NYLA ISAAC
A PORTRAIT OF ME SURROUNDING ALL OF YOU
January 11th - February 11th, 2024
FIERMAN presents A Portrait of Me Surrounding All of You, a solo exhibition of paintings by Nyla Paula Isaac. Isaac (b. 1960), born in Trinidad and raised in Queens, is a prolific painter who foregrounds portraiture in her oeuvre. Realistically rendered with surreal flourishes, Isaac’s portraits capture an irreverent intimacy of sitters from life or famous people. She received formal training in painting at the High School of Art and Design and holds an Associate’s Degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology, alongside informal enrollment over the years at the Art Students League. Isaac maintains her studio at the Living Museum, an art studio dedicated to presenting art produced by patients at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, the largest state psychiatric care center in New York City. She speaks openly about her mental illness and its impact on her art, declaring in a 2019 interview, “Schizophrenia frees me.”
Versed in the history of portraiture and genre painting from Velasquez and Rembrandt to Norman Rockwell, Isaac draws liberally from all, creating a singular oeuvre reflecting a restless mind seeking material form. Some of Isaac’s portraits are formally composed while others reflect the intimacy and scale of a snapshot. In one painting a seated Michelle Obama, resplendent in an elaborate pink gown, is distinguishable from Dynasty’s Dominique Devereaux only by the Portuguese Water Dogs at her feet. A placid mountain landscape, either painting or window, draws the viewer’s eye behind the smiling woman in repose. In another, more diminutive painting a young black man in close crop flashes a peace sign with an insouciant grin. In a third Living Museum founder Dr. Janos Marton sits at his desk, COVID safe mask in place and typing on his phone, clearly painted from life. While his quotidian desk chair and some paperwork are present, the rest of the composition is a tropical waterfall reminiscent of the Trinidadian landscape of the artist’s youth, another staple of her oeuvre. Other subjects range from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to Isaac’s family members and artist colleagues at the LivingMuseum. Domesticanimalsfigureprominently,asagoldenretrievercompletesatender marriage portrait, and in other works dogs, cats, and parrots of varying scale outnumber people.
Nyla Isaac (b. 1960, Trinidad) lives and works in Queens, NY. Recent exhibitions include a solo presentation in New York City curated by Brittany Adeline King presented by Gallery Albany (2023), and I am Come Unto you in Mine own Person, a group exhibition at FIERMAN (2023), as well as numerous exhibitions at the Living Museum and Fountain House Gallery.
