Straddling abstraction and figuration, Nadia Ayari’s work often negotiates the personal and the political. “With a set of protagonists invented from the flora of my native North Africa, my work tackles narratives of survival. Lately, I have been exploring images where, against all odds, my paintings’ branches, pink flowers, and leaves are thriving; either by being in motion or in connection with one another. I render these compositions in thick, methodically applied oil-paint to give the characters and the plastic space they inhabit a substantial skin, making them physically relatable.
Developed in tandem with my paintings, my sculptural practice allows me to further explore my work’s conceptual narratives. This activity yields works that serve as sites of reflection to the paintings’ events- anchors that communicate my aesthetic and perspectives.”
Ayari has had solo projects at Luce, Turin (2009); Monya Rowe, New York (2011); The Third Line, Dubai (2013); and Taymour Grahne: New York (2016), Untitled, Miami Beach (2016); London (2019); Art Genève (2020); London (2021); Cadet Capela, Paris (2023). She participated in the 12th International Cairo Biennale (2010) and the 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale (2011); and her work has been exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery, London; Maraya Art Center, Sharjah; Institut Du Monde Arabe, Paris; American University Museum, Washington DC; Abrons Art Center, NY: and MoMA PS1, NY and the Africa Center, NY. Recently Ayari’s work has been included in Phaidon’s “Great Women Painters.” She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
