Nick Farhi “Clay Orchestra”

Tillou Fine Art

[[Image: Nick Farhi "Jugheads In A Blanket Roadside" (2019) Oil on Aluminum Panel, 11 x 13 in.]

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TILLOU FINE ART presents Clay Orchestra, a comprehensive solo exhibition of paintings by artist Nick Farhi. The exhibition will feature a series of new paintings that were made while the artist was living in Mexico City, exploring where nostalgia and subliminally nostalgic propaganda live and thrive through objects across cultures. Clay Orchestra will run from October 19th through December 14th, 2019, with an opening reception on Saturday, October 19th, from 4 - 7 pm. This will be Farhi’s first solo show with TILLOU FINE ART.

In Clay Orchestra, historically mass-produced ceramic objects are honored through expressive portraits. Sensuous oil paintings on aluminum panels float through the exhibition, grouped by type: harlequins, jars, honey bear containers and ambiguous figures. The juxtaposition of these works also forms a still-life of sorts — the individual paintings, in aggregate, form an archetype of yard sales, fireplace mantles, and manufactured nostalgia on display in homes around the world. This grouping unearths a commonality between different countries despite political histories and cultural differences, revealing a deep truth: tiny idols always seem to make their way into other homes and either clutter spaces or fade into obscurity.

Farhi celebrates each piece individually in this collection, playfully fostering the sentiment and delightful universality inherent in the accumulation of the otherwise unimportant objects that accent households, garages, basements, and attics of people all over the world. Ranging in origins from South America, China and Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and North America, he brings an eclectic family of characters softly into concert together for the first time.