a'driane nieves

Overview

Portrait of a'driane nieves in her studio, 2024. Photo: Julia Gillard. © a'driane nieves. Courtesy of the Artist and Galerie Marguo.

My work is not representative of our external; instead it is about our (Black) bodies, experiences, traumas & triumphs, healing, & identities from an internal perspective. Each piece is a part of the body, psyche, and soul turned inside out; the intimate recesses, fault lines, eroded sediment, gravity wells, multitudes, & universes we contain as we navigate a society that judges us by what can be seen with the eye.

— a'driane nieves

a'driane nieves was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1982.

A visual artist and writer, a'driane nieves is a U.S. Air Force veteran and the founder of an arts nonprofit and art magazine. Nieves is a self-taught painter of over a decade. At the urging of her therapist, she began using painting as a form of art therapy in 2011 during her recovery from postpartum depression and following her later diagnosis of bipolar disorder. This initial experimentation led to her using abstract expressionist painting as a way to overcome the impacts of childhood abuse, specifically emotional suppression. Influenced by Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly, Bernice Bing, and early Black abstractionist painters ranging from Alma Thomas to Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Nieves’ paintings offer space for her own and others' quiet reflection and contemplation. She credits both the writing and visual components of her practice with helping her to find her voice and creating space for her to safely release long-buried emotions.

In 2018, Nieves founded Tessera Arts Collective, a not-for-profit serving women and non-binary abstract artists of color. Nieves exhibits internationally; recent solo and group shows including self evident truths (Various Small Fires, L.A); Synaptic Blooming (EDIT Projects, Seoul); Resonant Harmonies (Standing Pine Gallery, Tokyo); Notes from the Laughing Barrel (Galerie Marguo, Paris); in addition to presentations at Frieze London, L.A; Art021 Shanghai. Her work can be found in collections across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, including Fondation Louis Vuitton, Dangxia Art Space, Beijing, Spurs Collection in San Antonio, USA, and the Rennie Museum, Vancouver, Canada. Nieves will make her institutional debut this upcoming fall with a solo presentation at Le Consortium Museum (Dijon, France).

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Biography

a'driane nieves, it is here amongst the flowers and thorns, with my hands buried deep in the soil that i weep, i dream, i dance with both the past and the future, i tether myself to hope, and fight to grasp ahold of what feels just beyond my reach, 2024 (detail). Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Marguo

Born 1982 in San Antonio, Texas. Lives and works in Greater Philadelphia Area.

Founder & Executive Director, Tessera Arts Collective

Education

2011	Associate of Arts (AA), Camden County College

Solo Exhibitions

2024	Consortium Museum, let's dance our way back home, Dijon, France
	The Armory Show 2024, Wholeness is Worth its Weight, New York, USA
	Various Small Fires, self evident truths, Los Angeles, USA
2023	Galerie Marguo, Synaptic Blooming, hosted by Edit Projects, Seoul, South Korea
	Galerie Marguo, im a Survivor, Paris, France (online)
	Galerie Marguo, Notes from The Laughing Barrel, Paris, France
2022	Galerie Marguo, Notes from the Healing Circle (online presentation), Paris, France

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024	Standing Pine, Resonant Harmonies, Nagoya, Japan
2023	Galerie Marguo, ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China
	Various Small Fires, Frieze London 2023, London, UK
	Galerie Marguo, Home Run, Casa Marguo Inaugural Exhibition, Menorca, Spain
	Gillian Jason Gallery, Beyond Figuration: There and Now, London, UK
	BODE Projects, Color Coded, Berlin, Germany
	Smart Fine Arts, Women in Abstraction, Hong Kong
	Galerie Marguo, Art Paris 2023, Paris, France
	Bode Projects Gallery, Color Coded, Berlin, Germany
2022	Galerie Marguo, ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China
	Simon Lee Gallery, Frieze London, London, England
	Simon Lee Gallery, Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland
	Consortium Museum, The Drawing Center Show, Dijon, France
2021	Galerie Marguo, ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Shanghai, China
	West Chelsea Contemporary JVN x WCC On the Wall”, Austin, USA
	Susan Eley Fine Art, Three Abstract Artists, New York, USA
2020	Susan Eley Fine Art, AMERICANA Part II, New York, USA
	The Delaware Contemporary, From Chaos to Order, Making Our Way in the World of COVID-19, Wilmington, USA
2019	UICA, SPECTRA, Grand Rapids, USA
	Girlboss Rally, Perfecting the Journey, Los Angeles, USA
	Goat Farm Arts Center, Her Ritual, Atlanta, USA
2017	Saatchi Art, The Other Art Fair, New York, USA
	Rare Device, WOMEN, San Francisco, USA
2016	Dibden Center for the Arts, AWAKEN, Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont, USA
2015	Wild Goose Festival, Life as Art exhibition & Q&A w/ Frank Schaeffer, Asheville, USA

Collections

Rennie Museum, Vancouver, Canada

X Museum, Beijing, China
Dangxia Art Space, Beijing, China

Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France

Spurs Collection, San Antonio, USA

Podo Museum, South Korea

Private collections across the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia & Australia

Murals & Public Art

2021	Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, USA
2019	Streets Dept. Walls, Fashion District, Philadelphia, USA

Publications

2023	a'driane nieves, notes from the laughing barrel, Marguo Books (essay collection)
2021	Abstractions Magazine ISSUE 001, Tessera Arts Collective
2020	Schiffer Publishing, The Motherhood of Art, Marissa Huber & Heather Kirtland, interview and photos
2019	Create Magazine, Issue XI
2017	Ashley M. Jones, Magic City Gospel, Hub City Press, book cover
2015	Ashlee Wells Jackson, The 4th Trimester Bodies Project, interview and photos

Bibliography

2024	Milosevic, Mia, “A’Driane Nieves Dismantles The Policing of Emotionality in self-evident truths @ VSF In Los Angeles,” AUTRE Magazine, March 9.
	Griffin, Jonathan, “Here’s What Inspired Self-Taught Artist A’Driane Nieves In the Creation of Her First Solo Show,” Cultured, February 27.
2023	Halperin, Julia, “Painting Outside the Lines: 7 Women Pushing the Boundaries of Abstract Art,” W Magazine, December 13.
	Manning-Schaffel, Vivian, “A’Driane Nieves Embraces the Abstract,” Shondaland, June 29.
	Erman, Ayse, “LVH In Conversation With A’Driane Nieves,” March 17.
2021	Hines, Bethany, “Painting helped this self-taught artist find balance with bipolar disorder. Now, she’s helping others,” CNN, June 21.
	Van Ness, Jonathan, “How Did You Become Such An Amazing Artist? with A’Driane Nieves,” Getting Curious with JVN, March 3. (Podcast).
2020	Amataya Studio, “Dear Artist Season 2 Episode 7 with A’Driane Nieves,” Dear Artist Project, May 22. (Podcast).
	Popova, Ekaterina, “Don’t Be Afraid to Take Up Space,” Create Magazine, April 10. (Podcast)
	López, Wit, “Curator Close-up, A’Driane Nieves of Tessera Arts Collective, Artblog, March 19.
	Nelms, Satya, “Drawing Boundaries and Holding Grace: In the Garden with A’Driane Nieves,” Our Mother’s Gardens, March 1. (Podcast).
2019	Buteyn, Kaylan, “Processing trauma, finding your voice, and building a legacy with A’Driane Nieves,” Artist/Mother Podcast, October 28. (Podcast).
	Nieves, A’Driane, “Streets Dept. Walls: Marrying My Philly & Southwestern Roots For Fashion District Philadelphia,” Medium, September 16.
	Dark, Natalie,“Meet the Community That Nurtures My Art & Helps Me Build Resilience”, Everyday Health, May 8.
	Curtis, Tiffany, “Herstory”, Black History Untold.
2018	Curtis, Tiffany Lashai, “New Fishtown Gallery Spotlights Women Artists of Color”, Philadelphia Inquirer, December 4.
	Blair, Gabrielle, “Creating A Family Charter,” Design Mom, September 6.
	Harris, Ida, “13 Incredible Black Artists, Past And Present, Everybody Should Know”, Blavity, February 6. “Painting Saved My Sanity,” The Creativity Habit. (Podcast).
2017	KC, “Artist Spotlight: A’Driane Nieves”, Rare Device Blog, May 1.
2016	“A’Driane Nieves on The Future of Art”, The Future According to Women, MISC Magazine.
	Amanpour, Christiane, “Bono Just Became Glamour’s First Man of the Year,” Glamour Magazine, October 31.

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Works

a'driane nieves
after all of this time, i’ve finally learned to go the way my blood beats. (baldwin) II, 2024
Acrylic and house paint on Belgian linen
127 x 177.8 cm (50 x 70 in)
a'driane nieves
an embodied legacy/look at how your garden has matured/ woman-ish in my ways/ hope I've made you proud, 2024
Acrylic and house paint on Belgian linen
177.8 x 203.2 cm (80 x 70 in)
a'driane nieves
it is here amongst the flowers and thorns, with my hands buried deep in the soil that i weep, i dream, i dance with both the past and the future, i tether myself to hope, and fight to grasp ahold of what feels just beyond my reach, 2024
Acrylic and house paint on Belgian linen
162.6 x 182.9 cm (64 x 72 in)
a'driane nieves
Exuberant Synaptogenesis #1, 2023
Acrylic, house paint and sanguine dry lead on Belgian linen
152.4 x 182.9 cm (60 x 72 in)
a'driane nieves
Exuberant Synaptogenesis #2, 2023
Acrylic and house paint on Belgian linen
182.9 x 152.4 cm (72 x 60 in)
a'driane nieves
My Window of Tolerance is Increasing, 2023
Acrylic, house paint and graphite on Belgian linen
152.4 x 152.4 cm (60 x 60 in)
a'driane nieves
Neuroplasticity (Transformative Re-Wiring) #4, 2023
Acrylic, pastel and pencil on paper
76.2 x 55.9 cm (30 x 22 in)
Framed: 99 x 79 x 4 cm (39 x 31 1/8 x 1 5/8 in)
a'driane nieves
Notes #3, 2023
Acrylic on paper
41.9 x 29.5 cm (16 1/2 x 11 5/8 in)
47.3 x 34.5 cm (framed)
a'driane nieves
A Somatic Feeling , 2022
Acrylic, house paint on Belgian linen
152.4 x 152.4 cm
60 x 60 in
a'driane nieves
An atypical black hole in a typical universe, 2022
Acrylic, house paint on Belgian linen
Diptych, each 182.9 x 152.4 x 3.8 cm (72 x 60 x 1 1/2 in)
a'driane nieves
Between Two Lungs (Somatic Breaths) , 2022
Acrylic, house paint
Belgian linen

121.9 x 91.4 cm (48 x 36 in)
a'driane nieves
Bloodlines: Madonna and Child, Mother and Me, 2022
Acrylic, oil stick, and graphite on paper
41.9 x 29.2 cm (16 1/2 x 11 1/2 in)
51 x 38 x 3 cm (framed)
a'driane nieves
Coagulation: When The Healing Factors Rush In, 2022
Acrylic and house paint on Belgian linen
203.2 x 177.8 cm (80 x 70 in)
a'driane nieves
I Brought You with Me, 2022
Acrylic, sanguine dry lead on paper
76.2 x 55.9 cm (30 x 22 in)
86 x 66 x 3 cm (framed)
a'driane nieves
I’ve Given Up The Mud of The Past For Flowers of Healing Instead, 2022
Acrylic and house paint on Belgian linen
152.4 x 243.8 cm (60 x 96 in)
a'driane nieves
Mutable (Shapeshifting), 2022
Acrylic on paper
76.2 x 55.9 cm (30 x 22 in)
86 x 66 x 3 cm (framed)
a'driane nieves
My life has been a study in self revolution, 2022
Acrylic, house paint, graphite, sanguine dry lead on Belgian linen
177.8 x 127 x 3.8 cm
70 x 50 x 1 1/2 in
a'driane nieves
Notes From the Healing Circle (I), 2022
Acrylic, house paint on Belgian linen
203,2 x 162,6 x 3.8 cm
80 x 64 x 1 1/2 in
a'driane nieves
You Wished Me Heaven But Gave Me Hell... Yet I Still Played in the Sunshine, 2022
Acrylic, pastel and house paint on Belgian linen
203.2 x 177.8 cm (80 x 70 in)
a'driane nieves
Chimera (1987), 2021
Acrylic, spray paint, house paint, graphite on linen
120,5 x 202 cm
52 x 88 in
a'driane nieves
Shadow Work, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
152.4 x 152.4 cm
60 x 60 in