In January 2010, Carmichael Gallery presents On & Off (Often On), the first West Coast solo exhibition of Aakash Nihalani. In addition to a characteristically arresting site-specific installation comprised of brightly colored tape, Nihalani introduces a new artistic direction by using metal and plastic to create sculptural objects.

Aakash Nihalani is fast becoming recognized as one of the US’s most striking emerging installation artists. Celebrated for his ephemeral modifications of the urban landscape, the young Brooklyn-based tape specialist wields an abstract narrative of isometric shapes and flamboyant hues grounded in quiet irony and idiosyncratic precision. The fluidity of his simple, colorful style, which employs familiar shapes to produce unexpected visuals, initiates an inviting, living dialogue that traverses the chaos of city streets, the white walls of the gallery and the constancy of home. Nihalani has built a global fan base by selectively placing his artwork on sidewalks and public spaces around New York. 

His squares, rectangles and cubes, which are constructed from strips of instantly identifiable fluorescent tape, give three-dimensional qualities and a new, often humorous, perspective tothe windows, doorways, cement pavement, floor tiles, chain-link fences, bricks, building contours and subway spaces within which they are embedded. Nihalani completes all public art pieces on site with little to no advanced planning. His style readily adapts to the interior gallery space and into individual works of art, thereby escaping its customarily fleeting existence while continuing to fuse his aesthetic and conceptual objectives.

The neon in his work highlights details that might otherwise go unnoticed, while his minimalist patterns form self-contained pockets which encourage examination both within the isolated space and of the world at large. His work often engages the public by creating three-dimensional environments that can be physically entered, transforming passersby or gallery visitors into participants and offering them a momentary escape from daily life.

Mark Jenkins is an internationally acclaimed American artist known for the mixed media sculptures and street installations he places throughout urban and environmental settings, sometimes with, but often without, permission. Playful and enigmatic, his work successfully transforms the ordinary into the unexpected.

Jenkins’ process involves dry-casting everything from fire hydrants and toy ducks to baby dolls and people, often himself or his assistants, with box sealing tape, the latter often dressed to appear scarily life-like. When placed outside or slipped indoors, announced or otherwise, these sculptures have the ability to both camouflage into their surroundings and elicit spectacular amounts of attention from viewers. Jenkins’ works have been observed lounging atop billboards, slumped over on cafeteria tables, panhandling in the streets, emanating from street poles, drowning in bodies of water, clinging to statues, overturning street signs and more in locations such as Belgrade, Vienna, Washington D.C., London, Barcelona, New York, Moscow and Seoul. By situating his pieces within such peculiar contexts, the artist brings cities, landscapes and interiors to life in a unique and thought-provoking manner. Whether indoors or out, his work engages its viewers and provokes a complex examination of self and surroundings.

Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art
1257 N. La Brea Avenue West Hollywood CA 90038