Paradise

In this exhibition, a group of gold abstract paintings is presented alongside several larger, dark works in black and purple, and a series of smaller, brightly colored pieces. All are executed on aluminum Dibond, a surface that excites more than traditional canvas or linen for its metallic glow and industrial charge.

In making the work, the aim was to capture and map an abstract psychological landscape shaped by an emotional confrontation with the banal hostility of contemporary life. In the studio, a collage of images was assembled to function as references, composed of scenes of ruthless entrepreneurship, anonymous women, high-rise cityscapes, libidinal excess, and tasteless materialism.

The work is not interested in representing anything literal; it operates as an abstract working-through, an exercise in gesture and composition that reflects a way of seeing. The gold paintings embody the aggrandizing fantasy of success and detachment, a contemporary heaven on earth that affirms the transformative power of total optionality: anything you want, any experience, endless change. The large black and purple works confront that psychological reality: ruthless self-interest and the cold affirmation of personal desire. The brighter colors exist within the ecstasy of optionality itself, saturated with potential.

The titles draw from a mix of arrogant platitudes, misappropriated descriptors, ancient Greek myths, vacation destinations, yoga poses, and competition slang. This world, defined by aggressive New Age banality, violent self-satisfaction, and endless desire, is the subject matter. As an artist working toward a singular way of seeing, there is a draw toward a culture that runs counter to authenticity, eclecticness, and moral seriousness or the presumption that those qualities are even present when they claim to be.

The exhibition is titled Paradise alluding to a general state of fulfillment. In the 21st century, it alludes to a world that is ripe with material absurdity, endless optionality, and vapid aggression that make up the aspirational promised land of a world in the throes of an overwhelming transition away from its cultural highs and into its long atrophy.

— Nicholas Campbell

Nicholas Campbell (b. 1995, Los Angeles) is an artist based in New York City. Campbell holds a BA from Pitzer College. Self-taught, his painting practice consists of heavily worked, abstract, and emotionally direct pieces that wrestle with a wide range of themes concerning modern pathologies like narcissism, optionality, luxury, decline, and transformation. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at Amanita New York, Duarte Sequeria Seoul, and Smart Objects Los Angeles. Group shows include CLEARING New York and Los Angeles, and Mamoth Gallery in London. His work has been featured in The Brooklyn Rail and Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles.