RAIR | 2022-23

Nima Nabavi

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1978, Nima Nabavi is a self-taught artist focused on geometric abstraction and its connection to the natural world and psychedelic phenomena. Nabavi’s drawings and paintings are heavily layered, grid-driven manifestations of imagined, ordered systems, and are greatly inspired by the work of his grandfather who was a geometric artist for over fifty years in Iran. Using mainly pens, paint and rulers, Nabavi applies repetitive numeric symbolism and thousands of hand-drawn lines and pixels to build complexity out of simple forms. This mathematical approach relies on advanced planning, precise calculations and several, self-developed methodologies to ensure vital dimensional accuracy and structural integrity. The intention of Nabavi’s practice is to remember, reveal and represent the emergent harmony and inherent beauty that underlies the structure of our shared reality.

Nabavi arrived as a new resident at the Roswell Artist-In-Residence in early April 2022. On the day of his arrival, he rolled out an 18-foot x 6-foot canvas on the floor of his new studio with the intention of working on it for the entire one-year duration of the program - and possibly beyond. Since then, Nabavi has been using his 8-foot ruler and hundreds of colored markers to draw innumerable lines on this piece, continuously layering subtle sheets of gradient color with crystalline constellations of white ink. This constant deepening of the piece’s chromatic and geometric texture over the months has created an ever-evolving artwork that is still in progress today. In his exhibition ‘VISITING’, Nabavi will continue to work on the piece - adding new layers and dimensions to it - while it is installed at the Roswell Museum. The artist’s intention is to recreate the open spirit and communal exchange of a studio visit in the exhibition – allowing visitors to view the evolution of the artwork and engage with the process of its creation.

Nabavi was the winner of the first BVLGARI Contemporary Art Award in 2022. His first solo exhibition '1,2,3' at The Third Line, Dubai, consisted of 27 new works in three series. Nabavi's group exhibitions include: ‘Gradate’, Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah, UAE (2022), ‘Ways of Seeing Abstraction’, Palais Populaire, Berlin, Germany (2021), ‘There is Fiction In The Space Between’, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE (2020); ‘Crafting Geometry: Abstract Art from South and West Asia’, Sotheby’s, New York, USA (2020); ‘Fragments, Yesterday and Today’, Gateway, Abu Dhabi Art, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2019); ‘Your Favorite Artist's Favorite Artist #2’, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, USA (2019); ‘Horizon’, Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah, UAE (2018). Nabavi's work is part of private and public collections, including the Deutsche Bank Collection, Berlin, Germany and Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, UAE.

See more of Nima’s work here.

Roswell Museum

Rair exhibition • Nima Nabavi “visiting” • January 8, - march 12, 2023

Below, a short video about Nima Nabavi and his exhibition Visiting at the Roswell Museum.