Nadia Ayari
Born Tunis, Tunisia 1981
Lives and works in New York, USA
By Isabella Ellaheh Hughes
Born in Tunis, Nadia Ayari lives and works in New York. Her distinctive paintings are characterised by a striking balance between abstraction and narration. Generally Ayari produces series of works which focus on a select number of repeated objects like the eyeball and the fig. These objects become the protagonists of her paintings, taking on the contours of human disembodiment, or another form isolated from nature. Balcony zooms in on a bulbous fig tree full of ripened fruits that appear almost too large for their branches. These symbols of fecundity echo the feminine form while the thick impasto creates a velvety, sculptural presence. Ayari moved to the U.S. in 2000 and received a B.A. in art history from Boston University, an M.F.A. in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a certificate of fine arts from Brandeis University. She began exhibiting her work in 2008, and has participated in numerous international shows and biennales, including the U.S. pavilion at the 12th Cairo International Biennale and the 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale.
Lives and works in New York, USA
By Isabella Ellaheh Hughes
Born in Tunis, Nadia Ayari lives and works in New York. Her distinctive paintings are characterised by a striking balance between abstraction and narration. Generally Ayari produces series of works which focus on a select number of repeated objects like the eyeball and the fig. These objects become the protagonists of her paintings, taking on the contours of human disembodiment, or another form isolated from nature. Balcony zooms in on a bulbous fig tree full of ripened fruits that appear almost too large for their branches. These symbols of fecundity echo the feminine form while the thick impasto creates a velvety, sculptural presence. Ayari moved to the U.S. in 2000 and received a B.A. in art history from Boston University, an M.F.A. in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a certificate of fine arts from Brandeis University. She began exhibiting her work in 2008, and has participated in numerous international shows and biennales, including the U.S. pavilion at the 12th Cairo International Biennale and the 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale.