nina chanel abney
Nina Chanel Abney is a contemporary artist and painter whose work is an assertive and transparent critique of society and pop culture. Her lively paintings urge viewers to acknowledge the harsh realities concerning those who are affected by subjects of marginalization such as gender, sexuality, and race, as well as evaluate their own views and preconceptions.
Abney’s brilliant and dramatic use of color is one of the key components that make her work stand out. Her paintings usually include fractured, cracked, and multilayered figures, creating a feeling of intricacy and uncertainty that connects with viewers.
On the right: Buoyancé/Seas the Day, 2020
Abney was born and raised in Harvey, Illinois in 1982. Raised by a mother who is also an artist, Abney had a connection to art starting from a very young age. She would sketch animated characters she would watch on her television as a child and subsequently elected to pursue a degree in studio art and computer science at Augustana College in Rock Island, with hopes of becoming a graphic designer or illustrator.
She operated on an assembly line at Ford Motor Company in Chicago after graduation while seeking graphic design grad school programs, but ultimately opted to pursue a master's in fine art instead from Parsons in New York. Abney collaborated with THEARC, which is administered by the Corcoran Gallery of Art's after-school program ArtReach, to create a permanent mural in DC. Abney has taught at various colleges and arts organizations along with to her continuous studio work; in 2013, she served as a guest lecturer at the New York Academy of Art, and in 2015 she was among the speakers at the Summit Series in Powder Mountain, Utah. As her career progressed, Abeny added vinyl figurines, augmented reality art, and prints to her highly acclaimed collection of artwork. Abney presently works and is based in New York.
On the left: WCW, 2017
Abney draws inspiration from a range of sources, including cultural trends, politics, and street art.
Her work exhibits the impact of well-known contemporary and neo-expressionist artists like as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, both of whom have made significant contributions to the art scene. However, despite these inspirations, Abney's style is distinct, and her capacity to weave together unconventional ingredients into an integrated unit is a tribute to her skill as an artist and her unwavering dedication to pushing the limits of art today.
Abney’s Parsons thesis piece, Class of 2007, a 15-foot-wide diptych that portrays her graduate school cohorts as black prisoners in orange jumpsuits and Abney herself as a blonde corrections officer, piqued the interest of the notable Rubell Museum, and traveled across the United States as part of the revered group show 30 Americans.
30 Americans is a renowned exhibition comprised of the museum’s collection and containing work by a number of the most significant Black artists of the last three decades, such as Basquiat, Kerry James Marshall, Wangechi Mutu, and Mickalene Thomas.
On the right: Class of 2007, 2007
Abney’s works are currently displayed in the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art among others.
On the left: #21, 2018
“Because my gut told me differently, I began a mission to find my own truth”
On the right: Why, 2015
Above: Let's Work, Let's Play, Let's Live Together, 2018