Lot 18
  • 18

Nicky Nodjoumi

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Description

  • Nicky Nodjoumi
  • On the Outside
  • signed and dated 2002; signed, titled and dated 2002 on the reverse
  • acrylic on canvas

Provenance

Mahe Mer Gallery, Tehran
Private Collection, Toronto (acquired directly from the above in 2010)

Catalogue Note

Nicky Nodjoumi grew up in Iran observing the political and social upheavals igniting this tumultuous period before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Nodjoumi was an active member of Kanoon, the famed institute for literati youths in pre-revolutionary  Iran. During his university education the young artist joined his politically galvanized peers in their criticism of the Shah’s regime, designing and executing political posters inspired by the revolutionary spirit gripping the young generation at the time.

This political engagement has continued to the present day, greatly influencing the format and execution of his works. Nodjoumi’s signature style, similar to his early posters, employs a reduced and flat method of representation that focuses the viewers’ attention on the characters depicted and their tense burgeoning relationships; he alleviates these scenes by including surreal objects and figures offering a comical satire on an otherwise taxing political discourse.

On the Outside was executed on the eve of the American invasion of Iraq. The work depicts a group of male politicians; democrats and republicans locked in heated conversation, the fish gripped by one character is obliquely representative of their exchange. A visual metaphor, the fish hangs helplessly in his grasp whilst the group casually discuss the ultimate decision of its demise. The inclusion of the fish is archetypal of Nodjoumi’s tongue in cheek signature style where bizarre subjects implicate a sense of ridiculousness; offering a contrast to the formally rigid representations available via other forms of social media. Part of a small group of paintings produced in the early 2000s this work is particularly compelling due to its technique, entirely void of brush stroke; Nodjoumi uses tracing paper to imprint onto the canvas surface in squares, creating a flat print effect. On the Outside, visually and stylistically alludes to his earlier interest in political posters and billboards, giving an iconic and monumental atmosphere to the painting.

Nodjoumi’s works are conceived as theatrical stages, where he deftly weaves compositions illustrated with historic references, political critique, surrealist abstraction, issues of identity and his personal history of dislocation. His compositions are multifaceted; human figures serious yet ridiculous, engaged with bizarrely poised animals, theatrically staged against indeterminate backdrops and barren landscapes; echoing unnamed systems of authoritarian order. In On the Outside, Nodjoumi employs his typical style to represent a pivotal point of global political history, referencing cumulative collective experiences via an uneasy perspective elegantly balanced by his humorous, yet bitter visual satire.