nroath
02-21-2007, 06:53 PM
Artspace 116 announces Emanations
Nick Abdalla
http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/ArtSpace116_Mariposa_mixed-media.GIF
April 20 - June 1, 2007
Artist Reception: Friday, April 20, 5 - 9pm (Downtown ArtsCrawl)
Gallery hours: Mo.- Fri. 9 - 5 and by appointment
Artspace 116, 116 Central Ave SW Suite 201, downtown Albuquerque
www.artspace116.org (http://www.artspace116.org/) - 505-245-4200 or
melody@collectorsguide.com (melody@collectorsguide.com)
http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/ArtSpace116_Penitente_Go_Kart.GIF
Emanations, an exhibit of mixed media sculptures by Nick Abdalla.
Abdalla’s sculptural pieces are composed of found objects such as rattan, wicker,baskets, and beads. What used to be furniture or pieces of wood are now intertwined and layered, wrapped in jute and melded to become sinewy drawings in space which overlap and blend. His abstract shapes may resemble a butterfly, a dream catcher, a desert Shiva, or even a Penitente Go-Kart.
A former art professor at the University of New Mexico, Abdalla made a dramatic change from painting to sculpting after a trip to Australia in 1994. Hoping to reinvigorate his painting which he felt had grown stale and joyless, he had planned the trip as an adventure to view Aboriginal rock art. Instead of revitalizing his painting, his experience surprisingly changed his whole perspective on making art.
In a remote area of western Australia, he visited Walga Rock, a long, shallow rock shelter which had been painted repeatedly for ten thousand years. Experiencing the multiple layers of colorful overlapping drawings, Abdalla found the hundreds of images indecipherable, abstract, and no longer identifiable. At that moment, he decided that he would no longer paint, and says that now he wants “to make things – objects with physicality, complexity, and undeniable power.”
Nick Abdalla
http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/ArtSpace116_Mariposa_mixed-media.GIF
April 20 - June 1, 2007
Artist Reception: Friday, April 20, 5 - 9pm (Downtown ArtsCrawl)
Gallery hours: Mo.- Fri. 9 - 5 and by appointment
Artspace 116, 116 Central Ave SW Suite 201, downtown Albuquerque
www.artspace116.org (http://www.artspace116.org/) - 505-245-4200 or
melody@collectorsguide.com (melody@collectorsguide.com)
http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/ArtSpace116_Penitente_Go_Kart.GIF
Emanations, an exhibit of mixed media sculptures by Nick Abdalla.
Abdalla’s sculptural pieces are composed of found objects such as rattan, wicker,baskets, and beads. What used to be furniture or pieces of wood are now intertwined and layered, wrapped in jute and melded to become sinewy drawings in space which overlap and blend. His abstract shapes may resemble a butterfly, a dream catcher, a desert Shiva, or even a Penitente Go-Kart.
A former art professor at the University of New Mexico, Abdalla made a dramatic change from painting to sculpting after a trip to Australia in 1994. Hoping to reinvigorate his painting which he felt had grown stale and joyless, he had planned the trip as an adventure to view Aboriginal rock art. Instead of revitalizing his painting, his experience surprisingly changed his whole perspective on making art.
In a remote area of western Australia, he visited Walga Rock, a long, shallow rock shelter which had been painted repeatedly for ten thousand years. Experiencing the multiple layers of colorful overlapping drawings, Abdalla found the hundreds of images indecipherable, abstract, and no longer identifiable. At that moment, he decided that he would no longer paint, and says that now he wants “to make things – objects with physicality, complexity, and undeniable power.”