STANDING PINE

STANDING PINE is pleased to present two exhibitions focusing on international contemporary black artists in both Nagoya and Tokyo spaces as a series project “Stories from Africa : Chapter 2” introducing contemporary African art and artists who have a root in Africa.

STANDING PINE Tokyo will hold a join exhibition entitled “Resonant Harmonies” curated by American curator Dexter Wimberly, introducing three black artists, Anthony Daley, Tegene Kunbi, and A’Driane Nieves.

Resonant Harmonie
Curated by Dexter Wimberly

Abstract painting stimulates us to perceive beyond the literal and delve into the realm of emotions, thoughts, and interpretations. Rather than adhering to predetermined narratives, it encourages freedom of expression, inviting viewers to decipher meaning through personal lenses. Curated by Dexter Wimberly, Resonant Harmonies is an exhibition of recent paintings by three important contemporary artists who are working in abstraction in powerful and singular ways.

Although deeply grounded in abstraction, Anthony Daley's works have often begun by painting still life arrangements, which he then reworks until they lose their form and evoke an emotional response. Daley states, “One of the ways I lose control is by not having a set palette. I love to have the paint around and pull up what I need. It’s like a conversation or music. You just have to hear a color, then pick it out from the table.”

The improvisational drips of paint and explosive color fields that recur across Anthony Daley’s canvases are indicative of his dedication to the raw physical act of painting and demonstrate the central importance he has always placed on the process of art making itself, and above all, searching for new painterly possibilities.

Daley continues, “I don't think I have ever started painting without looking at an Old Master (European) painting. I would take something as simple as the shape of the painting that could inspire me to make my own paintings. At war with myself over the history of art, the studio becomes a place where I will deal with those issues and then I might make another ten paintings to investigate… I chase after beauty; I have always been challenged by beauty. As you get older you realize it's infinite and unattainable, but I still pursue it.”

Tegene Kunbi is an Ethiopian abstract contemporary painter whose practice deals with issues of place, politics, and the nature of abstraction. Working from small to large scale, Kunbi’s works have developed into a distinct signature use of color blocking and mixing, heavy textured use of oil, mixed with bright colorful patterned textiles that refer to his home country, Ethiopia.

With a defined interest in landscape and the dialectic power of color and form, Kunbi’s practice is a contraction of push and bull between the materiality of the works and his subject matter. Referencing the land and cultural signifiers of his home country, he searches for harmony between all the elements at play. He layers texture upon texture, and color upon color as he looks for the character within each work. It is the challenge of everyday that defines the possible future outcomes of each work which is an amalgamation of time he spends with each piece. The result are maps of places, people, and lived histories.

Tegene Kunbi’s practice also demonstrates his study and analysis of painting history. Formally educated in the Western European and Russian academic tradition of realism, his work looks to break down notions of landscape. What he considers a rebellious act that falls in parallel to the historical understanding and function of abstraction, he looks to demonstrate a painterly and abstracted understanding of material, color, and the notion of nostalgia to break the limitations of visual representation.

A’Driane Nieves’ intuition-driven painting process draws heavily from her memories, emotions, and experiences. She often completes a painting in one sitting, relying on physical movement and music to channel her inner truths and thoughts. Through abstraction and expressive mark making, Nieves gives visible shape to the internal biological and emotional processes of adaptation, recovery, healing, and transformation. Her paintings allows her to express the fullness of her humanity as a Black, queer, neurodivergent woman. She hopes her work also encourages others to find the courage and strength to express themselves fully, without fear.

Nieves is influenced by artists such as Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly, Alma Thomas, and Mary Lovelace O’Neal. Her work offers space for quiet reflection and contemplation. Nieves credits both the writing and visual components of her practice with helping her to find her voice and the opportunity to safely release long-buried emotions. Her interdisciplinary practice focuses on the physical, epigenetic, psychological, and social-emotional impacts of trauma, whether inherited, historical, or personal - exposing how it shapes, alters, and redefines identity over the course of our lives.


Date: 2024.4.27 Sat - 2024.5.25. Sat
Hours: 12:00 - 18:00
Closed on Monday, Tuesday and National holidays
Opening reception: Saturday 27th April, 17:00 – 19:00

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Biography

Anthony Daley was born in Jamaica in 1960 and moved to the UK 1970s, and has lived in south London ever since.
After graduating from Leeds Arts University in 1979, Wimbledon College of Arts in 1982 and Chelsea College of Arts in 1983, Daley was awarded the Pollock-Krasner Painting Fellowship in 1984. He has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally: his first major showing was in 1983 as the first ever Artist of the Day at Flowers Gallery, London and his work has since been exhibited at The Barbican and The Royal Academy of Art, London, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City and Pulchri Studio, The Hague. His work is represented in numerous public collections including the Tate Collection, the National Portrait Gallery and Dulwich Picture Gallery. Since the 1990s, he has also been teaching, with Chris Ofili among his former students at Chelsea College of Art. He lives and works in London.

Carlo Carlo / Oil on canvas / 90 x 65 cm / 2022

Tegene Kunbi was born in 1980 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and currently living and working in Berlin, Germany.
He completed a Painting and Art Education degree at the Fine Arts School at the University of Addis Abeba in 2004 and went on to teach at Kotebe College Academy. With the help of the prestigious DAAD scholarship, he left Ethiopia in 2008 to study at the Universität der Künste Berlin, where he obtained a Master of Fine Arts in 2011. He now works in Berlin and has been part of multiple group and solo exhibitions in Germany and abroad as well as collaborative international projects and workshops, for example in Paris, Casablanca, New York, Nairobi, Nouakchott, and Amsterdam. Tegene is also the winner of the prestigious award Grand Prix Léopold Sédar Senghor at Dak’Art Biennale 2022.

Untitled / Oil on canvas with textile / 150 × 120 cm / 2024

A’Driane Nieves was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1982.
A visual artist and writer, A’Driane Nieves is a U.S. Air Force veteran and the founder of an arts nonprofit and art magazine.Nieves is a self-taught painter of over a decade. At the urging of her therapist, she began using painting as a form of art therapy in 2011 during her recovery from postpartum depression and following her later diagnosis of bipolar disorder. This initial experimentation led to her using abstract expressionist painting as a way to overcome the impacts of childhood abuse, specifically emotional suppression. In 2018, Nieves founded Tessera Arts Collective, a not-for-profit serving women and non-binary abstract artists of color. Nieves' exhibits internationally; selected exhibitions include Art Basel (Switzerland), Frieze (London), Art021 Shanghai; Le Consortium Museum (Dijon, France); Galerie Marguo (Paris, France), Lawrence Van Hagen Art,(Hong Kong, China), and BODE Projects (Berlin, Germany). Her work can be found in collections across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, including the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Dangxia Art Space, Beijing, Spurs Collection in San Antonio, USA, and the Rennie Museum, in Vancouver, Canada.

my feelings no longer kneel to my thoughts
Acrylic, house paint and graphite on Belgian linen
121.9 x 91.4 cm / 2023
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Marguo


Dexter Wimberly is an American curator based in Hayama, Japan. Wimberly has organized exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world including the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, The Green Family Art Foundation in Dallas, BODE in Berlin, The Harvey B. Gantt Center in Charlotte, The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco, The Third Line in Dubai, UAE, and so on.

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