Nishimoto Press Release
Charmoli Ciarmoli is proud to present a solo exhibition of Steve Nishimoto.
Offering a dialog amidst the selection of distinctive painting bodies allude
to the American experience. One of liminal spaces that suggest a storied
history steeped in potential for the daring hopeful. Having established himself
in Soho since 2002, Nishimoto’s direct observations and personal history imbue
the included works. Large abstracts informed by hallway walls scuffed by once
hauled furnishings in a building with views of the freedom tower. Small, brushy
diamond centered paintings are derived from the square cut-out windows
in green barriers surrounding construction sites. Uncanny, stock-footage
referenced, still-life fruits suspended in space and repeated. Harkening to
the dawn of the digital age’s means of production and distribution with its
paradoxical global connection and isolation. The fruits amassed or singular
are personified as groupings of people or singular aspirations. America is not
a monolith, while we may all be different, we remain simply human with our
individual notions of happiness. Nishimoto’s latest paintings are an homage
to his grandfather, a landscape painter of significant note. Being a fourth
generation Japanese-American, Nishimoto, in direct reference to his family
history with a suite of representational-surreal landscape paintings. Accompanied
by signage replication ‘I Am An American’ first displayed in Oakland, California
in 1941 by a Japanese-American grocer the day after Pearl Harbor. While America
is a land of promise, we continue to strive even today for the self-evident truths.
A special thanks to Ashes/Ashes for hosting us, we invite you to join
us downtown Manhattan, November 15th from 6-8pm for the opening reception.
Steve Nishimoto (b.1978, Chicago) lives and works in Soho, New York. He
received a BFA American Academy of Art in 2004. Recent exhibitions
include Under the Oven Gallery, New York 2020, Fifi Projects,
Mexico 2016 Museum of America Books, Brooklyn 201