Swiss-born graffiti artist-turned-painter Nicolas Party has become one of the fastest-growing stars of his generation with his fantastical landscapes in Crayola colors, uncanny portraits, and pastel still lives. Party and legions of its devoted collectors have a special fondness for images of funny teapots and forests in rich hues of bubblegum and peacock blue. One was sold at Christie’s for $3.3 million last year.
The artist recently gave us a peek into his New York studio. Here he prepared for an upcoming exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, which will combine his work with highlights from the museum’s collection, including works by Nicolas Poussin and Otto Dix. The show, titled “L’heure mauve”, opened on 12 February.
We’ll help you discover the daily habits and inspirations that fuel Party’s studio practice.
The most indispensable items in the New York studio
The artist says that his collection of soft pastels is what he likes to look at. They built little houses of 2455 colors. Isn`t it inspiring to see all the colors every day?
The studio task on the painter Nicolas Party`s agenda tomorrow that he is most looking forward to
The artist says he is working on a series of oil paintings on copper, which is a new medium for him as he usually works in pastels. These paintings are also much smaller than his pastel blue pictures- they are about 12 inches by nine and a half inches.
The kind of atmosphere the artist prefers in his New York studio
The painter Nicolas Party almost never works in silence. The artist says that his audio time is divided between podcasts or audiobooks and music. He prefers to keep his mind busy while he works in the Party art studio. This makes his decision-making process quicker and freer than if he were fully focused on the work before him.
The traits in art the artist most admires and despises
The painter Nicolas Party notes that he is always looking for the feeling of awkwardness hidden in the world of temptation. He’s not a big fan of very high-profile works.
Party`s favorite artists, curators, or other thinkers to follow on social media right now
Matthew Higgs, Chief Curator of White Columns. Its content is always amazing, original, and inspiring. Also, the artist Margarita Yumo mixes her work with strange scientific discoveries, which the artist finds fascinating.
When the painter gets stuck in his Party art studio he goes back to his library and looks at books. It is always inspiring for him to look at great art during the day.
Robert Gober at Matthew Marks and Alice Neel at the Met are the last exhibitions that painter Nicolas Party last was impressed by.
Throughout his practice, which covers painting, graphics, sculpture, engravings, installations, and frescoes, Nicolas Party creates a fantastic universe, often in pastel colors. His figurative canvases depict rounded figures with wide eyes and geometric landscapes bathed in bright fauvist hues.
Painter Nicolas Party decided to make his work accessible to a wide range of audiences. Working in many media within contemporary art, but with an emphasis on pastel blue pictures and frescoes, he uses the universal and familiar language of traditional painting genres such as portraits, landscapes, and still lifes.
On two- and three-dimensional surfaces, Party’s practice is dedicated to exploring the possibilities of paint as a means of representation. Although he is best understood as an artist, Parti’s practice would be incomplete without his sculptural and installation elements.
The painter Nicolas Party is interested in the effect of paint on the built environment, explored through frescoes that destabilize the materiality of said environment, making gallery walls look like marble.
