Nisian Hughes (Life Still / Naked) 2011

Nisian hughes started his career with an intense concentration on painting and film, each medium playing with and reflecting each other. He also made an excursion into the field of performance art. Since 2007 Nisian Hughes has been concentrating on the series “moving images”.

The complexity of the “moving images” is constantly under development. there is a variation in sizes and new configurations. while naked women and the setting of the background played an equal role in the first works of “naked”, the nudity and the positioning of the women itself become the main focus of the image. at first, it was the sublimity of renaissance paintings hughes experienced whether in different museums or in hotel rooms during his travels all over the world, now it is the joy of experimentation of modern painters of the 20th century, such as van Gogh or Klimt.

The work “still life”, which will be exhibited at Witzenhausen Gallery Amsterdam for the first time and is the beginning of a new series, is inspired by the sunflowers by Van Gogh. For over two weeks, hughes positioned an arrangement of flowers with a special light setting in front of the camera -catching life, death and transformation.

the viewer has the impression of a digital still photograph, assuming not to be missing anything. Knowing Nisian Hughes, not paying attention and turning your back to the work means you miss something. elements will have changed, like the moving eyes of paintings in cartoons which follow you wherever you go.