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阿卡瑪諾羅·奈爾斯

You Know I Used To Love You but Now I Don’t Think I Can: There Ain’t No Right Way To Say Goodbye Again

London

2022年11月9日–2023年1月7日

Detail of painting by Arcmanoro Niles

No.9 Cork Street

Mayfair, London W1S 3LL

Lehmann Maupin presents You Know I Used To Love You but Now I Don’t Think I Can: There Ain’t No Right Way To Say Goodbye Again, an exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by New York-based artist Arcmanoro Niles. The exhibition marks the first presentation of the artist’s work in Europe and his second with the gallery. Drawing upon a variety of genres, including portraiture, landscape, and still life, the works in You Know I Used to Love You… examine what it means to say goodbye to people, places, and behaviors. Across the exhibition, Niles employs an expressive color palette as he depicts moments of quiet rupture: experiencing loss and heartbreak, aging, leaving home, giving up habits. 

Vividly capturing feeling and mood, the artist draws upon his own experiences primarily as a means of connecting to others. The artist’s works are highly personal in their content, and Niles often depicts emotionally charged memories and scenes as he charts a record of contemporary existence that is simultaneously intimate and collective. “Painting has been a way for me to approach topics that I felt like I couldn't talk about growing up and things I feel like we don't always know how to talk about now,” the artist stated. “I think a lot about how people deal or cope with aging, loneliness, heartbreak, and love. A lot of my paintings are reflections on these things.”

Installation view of Arcmanoro Niles at Lehmann Maupin London
Installation Views: 1/4
Installation view of Arcmanoro Niles at Lehmann Maupin London
Installation Views: 1/3
Painting by Arcmanoro Niles

阿卡瑪諾羅·奈爾斯

Growing Up May Be The Hardest Thing I Do (Healing Doesn’t Happen In A Straight Line), 2022

阿卡瑪諾羅·奈爾斯

Always Had Me Under Your Spell (Some Things Ain’t Meant To Stay The Same), 2022

Painting by Arcmanoro Niles

阿卡瑪諾羅·奈爾斯

I Don’t Keep Liquor Here (I’ve Been Learning How To Do It All The Hard Way), 2022

Painting by Arcmanoro Niles

阿卡瑪諾羅·奈爾斯

I Knew You When I Had A Dream (But That Was Seven Summers Ago), 2022

Work on paper by Arcmanoro Niles

阿卡瑪諾羅·奈爾斯

Thought I Was Moving On (a Little Bit of Love Was All She Needed), 2022

Work on paper by Arcmanoro Niles

阿卡瑪諾羅·奈爾斯

Sometimes Think About My High School Sweetheart (We Reach for Something That’s Already Gone), 2022

Portrait of Arcmanoro Niles

阿卡瑪諾羅·奈爾斯(1989年生於美國華盛頓,現於紐約工作和生活)透過創作色彩明亮鮮豔的繪畫,拓寬傳統風俗畫和肖像畫的既定概念。奈爾斯提供了一扇窗口,讓觀眾一探日常生活中看似平凡的時刻,例如坐在餐桌前吃早餐的孩子、準備上車的男人、在臥室裡的夫婦。這些作品取材自奈爾斯親朋好友的照片,以及他回憶中的過去。奈爾斯的作品非常個人並具有強烈的自傳性,主要圍繞「家居」和「家庭生活」兩個普世主題。作品借鑒了許多藝術前輩的藝術風格,例如意大利和荷蘭的巴洛克風格、歷史繪畫、色域繪畫和古埃及雕塑等許多富有歷史價值的藝術實踐。奈爾斯受多種風格和流派啟發,尤其是16世紀意大利畫家卡拉瓦喬(Caravaggio)以家人和朋友的日常生活為題的繪畫。透過描繪親友和他們所置身的地方和時間,奈爾斯創造了自己獨有的當代生活記錄。

活力四射的橙色、粉紅色、紫色、藍色和綠色都是奈爾斯作品的標誌,並在創作時逐層上色,以營造出飽和的光芒。作品中每個人物的棕色皮膚都帶金色色調,頭髮亦散發出淡淡的紫色、橙色或粉紅色閃光。起初,奈爾斯奉行更傳統的現實主義創作,直至2015年,奈爾斯為自己無法呈現家人和朋友的皮膚色調深度而感到挫敗。因此他開始繪畫色彩鮮豔的作品,把橙色和粉紅色融入場景的背景中,為作品增添了深度和活力。這不但使他的作畫技術更穩固,並改變了此後每幅畫。在此期間,奈爾斯亦開始將他稱之為「搜索者」(“seekers”)的角色融入作品中。這些「搜索者」一般是小型的姿態性(gestural)角色,或以圓潤的小精靈為形出現,並代表著人類最原始的衝動和慾望。奈爾斯說:「『搜索者』比較衝動,他們會不顧後果地追逐一切在當下使他們愉快的事物;反之,人類比較容易受傷,但亦較願意敞開心扉。」「搜索者」引領觀眾形式地觀察作品,同時邀請我們想像畫中場景之前或之後可能發生的事,以暗示每個人物的內在動機。

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You Know I Used To Love You but Now I Don’t Think I Can: There Ain’t No Right Way To Say Goodbye Again | Lehmann Maupin