Thomas Nozkowski
untitled (P-52), 2011 72 x 98" inches signed and numbered by the artist in an edition of 15 + 3 APs Hand dyed wool and allo - This rug is available in custom sizes
For years Tom Nozkowski was known as an “artist’s artist.” This meant that his marvelous easel-sized abstractions were well loved by his peers and a handful of in-the-know, diehard collectors but his work didn’t sell all that well. While that certainly changed, the quality of his work never has. In fact, it just keeps getting better. Indeed. The New York Times recently hailed his new paintings at Pace as his best yet, “….they are outstanding. They are bolder in color, surer in their balancing act between geometric and organic, and even more decisively varied than before. Each one is a carefully romanced jewel, complex, dense and endlessly nuanced.” With a seemingly infinite vocabulary, it’s often said that Nozkowski never makes the same painting twice. As a result, choosing a direction for his first carpet wasn’t easy. Which direction to take?
Nozkowski enjoyed the challenge of trying to capture the subtle gradients he achieves in his paintings in a textile. We found the answer in allo. A giant nettle harvested in the Himalayan region used to extract fiber for making cloth, allo has a natural color variation and luster that approximates the thin washy luminous layers of a Nozkowski background. As a result, while the Nozkowski carpet is an edition of 15, each rug is truly unique.
“I want to be happy in my studio. I want it to be exciting and I don’t want it to be a job. Coming from the working class, I know what work is—if I wanted a job, I’d get a job. I want to be an artist.”
Thomas Nozkowski (b. 1944, Teaneck, New Jersey) received a B.F.A. from The Cooper Union Art School, New York in 1967. Known for his richly colored and intimately scaled abstract paintings, Nozwkoski began exhibiting in group shows in 1973 and made his solo debut in 1979. By 1982, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, had acquired a painting from an early one-person exhibition for their permanent collection. To date, Nozkowski’s paintings have been featured in more than 300 museum and gallery exhibitions worldwide, including over 70 solo shows. Nozkowski chose to use yarn made from allo in the background areas to express the washy brushy aspects of his paintings and he oversaw every aspect of the design of his carpet.
BravinLee editions is a proud member of GoodWeave.
GoodWeave’s founder Kailash Satyarthi was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in honor of his career dedicated to ending the exploitation of children around the world. GoodWeave, an international nonprofit organization geared toward abolishing child labor in the carpet industry, has liberated and educated thousands of children, bringing them from carpet looms to classrooms. Satyarthi and GoodWeave work to guide consumers to its Child Labor Free Certified rugs and replicate their market-based approach of certification in other sectors. Kailash said at the ceremony, “I refuse to accept that the shackles of slavery can ever be stronger than the quest for freedom.” He asked those in attendance to place their hands over their hearts and “listen to the child inside.”