Taymour Grahne Projects is pleased to present Tails of the Lost Dreams a solo show by NY-based artist Nicky Nodjoumi, opening on September 10th 4-7pm at the Holland Park space (10 Portland Road) as part of a joint opening across our 3 spaces.

Nicky Nodjoumi's practice has continued to evolve since he first came to America in the 1970's. A connecting thread throughout this time is what Nodjoumi describes as a relish in the discomfort of beauty. Paintings of past and present engage in a political context, but it is the own associations that viewers bring that make each painting so rich in philosophical and societal meaning. Throughout Nodjoumi’s practice, aesthetics play an important role. His paintings raise the question, how can something uncomfortable or warped be represented, and then utilised for didactic consideration?

In this latest series of works, the landscape takes centre stage. These are some of Nodjoumi's most intimately scaled paintings to date. The juxtaposed scenes of nature start life as cerebral collages composed in Nodjoumi’s head, which have been pulled from in person experiences and documentative images from trips that friends and family have taken.

In Slow Song, one might understand at first glance a violent contorted jumble of bodies in action, where sharp sections are intercut in different colour, orientation and distance. The three strongest colours here are blue, red and a lighter earthy shade – this bold grouping becomes very much evocative of the flag, an emblem that is designed to exalt a definitive part of the world or perspective. By considering a bold array of reference points and refusing to pin each one down, Nodjoumi works with a strong sense of ambiguity.

On closer inspection of Slow Song, one finds figures not in battle, but instead find leaves and stalks of plants that been intertwined cleverly together. The contrast between initial and sustained viewing, brings up questions of portrayal and the accuracy of perspective.

Figures collide with an array of plant life, objects are introduced in large form and sometimes painted upside down. Here nature becomes a political currency. Who has control over it, who has the power to harm it, who will save it and how do seemingly random objects provide further critique to the scene. In the titular image The Tail of the Lost Dreams, one finds a shoe of colossal scale dwarfing a band of smartly dressed figures. The shoe is understood to be a symbol of the working man, liberty and freedom. Even though the shoe towers above the satirically depicted characters - the suited figures retain ultimate power and remind us of the bittersweet fallacy of life.

Nicky Nodjoumi's works have been acquired by prominent institutional collections worldwide, including: the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the British Museum in London, LACMA in Los Angeles, the Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, among others. In 2014, Nicky had a solo exhibition at the Cleveland Institute of Art titled The Accident, and in 2019 a solo exhibition at the Kansas City Art Institute, titled The Long Day. The artist lives and works in Brooklyn. His shows have been reviewed by major publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Brooklyn Rail, and the Boston Review, among others.