Nick Theobald: Cicada Husk

 

Nick Theobald was born in Los Angeles (1986), grew up in Singapore, and has lived in London, Colorado City, and New York. He is a well-established part of New York’s pulsating fashion and art world. On the fashion scene in recent years, he has engaged in collaborative ventures with, for example, designer Francisco Costa. Theobald is represented in museum collections and important private collections. His most recent major exhibition was at Horsens Kunstmuseum, Horsens, Denmark in 2023: “Last Light - Emil Westman Hertz (1978-2016) and Nick Theobald.*

 

In the summer of 2021, he bought a disused Catholic school in the small town of Palmyra in upstate New York, and has now re-modelled it into a combined studio and home. A change of scene that, in every way, has influenced his artistic practice and provided new inspiration.

 

Nick Theobald has a long practice working in media such as bronze, photography, and coal and beeswax on canvas. For the show at Høyersten Contemporary, he has taken a bold new direction by solely creating big paintings with sumi ink on canvas. Even though it gives a new direction in his artistry, it also rests upon former achievements and artistic attitude. Because Nick Theobald is a true aesthetician, and the aesthetic approach always forms the underlying framework for his artistic work, regardless whether we are dealing with sculptures suffused with symbolism, small thought-provoking photos, or abstract paintings. Always based on a characteristic precision and a deep aesthetic appreciation.

 

Nick Theobald is inspired by the various world religions, chiefly Shinto and Buddhism, world images and eras, which goes in tandem with tarot reading, intuition, great diligence, and a dedicated urge to create. In recent years, Nick Theobald has worked intensively with the Shinto religion, Japan’s original religion. Shinto means ‘the path of the gods’ which, with some knowledge of Nick Theobald’s practice, would seem obvious, since the artist uses intuition as a significant part of his artistic work. Daily meditation, tarot reading, and general spiritual balance is an important part of the creative process.

 

Cicada Husk marks a new point in Theobald's artistry and of his journey during the last few years.