NINA CHANEL ABNEY
Nina Chanel Abney is a Jersey City based painter whose work covers a broad range of social topics inspired by current events, news, and pop culture. Her exhibition at Project For Empty Space [at] Gateway Project Spaces If You Say So... (February 2016) was her reaction to a New York Times Op-Ed ‘In Denial About Racism in Brazil’ by Vanessa Barbara, discussing the unwavering and rampant trend of police brutality against young black and brown bodies in the favelas.
The role of politics, race, power, and sexuality are at the heart of much of Abney’s work. Her recent solo exhibition, Always A Winner, directly addressed police brutality and the #Blacklivesmatter movement in America. Her work pulls from contemporary politics and pop culture and addresses them through a practice of absurdly exaggerated forms, anti-realism, and an adamantly pop aesthetic. Her sensibility pulls from a vast mix of sources ranging from South Park to Romare Bearden.
Nina Chanel Abney was born in Chicago in 1982. She received her BFA from Augustana College in 2004, and her MA from Pratt University in 2007. Abney’s works have been featured in several significant institutions and collections including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Nasher Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Brooklyn Museum, and the Rubell Collection. Nina Chanel Abney lives in Jersey City and represented by Kravets-Wehby gallery in New York City.
Click here to learn more about her 2016 AIR Program Solo Exhibition: If You Say So…
