Nicolas Party ‘Trunks and Faces’

Installation view, 'Trunks and Faces', Westfälischer Kunstverein, Muenster, 2014
Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster
08/11/2014—18/01/2015

In his paintings and pastels, Swiss artist Nicolas Party (b. 1980, Lausanne) devotes himself solely to the traditional genres of still life, landscape and portrait painting, evoking the formal vernacular of the twentieth century and some of its leading protagonists, such as Morandi, Picasso, Matisse or Botero. By contrast, we have Party’s gigantic public space murals that clearly point to his roots in graffiti, not to mention his ‘Performance Dinners’ for which he designs the entire furniture and fittings, including the cutlery and menus. Party has produced a series of new works for his show at the Westfälischer Kunstverein and will present a series of double portraits, as well as sculpture that integrates the interior architecture of the premises. The show’s title “Trunks and Faces” certainly fulfills its promise, even in its intended multiple meanings: elephant trunks, tree trunks, faces, front and rear views.