For his debut solo exhibition in the UAE, Nicky Nodjoumi presents yet another powerful series of works on paper and paintings which walks the fine line between arts and politics.

Like an object half submerged in water, explains Nodjoumi, one reality always contains another reality. His images are constructed with divisions and lines through his figures and picture planes. Wearing formal costumes, the figures are engaged in incongruous activities they don’t seem to understand and end up partially elongated, then sliced or even compressed. They look serious and eccentric at the same time, they are business man or political actors, represent the relationship between the East and the West or the desire for power from one side and the crushing effect it has on others. Nodjoumi employs a broadened and intermittently impromptu repertoire, finding inspiration mostly from daily world news and conveys a critical response deliberately and universally, enabling his audience to engage in a profoundly layered discourse beyond a specific historical context or location.

Nicky Nodjoumi was born in 1942 in Kermanshah , Iran and has lived and worked permanently in New York since 1981. He earned his BA from Tehran University of Fine Arts and his MFA from the City College of New York in 1974. Known for his theatrical and surreal representations of political situations, Nodjoumi has earned himself critical praise and solo shows at many venerable New York galleries including LTMH, Artists Space, Pioregi, Stefan Stux, Mike Weiss, Priska Jushka. Since a retrospective of his works in 1980 at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, this is the first time Nodjoumi’s paintings and their narratives are presented in the Middle-East.

A catalogue designed by Iman Raad with an introduction by Sohrab Mohebbi is available.

Please join us on Sunday, December 12, from 7 PM to 9:30 PM for the preview of Educating the Horse by Nicky Nodjoumi.