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Lot Essay
Born in Iran, Nicky Nodjoumi has lived in New York since 1968 where he completed his studies in Fine Arts at the City College of Art. At the time of the Islamic revolution in 1978- 79, Nodjoumi travelled back to his homeland, but returned to New York where he became politically engaged in the quest for freedom of democracy against the Iranian government, by designing statement posters and political satires. With time, Nodjoumi sought to find his own narrative in paintings that were politically and socially charged. His works revealed his Persian background, yet moved away from the art scene that flourished in his homeland and revealed the influences of Western artists such as Willem de Kooning and James Rosenquist. As a result, his paintings juggle between reality and surrealism to purposely blur the lines and are reminiscent of his earlier political satires, but with a surreal and abstract twist, thus charged with ambiguity and irony.
In Searching for New Experiment, Nodjoumi depicts a scene in which three men, in business attire suits, are carefully examining a massive stone as if it were a living body. The patterns on their suits reference harlequins and add to the absurdity of the scene. The elements of strangeness and satire in Nicky Nodjoumi's composition, coupled with the linear style that is evocative of his early political cartoons, create an effect that is altogether greatly expressive and poetic. The figures, centered in the composition appear as still image collages on the surface of the canvas, frozen in time and space without any attention to perspective. The atmostphere of Nicky Nodjoumi's painting is dream-like and hints at the imaginary world of the artist.
Nicky Nodjoumi has participated in many exhibitions in the United States and abroad, the most recent of which is currently at the Taymour Grahne Gallery in New York and the Iran Modern exhibition at the Asia Society. Nodjoumi's works are featured in prominent collections internationally, namely the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and the British Museum in London.
In Searching for New Experiment, Nodjoumi depicts a scene in which three men, in business attire suits, are carefully examining a massive stone as if it were a living body. The patterns on their suits reference harlequins and add to the absurdity of the scene. The elements of strangeness and satire in Nicky Nodjoumi's composition, coupled with the linear style that is evocative of his early political cartoons, create an effect that is altogether greatly expressive and poetic. The figures, centered in the composition appear as still image collages on the surface of the canvas, frozen in time and space without any attention to perspective. The atmostphere of Nicky Nodjoumi's painting is dream-like and hints at the imaginary world of the artist.
Nicky Nodjoumi has participated in many exhibitions in the United States and abroad, the most recent of which is currently at the Taymour Grahne Gallery in New York and the Iran Modern exhibition at the Asia Society. Nodjoumi's works are featured in prominent collections internationally, namely the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and the British Museum in London.