Aakash Nihalani‘s street art is brilliantly simple. Using little more than cunningly positioned fluorescent tape he has been making passers-by double take in New York for some time now with his mind-boggling interventions.
Now he’s moved into the world of the art gallery, he’s no longer boggling minds, but “challenging the viewer’s relationship with their surrounding environment”. Quite. Anyway, however you want to describe it, the reaction Nihalani’s work elicits remains as strong as ever. Despite the change of venue, his work still maintains an apparent simplicity which belies a deceptive complexity. The love of fluorescent colours is as strong as ever, and play a major role in Portal, as do the geometric shapes which the artist manipulates to create optical illusions and apparent impossibilities.
Acrylic, wood and canvas have been employed where the pavement or a building wall once sufficed, but Nihalani’s gallery pieces are no less interesting for their move upmarket. The artist’s first solo exhibition at The Jonathan LeVine Gallery in NYC is on show until 9th February.
Aakash Nihalani
Upright
acrylic on wood
108.75 x 46.5 x 2 inches
(276.22 x 118.11 x 5 cm)
Installation View
Aakash Nihalani
Egress 2
acrylic on wood
72.75 x 22.75 x .75 inches
(184.79 x 55.88 x 1.91 cm)
Aakash Nihalani
Untitled
acrylic on canvas
36 x 36 x 1.75 inches
(91.44 x 91.44 x 4.45 cm)
Aakash Nihalani
Egress 5
acrylic on wood
30.5 x 53 x .75 inches
(77.47 x 134.62 x 1.91 cm)
Installation View
Aakash Nihalani
X 1
acrylic on wood
48 x 48 x 1.75 inches
(121.92 x 121.92 x 4.45 cm)
Aakash Nihalani
Portal 1
acrylic on canvas
36 x 36 x 1.75 inches
(91.44 x 91.44 x 4.45 cm)
Aakash Nihalani
Egress 1
acrylic on wood
30.5 x 53 x .75 inches
(77.47 x 134.62 x 1.91 cm)
