NinaJohnson

Katie Stout, Nasim Hantehzadeh, Amy Bessone, Yukultji Napangati: Friedman/Johnson at Zut! Paris

October 18th - October 23rd, 2022
  • Friedman/Johnson at Zut! Paris. Photography by Yann Bohac

Zut! is a collaborative exhibition which celebrates the intersection of art and design. Occupying an 18th century mansion on 72 rue de l’Université in the 7th arrondissement, this immersive exhibition is the brainchild of 7 international galleries: A1043 (Paris, France), Deli Gallery (New York, USA), Friedman/Johnson (New York/Miami, USA), Galerie Mitterrand (Paris, France), Salon 94 Design (New York, USA), The Breeder (Athens, Greece), and Volume Gallery (Chicago, USA).

Built in 1728 as the Hôtel de Guise, this once opulent hôtel particulier has been known under many names including Hôtel du président Chauvelin, Hôtel de Rougé, Hôtel de Mme de Lurcy and finally, L’Hôtel Chauvelin de Crisenoy. While its former grandeur eventually fell into romantic decay, it has more recently become inspiration for artists and curators alike who have breathed new life into its derelict shell. Zut! embraces the building’s storied past, and responds with different visions of how contemporary art and design can synergistically co-exist. Installed in this modern ruin, each installation triggers the imagination with a sense of possibility, impermanence, and play.

  • Friedman/Johnson, Paris, Zut!, 2022, Installation, Amy Bessone, Katie Stout, Nasim Hantehzadeh, Yukultji Napangati
    Katie Stout, Peggy, 2022 Ceramic, bronze, glass, gold luster, 32 x 20 x 20 in.

Alissa Friedman in collaboration with Nina Johnson Gallery are thrilled to present Amy Bessone, Nasim Hantehzadeh, Yukultji Napangati and Katie Stout, four artists and designers whose work celebrates hybridity, storytelling, and ornamentation. While hailing from across the globe (Los Angeles; Iran; The Western Desert of Australia; New York), each of our featured artists mine history, mythology, and traditional craft practices to create artworks and objects that are both highly personal and insistently contemporary. Glass, ceramics, metal work, Persian rug design, calligraphy, ceremonial body art and sand painting are the starting points from which their stories emerge.

  • Friedman/Johnson, Paris, Zut!, 2022, Installation, Amy Bessone, Katie Stout, Nasim Hantehzadeh, Yukultji Napangati
    Yukultji Napangati, Untitled, 2019, Acrylic on linen, 47.5 x 59 x 1.75 in.
  • Friedman/Johnson at Zut! Paris. Photography by Yann Bohac

For Hantehzadeh, early memories from their childhood in Iran create visually powerful narratives around identity, race and sexuality. Their work emphasizes an intimacy with materials, surface, and subject matter which challenge notions of taboo, bodily shame, and systemic gender hierarchies.

  • Friedman/Johnson, Paris, Zut!, 2022, Installation, Amy Bessone, Katie Stout, Nasim Hantehzadeh, Yukultji Napangati
    Nasim Hantehzadeh, Untitled, 2020, Color pencil and graphite on paper , 9 x 12 in.

Bessone’s visionary oil paintings are populated with archetypal female characters who inhabit their narratives as actor, creator and instigator. Capturing pivotal moments in her protagonists’ adventures, the paintings form a worldview in which realism and societal norms are suspended.

  • Friedman/Johnson, Paris, Zut!, 2022, Installation, Amy Bessone, Katie Stout, Nasim Hantehzadeh, Yukultji Napangati
    Amy Bessone, Black Frame, 2022, Mixed media on canvas with artist’s frame, 27.5 x 23.5 x 1.75 in.
  • Friedman/Johnson, Paris, Zut!, 2022, Installation, Amy Bessone, Katie Stout, Nasim Hantehzadeh, Yukultji Napangati
    Friedman/Johnson at Zut! Paris. Photography by Yann Bohac

For 25 years, First Nation artist Napangati has created paintings that depict the land and myths associated with her Dreamings. Working from the remote Australian community of Kiwirrkurra, she creates sinuous, undulating compositions which uproot Western notions about past and present, center and periphery, public and private, matter and spirit.

  • Friedman/Johnson, Paris, Zut!, 2022, Installation, Amy Bessone, Katie Stout, Nasim Hantehzadeh, Yukultji Napangati
    Yukultji Napangati, Untitled, 2020, Acrylic on linen (Detail)

With her handmade abstract sculpture and functional objects, Stout disregards the distinctions between art and design, high and low, utility and extravagance. Channeling the legacy of craft, she pushes these classical traditions into subversive, unexpected territories which re-interpret the female gaze and our relationship to domesticity, elegance, and womanhood.

  • Friedman/Johnson, Paris, Zut!, 2022, Installation, Amy Bessone, Katie Stout, Nasim Hantehzadeh, Yukultji Napangati
    Katie Stout, Tatiana, 2022, Ceramic, paint, glaze, and epoxy (Detail)