Lot 9: NABIL NAHAS (LEBANESE, B. 1949) Untitled signed and dated ‘Nabil Nahas 2011

NABIL NAHAS (LEBANESE, B. 1949) Untitled signed and dated ‘Nabil Nahas 2011’ (on the reverse) acrylic and echinoderms on canvas 60 x 60in. (152.4 x 152.4cm.) Executed in 2011

PROVENANCE: Sperone Westwater, New York, 2011 (acquired directly from the artist). Sahlman Fine Art, New York. Acquired from the above by the present owner. Internationally acclaimed contemporary artist Nabil Nahas is renowned for his thickly encrusted starfsh paintings of which the present lot is a stunning example. This monochrome large-scale square canvas is covered with abundant layers of thousands of irregularly shaped starfsh sprawling and forming a magnifcent pattern of oceanic nature. Sea stars from the echinoderms family, with radial symmetry, are found only in marine areas, in all levels of an ocean and the deep sea. Echinoderms are also the basis element of many limestone formations and thus of major geological importance. The repetitive pattern of the sea stars in this work is also refective of the natural phenomenon of regeneration, to a point where in some cases, complete regeneration can occur from a single limb and a single arm can develop a new star with fve pointed arms. Born in Beirut in 1949, Nahas earned his M.F.A from the prestigious Yale University where he was schooled with the fnest of Western abstract art. Growing up in the magical nature of the Middle-East of Cairo and Beirut and their surroundings, nearby the Mediterranean and Red seas, Nahas grew a fondness for starfsh in the early 1990s in the United States. In 1991, Hurricane Bob had left the sand littered with starfsh and Nahas started collecting them and after they had dried, applied them on the surface of his canvases and the dense and textured layers resulted in low-relief sculptures. In contrast with most of the other famboyantly coloured works from the celebrated starfsh series, the present work is of a golden colour reminding us of golden sun-lit sandy beaches whilst referencing Islamic art infuences that have been a part of Nahas’s youth and heritage. As such, Nahas’s work intersects geometric patterns inspired by Islamic art and architecture with American abstract painting of the mid 20th century. He refers to his penchant for the geometry of nature and thus the natural geometry of the starfsh unveils the power of the beauty and complexity of nature. According to Nahas, he explores the notions of process and perception as well as materiality in painting. This work is therefore a thought-provoking amalgamation of Abstract Expressionism, the art of the readymade and collage and art from the Middle-East that mirrors the boundless geometry of nature. From a short distance, the painting becomes thoroughly pictorial as the motifs seem to extend beyond the edges of the canvas – suggestive of an expansion of space, of a marine universe. His works have an all-over composition suggestive of biological growth with organic forms and the proliferation of nature. The repetitiveness attributes a feature close to optical art, a kind of hypnotic efect. Nahas saw the multiple starfsh as constituting a whole, as a satisfaction of plenitude. Repetition can give an impression of dullness however in the work of Nahas, the painting is so pictorially rich through this feld of scattered starfsh that it defeats any monotony. Like much of Nahas’s work, the technique and meaning come hand in hand. The starfsh motifs are presented in varying attractive confgurations. Between the process of assemblage and that of collage, this work sheds light on the high technicality of the artist’s work. Crowded with sea creatures and his unique interpretations of nature, his canvases emanate a wonderfully echoed oceanic infnity. Left with no more natural starfsh in the late 1990s, he went on to fabricate them himself, casting them in resin. He even produced starfsh out of Murano glass, works that were exhibited part of a collateral event of the 54th Venice Biennial, until he was fnally able to procure starfsh again used in his later series. The artist’s beautiful creative process thus succinctly encapsulates the essence of a contemporary style by combining a distinct artistic perspective with unique technical manifestations, crafting a perfect union between a contemporaneous technique and a nostalgic visual lexicon. The present work from 2011 is a truly exceptional composition that accurately captures the fascinating innovation of art as much as Nabil Nahas’s multifaceted background and multicultural inspirations. It is imbued with profound uniqueness as it comes to fruition through the fusion of abstract imagery and dynamic textural surfaces underlining the three-dimensionality of the work. Through these simplifed forms, Nahas looks to fll the gap between reality and the imaginary.