Painting Backwards: Evan Nesbit at Roberts & Tilton

Painters and paint-lovers should flock to Evan Nesbit’s (NAP #99) current show /ˈkaɪˑæzəm/. Entering Roberts & Tilton, visitors are met by a group of large and brightly colored burlap canvases. The combination of acrylic paints and dye on brown burlap and of Nesbit’s painting on the opposite side of the burlap than the one facing outward has a contradictory effect on the colors: they are muted bolds and conversely, they are bright pastels.

Visually, his paintings look like complex tie-dye from afar. The way in which Nesbit has composed opposite and complimentary colors amidst his backward paintings creates movement. They have a mesmerizing effect as if they have captured and stretched musicality and momentum onto the stretched burlap canvas. This is easy to sense when you squint at the works ever so slightly, or when you simply try to capture it on a phone. The colors seem dizzying and wobbly, when they aren’t actually in person.

Read the rest here at New American Paintings.

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