Written by Nina Evans for THE ARTISTS FORUM MAGAZINE
Edited by Amos White V for THE ARTISTS FORUM, INC
Photos by Nina Evans and Amos White V
REVIEWER RATINGS:
5 out of 5 stars
ROBERT NAVA: AFTER HOURS AT PACE GALLERY
NEW YORK, NY (March 14, 2025) The sun was just starting to rest along the horizon line on the Hudson when Pace Gallery opened its doors for painter Robert Nava’s latest exhibition, After Hours. The collection features imaginative animal-monster inventions in Nava’s signature gestural and free style. Inspired by a broad catalog of characters from that of ancient myth to horror films and cartoons, Nava’s world is lively, playful, at times funny, and at times dark and haunted.
After Hours has a recurring motif of duality across the pieces, often resulting in two-headed or four-eyed characters. In the painting And Suddenly They Evolved, we see this two-fold in the sharp-toothed, roaring four-headed goose figure and its calm, content, two-headed counterpart. The four-headed character’s build and pose is reminiscent of Cerberus, multi-headed guard dog of Hades, whereas the two-headed character is more reminiscent of a child’s whimsical drawings. This duality amongst the characters themselves plays into the imaginative quality of the exhibit— it takes us out of our own world and our own rigid definitions. These animals can be fierce and peaceful, beautiful and chaotic.
Monumental works like Protecting My House depict a more involved scene, located in a particular place and time, though the sense of this feels nebulous, as if part of a dream. Here, Nava plays with the texture of oil, acrylic, spray paint, graphite, and bare linen. Some features are airbrushed and diffused, while others create harsh lines and definitions. The whole piece operates with nightmarish logic; a cacophony of characters haunt this nighttime sphere, baring teeth and tails, opposing one another. The viewer is invited to imagine alongside the artist, which is to say, make up your own story. Why is the house under siege? Who is trying to attack it, who is trying to defend it?
Nava’s work in After Hours is deeply intertextual and conversational with the larger art sphere. People like Cy Twombly and Jean-Michel Basquiat are conjured to mind when looking at his loose scribbles or graffiti-inspired strokes. The work has a spontaneous and free-form quality to it, but rests on a foundation of careful planning. The small-scale selections on paper featured in the exhibition show Nava’s sketching process— a more intimate, stripped-bare view compared to the larger, more developed canvases.
Of these works, I particularly gravitated toward Belly storm cloud chase, which features a multi-mouthed shark jumping out of the sea while bolts of lightning crash down overhead. Here, the streaks of paint on paper reminds me of childhood artwork, art that is made of pure creativity and imagination. One can see, when observing the small-scale pieces, how Nava fleshes out his compositions gesturally yet intentionally.
After Hours is on view now through April 26th at Pace Gallery, and this madcap, inspiring exhibition is not one to miss.
76″ × 89″ × 1-3/8″ (193 cm × 226.1 cm × 3.5 cm) (Photo by Amos White V)
For more about Robert Nava, visit: pacegallery.com/artists/robert-nava/ and robnava.com
For more about Robert Nava’s After Hours, visit: pacegallery.com/exhibitions/robert-nava
For more information about Pace Gallery – New York City, visit: pacegallery.com
