Factor 41 N – 9 W: Riad Miah and Luis Nobre
FACTOR 41 N – 9 W: RIAD MIAH and LUIS NOBRE
ROOSTER GALLERY, 190 ORCHARD STREET, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC
OPENING RECEPTION: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 6 – 8PM
EXHIBITING FROM DECEMBER 6 – JANUARY 6
Riad Miah was born in Trinidad and Tobago, and lives and works in New York, NY. Luis Nobre was born, lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal. Both artists have been colleagues since 2001.
In this show, the Portuguese artist Luis Nobre and the American artist Riad Miah explore ideas of nature, materiality, color and memory. Each is interested in process, in painting and drawing as acts of commemoration and creation; each is also interested in the overlapping of individuals and groups, of one-offs and series. For both, process is often paramount: Nobre gathers inspiration for weeks, until the point at which inspiration gleaned from multiple sources demands concretization. In a similar vein, Miah draws from both nature and culture- from biology, astronomy, art history- to create work that simultaneoulsly embraces the microscopic and the macrocosmic. Nobre and Miah here present new work in which form and content teach one another, often in surprising and innovative ways. Above all, the imperative to please aesthetically comes to the fore, with play and chance collaborating.
The exhibition presents the two artists’ works on both floors of the gallery. On the main floor of the gallery Nobre will present works that incorporates a distorted geometric pattern that is an Arabic decoration seen in the streets of Lisbon. The motif breaks the flat organized structure by creating an illusion of a form that is simultaneously flat and 3-dimensional.
Miah’s work consists of an installation of 20 hexagonal canvases. The color sequence of the 20 canvases is based on the Fibonacci system. The color of each canvas is based on the numbers in Fibonacci’s sequence, using violet=1, red=1, orange=2, yellow=3, green=5, blue=8. Violet starts the system even though it is often the last color within the R,O,Y,G,B,V color wheel. Through this mathematical process, organic-seeming images are created. Aquatic, astronomical, biological, and pop culture imagery is suggested.
The works downstairs are by both artists, both working in an intuitive process, wherein each piece is free to develop in dialog with other pieces, without a superimposed system and without preconception.
Riad Miah holds a B.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts and an M.F.A from the Ohio State University. He is an alumnus of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and the Vermont Studio Center. He is a recipient of a NYFA Fellowship in the category of Painting and previously a professor at Parsons The New School for Design. Miah’s work has been exhibited and collected nationally and internationally.
Luis Nobre is currently attending the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Lisbon where he will earn his PHD. He has participated in the International Residence Program at Location 1 in New York City, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Ilidio Pinho Foundation. His work has been exhibited on a national and international level.
For additional info please visit www.roostergallery.com