Nabil Nahas Lebanese, b. 1949
Red Sea (Large), 1993
Acrylic on canvas
124.5 x 124.5 cm; (49 x 49 in.)
Copyright The Artist
In the early 1990s, Nahas was struck by a starfish-strewn beach on Long Island, New York, and he began casting the starfish, as well as shells and other found elements...
In
the early 1990s, Nahas was struck by a starfish-strewn beach on Long Island,
New York, and he began casting the starfish, as well as shells and other found elements
from the seashore, in silicone, creating moulds that were then filled with
acrylic. His experimental castings
proliferated and became a repository for his relief paintings of layer upon
layer of organic shapes covered in luminescent, hyperreal colours. Nahas often
mixes pumice powder into his paint, further enhancing the materiality of his
work, giving the impression of pure ground pigment or coral reefs.