism, the art of the readymade and collage and art from the Middle-East that mirrors the boundless geometry of nature. From a short distance, the painting becomes thoroughly pictorial as the motifs seem to extend beyond the edges of the canvas – suggestive of an expansion of space, of a marine universe. His works have an all-over composition suggestive of biological growth with organic forms and the proliferation of nature.
The repetitiveness attributes a feature close to optical art, a kind of hypnotic effect. Nahas saw the multiple starfish as constituting a whole, as a satisfaction of plenitude. Repetition can give an impression of dullness however in the work of Nahas, the painting is so pictorially rich through this field of scattered starfish that it defeats any monotony. Like much of Nahas’s work, the technique and meaning come hand in hand. The starfish motifs are presented in varying attractive configurations. Between the process of assemblage and that of collage, this work sheds light on the high technicality of the artist’s work. Crowded with sea creatures and his unique interpretations of nature, his canvases emanate a wonderfully echoed oceanic infinity. Left with no more natural starfish in the late 1990s, he went on to fabricate them himself, casting them in resin. He even produced starfish out of Murano glass, works that were exhibited part of a collateral event of the 54th Venice Biennial, until he was finally able to procure starfish again used in his later series.
The artist’s beautiful creative process thus succinctly encapsulates the essence of a contemporary style by combining a distinct artistic perspective with unique technical manifestations, crafting a perfect union between a contemporaneous technique and a nostalgic visual lexicon.
The present work from 2011 is a truly exceptional composition that accurately captures the fascinating innovation of art as much as Nabil Nahas’s multifaceted background and multicultural inspirations. It is imbued with profound uniqueness as it comes to fruition through the fusion of abstract imagery and dynamic textural surfaces underlining the three-dimensionality of the work. Through these simplified forms, Nahas looks to fill the gap between reality and the imaginary.