{"id":742234,"date":"2025-10-09T16:33:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T14:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/numero.com\/non-classifiee\/the-success-story-of-painter-nina-chanel-abney-exhibited-at-perrotin\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T16:34:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T14:34:27","slug":"the-success-story-of-painter-nina-chanel-abney-exhibited-at-perrotin-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/numero.com\/en\/art-design\/art-en\/the-success-story-of-painter-nina-chanel-abney-exhibited-at-perrotin-gallery\/","title":{"rendered":"The success story of painter Nina Chanel Abney, exhibited at Perrotin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Bear Minimum<\/em> (2025) by Nina Chanel Abney. Ink on paper, 159.4 x 118.4 cm. \u00a9 Courtesy Perrotin.<\/p> \n \n<\/div> \n<\/div> \n<\/div> \n<\/div> \n<\/div> \n<\/div> \n<\/article><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Nina Chanel Abney\u2019s works are setting the Perrotin Gallery alight<\/h2>\n\n

\u201cI always said I wanted to be a famous painter. I just never knew what that really meant<\/em>,\u201d she told Vanity Fair<\/em> ten years ago. Since then, she\u2019s had plenty of time to work it out, especially since the day in 2021 when one of her canvases went under the hammer at Christie\u2019s<\/strong> for almost $1 million, three times the estimated figure. Back then, the market was not in today\u2019s moribund state, tolling the bell for galleries one would have imagined better cushioned against bankruptcy.<\/p><\/p>\n\n

It must be said that these past few years Nina Chanel Abney has spared no pains, putting on shows and starting new projects at supersonic speed \u2013 a cadence that matches the incessant productivity of her working method. Until 11 October, at Perrotin<\/strong> in Paris (her first time with this particular gallery), she\u2019s showing an exhibition full of fire, water, and catastrophes.<\/p><\/p>\n\n

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Tag Yourself<\/em> (2025) by Nina Chanel Abney. Ink on paper, 118.4 x 158.8 cm. \u00a9 Courtesy of Perrotin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

\u201cI looked at the thesis show as my only chance to get the attention of a gallery.<\/em>\u201d – Nina Chanel Abney.<\/h2><\/h2>\n\n

Now aged 43, Nina Chanel Abney<\/strong> was born in Harvey, Illinois. She attended several Montessori schools, studied in a liberal arts college (Augustana in Rock Island<\/strong>, Illinois), and then at Parsons in New York, the city where she still lives today.<\/p><\/p>\n\n

As her time at Parsons came to a close, she was very conscious of what was at stake. \u201cI looked at the thesis show as my only chance to get the attention of a gallery<\/em>,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIf I didn\u2019t, I wouldn\u2019t have known what to do. How else was I going to get someone to see my work? It was do or die for me at that thesis show because I absolutely did not want to have to go and apply for jobs. I knew I did not want to come all the way to New York and then have to do something I don\u2019t want to do<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n\n

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Epsom Salty<\/em> (2025) by Nina Chanel Abney. Acrylic paint and spray, 182.9 x 182.9 cm. \u00a9 Courtesy of Perrotin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The discovery of a promising artist<\/h2>\n\n

The day of her diploma, in 2007, she showed only one canvas, albeit a far bigger one than those she usually painted, titled Class of 2007<\/strong><\/em>. \u201cI took everyone\u2019s photograph and then I painted them as African Americans, and then I decided to paint myself white because, at the time, I was the only Black student in my class<\/em>.\u201d Curiously divided into a diptych, the work depicts its creator as a gun-toting blonde prison guard, while her classmates wear orange jail overalls.<\/p><\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt was a standalone <\/em>painting<\/em>,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt\u2019s a two-year programme, and in the last few months you come up with something for the final show. I knew I had to create something pretty major because I was going to graduate and a lot of galleries come to your thesis show to look for artists to represent. I thought I was going to make a humungous <\/em>painting<\/em>.\u201d Indeed, many gallerists attend these end-of-semester exhibitions to seek out new talent, and among those who showed up at Abney\u2019s were Marc Wehby<\/strong> and his spouse and associate Susan Kravets<\/strong>, who were struck by Class of 2007<\/em>.<\/p><\/p>\n\n

Legend has it that Dirty Wash<\/strong>, Nina Chanel Abney\u2019s first show at the Kravets Wehby Gallery<\/strong> in New York the following year, sold out in just a few days, including Class of 2007<\/em>, which was bought by the celebrated American collectors Don and Mera Rubell.<\/p><\/p>\n\n

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Une publication partag\u00e9e par NINA CHANEL ABNEY (@ninachanel)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>