Street Levels Gallery, the Florentine gallery devoted entirely to urban art, opens “INTRO”, the new solo show by the artist Nian, in its exhibition space at via Palazzuolo 74ar, Florence.
INTRO is an introspective journey which, like many of the paths that tell our own life story, has a clearly defined beginning and an ending with a question mark. The opening lies on the surface, in knowing ourselves to be social animals reaching out to other selves: the sometimes saving, sometimes compromising nature of human relationships is the artist’s first field of inquiry on the way to becoming aware of herself, among the many “what ifs” of existence.
“Everyone reveals themselves through what they make: I am what I do, and I am in what I do. In my painting I search for myself: Who am I? What am I? What shape do I have? How many shapes can I take? In searching for myself I become fluid, and I try to accept myself as undefined.”
Nian
Intro, from the Latin intro, “inside”, means a movement inwards: the etymology of the word suggests the gradual unveiling of Nian’s inner world, as, work after work, she lays bare her imagination in a gift to the public and to herself. Her female creatures seem suspended between space and time, creating a magical atmosphere that hosts the depiction of her inner places, and so of her own lived experience.
Soft lines, compositional harmony and expressive colour: Nian’s work is always intent on listening to her own body and to the relationship it forms with its surroundings. Shy faces and intertwined limbs appear at times in awkward, wedged postures, at times in reflective, calm poses, conveying the different emotional states she meets in her daily life.
Nian recognises herself in the words of the French poet Jean Cocteau: “an artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture”. Like a plant, Nian has chosen to follow the natural, instinctive search for a language that is dear to her, that belongs to her, that embraces her deep and ancestral female universe.
With INTRO, Street Levels Gallery invites the public to discover the work of an artist rooted in the urban fabric of Florence, from her work on the street to the pieces she makes in her studio at via Cittadella 4, Florence.
The exhibition of 24 works can be visited from 10 June to 1 July 2022, Tuesday to Sunday, 3pm to 7pm.
Information:
Tel. +39 333 6745750
www.streetlevelsgallery.com
