Nina Chanel Abney’s Two Sides of the Same Coin

Video produced by Maria Brito. Camera: Peter Koloff. Editing Maria Brito and Peter Koloff.

Fake news, yellow journalism, sensationalism, Russian hackers, conspiracy theories.  If real life weren’t as scathing, we’d think we are living inside of an episode of the acclaimed TV series “24” crossed with “The Truman Show.”  And because of the strangeness of these times, looking at artists like Nina Chanel Abney becomes even more critical for our sanity.  It is no secret that I’ve been a fan and supporter of her work for a long time because she represents all that I embrace in an artist: besides being an amazing person, she has a great technique - her canvases have incredible composition, a masterly use of colors, an upbeat look at art history, her own voice, an evolution of her language, and unapologetic subject matters: content that is so urgent, relevant and necessary today.

Her two current exhibitions at Jack Shainman Gallery and at Mary Boone Gallery show two divergent points of view: Seized The Imagination at Shainman represents the turmoil in this country, starting with fake news and ranging from politics to the media to racial tensions to the role of institutions (and those who believe in them). Safe House at Mary Boone is the answer to all that chaos: the healing, more uplifting, more positive view that an optimistic Nina wants us to see.

Nina Chanel Abney

Seized the Imagination

Jack Shainman Gallery 

513 West 20th Street 

NY, NY 10011

and 

Safe House

Mary Boone Gallery

541 West 24th Street 

NY, NY 10011