Nichole van Beek

Nichole van Beek combines letterforms, abstract patterning and texture to create maze- and puzzle-like compositions. She begins each painting by dyeing the canvas. Various patterns emerge from these quick applications of pigment—flecks, daubs and radiating blotches. They in turn provide a foundation for the layering in of letterforms.

For van Beek, the letters are not only compositional guides but also point to other numerous meanings. The letterforms can be slow to reveal themselves, since usually they are given three- dimensional shapes. Tight curves and sharp angles give way to deep perspective and open spaces. Foreground and background push and pull against one another, as do unusual color combinations and surface textures. She also cites other influences such as textiles, advertising signage, gardens and houseplants. Hard and soft, sharp and fuzzy, van Beek’s paintings are jauntily her own.

Nichole van Beek received a 2012 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Painting and a 2011 Socrates Sculpture Park Emerging Artist Fellowship. Her work has been exhibited at Jeff Bailery Gallery, New York, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Morgan Lehman Gallery, Brian Morris Gallery, Susan Inglett Gallery and in The Last Brucennial, New York, 2014. 

Courtesy of Jeff Bailey Gallery