Caught and Free
Nikki Maloof’s second solo exhibition with Jack Hanley Gallery in Manhattan’s Lower East Side ‘Caught and Free’ (March 21th - April 20th) is more than meets the eye with some very subtle politically charged messaging.
The used-to-be-based-in-NYC artist moved to a studio in Massachusetts and pumped up the scale of her works for this exhibition to avoid falling into ‘cutesy’ territory.
The subject matter of these works: animals in a domesticated setting.
Seems simple enough, but they represent something deeper - animals absorbing the emotional tensions of their human counterparts with a lack of understanding or context.
“The dog looks sheepish. The cats are freaking out. A bird appears comparatively chill—until you notice how desperately his talons clutch the perch. In Nikki Maloof’s newest paintings, even animals aren’t immune to the perils of Trump’s America” - Garage
By intertwining newspapers throughout the artworks with headings that say things like
“Night Anxiety at All Time High”
“Cry whenever you want to”
“How did we get here and where are we going from now on?”
“When I think about animal paintings there’s something sweet about them, and I never want anything to be too sweet,” she says. “I want it to reflect an intensity.” - Nikki Maloof for Garage
About Nikki Maloof
Nikki Maloof is on the younger side (for an artist). She was born in 1985 and got her BFA from Indiana University in 2008 and MFA from Yale University in 2011 (NBD).
She’s a mother to a young daughter and lives in Massachusetts.
“Artists that I am super inspired by at the moment are Heidi Hahn, Jonathan Gardner, Sanya Kantarovsky, Louis Fratino and Jennifer Packer.” - Nikki Maloof for Maake Magazine
She's represented by the following galleries
Shane Campbell Gallery - Chicago (who also represents David Leggett and Jonas Wood)
Jack Hanley Gallery - New York
Where you can follow her
Press
Maake Magazine (SUCH a great interview)
