Ryan Brady and Nick Farhi

Louis B. James is pleased to present Irreverent Decadence, a two-person show featuring the work of Ryan Brady and Nick Farhi.

Brady creates his surface through abstracting the canvas itself. Handmade stretchers appear in various shapes, pieced together to create a near-perfect assemblage, never quite fitting and exploiting the negative space in between. The presence of carved encaustic atop oil paint showcases a broken and blistered landscape, highlighting yet another cracked surface.

Farhi’s Wine Paintings are made by repeating singular gestures that recall moments of dissipation, while the intentional and meticulous dripping of oil paint on fabric elevates the act of mark making to representational play, a unique take on the ubiquity of the gestural work that dominates contemporary abstract painting.

Each artist enacts a sense of play and whimsy on the canvas while working to push the boundaries of painting through their distinct presentation. A shared color palette used independently helps to create a dynamic relationship between the works while both artists maintain a strong sense of independence given their confident approach to an oftentimes-staid medium allowing for a passionate and celebratory visual experience.