NURTUREart Non-Profit, inc. is pleased to present The New Intimists, a group exhibition curated by Samantha Friedman. The exhibition features Amy Lincoln, Gunter Puller, Heejung Cho, Janell Olah, Karen Tam, Mark Epstein, and Tamara Thomsen.

From all sides, we’re encouraged to make our private lives more and more public, and to pay increasing attention to the private lives of others. However, the face that one presents in a “facebook” is by definition a form of masking, the presentation of a persona that hides as much as it reveals. In this time of unfettered self-display, spaces of genuine intimacy are paradoxically vacated. What does intimacy mean in a time where public/private lines are so tenuous? Furthermore, what could an “intimate” art practice look like in such a time?

The New Intimists is an excitingly soft-spoken exhibition curated by Samantha Friedman, proving that two-dimensional work remains powerful. These artists do not only attempt to lift their masks and show some sort of truer self, but rather draw the viewer in with the intimacy of their work. By documenting domestic spaces – whether personal, historical, or constructed – we see a vision of life unavailable on any website. From damask wallpaper to plaid bedspreads, these artists bring the viewers back down to earth, inviting us to engage their personal space.

Inspired by the flat and decorative sensibilities of the late 19th century Nabis, who blurred the lines between art and interior decoration, these artists find their inspiration in the graphic patterning of domestic interiors, and the essence of their media. They reject illusionistic representation in a celebration of geometric flatness, pointing to the demure quietness of a domestic space that is commonly overlooked at a time where our attentions are so intensely fought for by issues far from the domestic sphere.

The New Intimists is a NURTUREart Emerging Curators’ Program Collaboration.