FAVORITES:

NANCY CHAIKIN

Los Angeles-based art advisor Nancy Chaikin talks about her favorite works from the December selection on Platform.

In their own words

Proudly, Nancy Chaikin Art Advisory will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. I have been incredibly lucky to work with great collectors assembling very distinct collections of Modern and Contemporary art. It is enormously rewarding imparting my knowledge and working closely with my clients to best articulate their vision for each collection. Living with art and works of the imagination creates a very magical world to inhabit. 

I have a very broad definition of what art can be; however at heart I am a sensualist, so I am a huge lover of painting and sculpture. In particular, I really adore the work of the mid-century female Abstract Expressionists, the artists of the Arte Povera movement and video art from the 1970’s. My definition of art goes way beyond the plastic arts; I credit this to having studied fine art, and to earning a B.F.A and an M.F.A.  

Over the years, on behalf of clients,  I have acquired major works by Joan Mitchell, Agnes Martin, Barbara Hepworth, Giorgio Morandi, Alice Neel, Donald Judd, Raoul De Keyser and many others.

Nathaniel Robinson, Untitled
Oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches. $5000

I have special fondness for paintings on an intimate scale.  Nathaniel Robinson's oil on canvas still life makes excellent use of a pared down composition, which reminds us of the pleasures of quotidian life. There is a stillness in his work that gently asks the viewer to pause.

Melanie Baker, Thumbs Up
Graphite and charcoal on paper, 21.25 x 43.5. $4000

The exceptionally refined graphite and charcoal renderings by Melanie Baker allude to a larger narrative outside of what is contained within the picture plane.  The drawings generously give the viewer the ability to participate in the construction of the meaning of her work.

Corey Lamb, Cock's Crow
Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches. $2000

The quirky pseudo-sexual moments depicted in Corey Lamb's paintings have a pop sensibility. I find the paintings funny and charming as there is a real innocence in the way the subject matter is depicted. 

Miles Huston, Verse, Black Blocks
Colored pencil on paper, 15.5 x 15.5 inches. $4000

The geometric abstract works by Miles Huston contain a specific rhythm. I especially like, Verse Black Blocks with its spare, black and white composition that is almost on the verge of transitioning from the visual to the auditory.

Lindsay Burke, Boil Before the Burst
Acrylic and dry media on canvas, 22.5 x 20.3 inches. $4500

The elegant figures contained within the works of Lindsay Burke reveal the connection that exists between the human body and the architectonic and mechanized world that we inhabit.  I especially respond to Boil Before the Burst, a Surrealist-fashioned canvas that possibly captures how close we are to being overwhelmed by the gadgets and machines that we have released into world.