NISO is pleased to present The Exit Shut Opened, Martina Quesada’s debut solo exhibition with the gallery, curated by Philippa zu Knyphausen. 

A conversation unfolds against the backdrop of an exhibition. The artist, Martina Quesada, is absent. Instead, two curators—Philippa zu Knyphausen and Christian Dominguez— engage in a dialogue. It takes the form of a theatrical script: two voices, two acts, a shared arc. Much like the exhibition itself, this dialogue doesn’t seek to define the work. Instead, it unravels it—through perception, through exchange. Act One and Act Two; Room One and Room Two; Character One and Character Two: these parallel structures guide the visitor through the cognitive and sensory transitions of the exhibition. Unlike Sartre’s No Exit, these rooms move toward an ending: a gently unfolding uncertainty, where conflict softens into unresolved acceptance.

P: It’s not just a work on a wall. It just looks and feels like one. But it’s a portal—a way through, not a boundary. A wall declares; a portal invites. The mind knows the difference— unless it’s grown dull. As Wilde said, people who choose the tedious life will succeed. 

That’s their punishment. The alternative is accepting that the soul is unknowable.

C: I am. A portal, sure—but also a threshold. One that doesn’t guarantee you’ll pass through. Like ideas. They only work if you risk stepping in. Maybe this “non-wall” is a kind of defense. There’s no passage without fear. No change without loss. Still, I follow. Even when you bring up Wilde. Even when you talk about the soul like it’s still outside language. What Martina offers isn’t escape—it’s the illusion of it. A broken geometry we have to finish. That’s where the real work happens: in the gaps.

P: Alright. Let’s say the work on the wall is both defence and threshold. Maybe even an entrance—just not one we’ve crossed yet. The mind does that—starts with fear, imagines falling, failing. Then something slips through: an unfinished idea, winding like a maze.

C: Then the wall doesn’t block. It creates space—for courage to take shape. The fall doesn’t end things. It opens them. Every broken piece is a promise—not of answers, but of presence. This work on the wall lives at the edge of what we know.

P: So imagine this room as Act One. A state of mind, not yet stable. Change just beginning. Like a staircase—the first step toward solving something. The problem? Fear. And how the mind clings to it. That journey—from fear to summit—that’s the play. The next room? Act Two.

C: Maybe the real tension is in-between. Where you’re not sure if you’re running or moving forward. The mind craves order—beginnings, endings. But here, nothing fits. And yet… there’s rhythm.

Maybe the shift happens when you stop forcing meaning— and just breathe with the work.

Then, quietly, something opens. Not an answer, but a release. Space softens. Color becomes breath. And in that openness— you stay.

P: Exactly. Act Two. The clearing. The lift. The artworks become light—pure pigment on paper. Almost divine. Not something to explain. Something to move through. As Wilde said, the soul isn’t ruled—it’s navigated.

C: And here, it moves both ways. The staircase reaches up—wants to rise. But the pigment falls—soft, precise. One holds, the other lets go. Together they speak. No destination. Just stillness.

MARTINA QUESADA PRESS RELEASE.pdf

NISO is pleased to present The Exit Shut Opened, Martina Quesada's debut solo exhibition with the gallery, curated by Philippa zu Knyphausen.  

In celebration of our one-year anniversary, NISO presents 𝘉𝘌𝘠𝘖𝘕𝘋, an exhibition that challenges the boundaries of painting, transforming it into a field of expansion. Matter, form, and space are redefined  in a radical exploration bridging tradition and contemporaneity. Curated by Nicolas Sorbac and Christian Dominguez. 

“Painting is not a limit, but a threshold.”

Everything that was ever important happens at a tiny point, suspended in the abyss. A point of light, a fleeting glow in the infinite vastness. This is art: a flash, an insistence against nothingness, a gesture that expands beyond itself. From its origins, painting has been a search, an attempt to fix the ephemeral and capture the elusive. It has been surface and depth, sign and void, matter and energy. But it has never been static. Painting has always been a transit, a perpetual movement between image and idea, between form and its dissolution.

BEYOND is structured around two conceptual axes that define its exploration:

1.Longitudinal – Materiality, Form, and Space

This axis presents painting as an entity in transformation, a field where matter becomes gesture, the support becomes structure, and space becomes an extension of the canvas.

•Materiality: Painting as a living substance. In these works, matter is not only the vehicle for the image, but the protagonist. The accumulation of pigment, the exploration of textures, and the tension between materials turn the surface into a territory of experimentation. Artists like Bram Bogart, Ernesto Burgos, Otis Jones, and Amanda Ziemele investigate the physicality of painting, its density, and the resistance of materials, pushing the medium to its tactile and volumetric limits.

•Form: Painting as an object. The artists gathered in BEYOND break the flatness of the canvas, expanding it, folding it, perforating it, turning it into volume. Steven Parrino, Mateo Revillo, and Martina Quesada propose pictorial structures in which form is not just a container for the image, but an element in transformation.

•Space: Painting beyond the canvas. These works expand from their own frame, intervene with architecture, interact with light, emptiness, and the environment. Richard Smith and Imi Knoebel have developed languages in which painting becomes an installation, a vibration that interacts with the surrounding space.

2.Transversal – Tradition vs. Contemporaneity

This axis draws a bridge between the history of painting and its future, between the memory of the medium and its constant reinvention.

•Heritage and rupture: BEYOND does not deny tradition but revisits and transforms it. The exploration of surface and object in the work of Mateo Revillo and Martina Quesada finds echoes in the formal and spatial experimentation that artists like Richard Smith and Imi Knoebel have historically carried out.

•Expansion of the pictorial language: In a world saturated with digital images, how does painting persist? How is it redefined when it is no longer the dominant visual language? BEYOND raises these questions through artists like Steven Parrino and Otis Jones, whose work questions the relevance of the pictorial medium in a contemporary context where the image is immaterial and fleeting.

The artists gathered in BEYOND work at the edge between tradition and rupture. They break, stretch, perforate, and expand. Through dense layers of pigment, curved canvases, industrial materials, and energetic gestures, they challenge painting as a closed medium and reveal it as a living, unstable, constantly mutating form. Their practice not only interrogates the surface but also the space that surrounds it, the air that envelops it, the architecture that contains it.

The history of painting is not a straight line, but a succession of deviations, of alternative paths, of experiments that, in many cases, were suspended in their time and now find their continuity. BEYOND is an exploration of these unfinished paths, a reactivation of gestures, ruptures, and questions that, far from closing, continue to vibrate in the present.

Each work in this exhibition is an instant of revelation, an interruption in time that invites us to look beyond, to question the limits of the visible, and to imagine what still does not exist.

Art is not a destination, but a transit. Painting is not an object, but a threshold. BEYOND confronts us with this idea, pulling us beyond the frame, beyond the form, beyond time.

Installation view BEYOND. March 2025, Courtesy of NISO, London. 

Lectura de una apirición y una huída, 2022 Pigment, paper, glass and wood 40 x 340 cm Martina Quesada

Love Child Stacy, 2022 Acrylic on brass 117.5 x 127.7 x 0.1 cm Imi Knoebel

Salon for HH, 1980 Acrylic on Canvas 167.6 x 152.4 cm Richard Smith 

Teatro, 2024 Encaustic and casein paint on cement and plasterboard, wood 120 x 480 cm Mateo Revillo 

Black with Four Circles, Two partially Hidden, 2022 Acrylic on linen on wood 76 x 68,5 x 13cm Otis Jones 

Legs of Stone, 2022 Fiberglass, resin, wood, cardboard, charcoal, oil paint 122 x 91 x 15 cm Ernesto Burgos 

Untitled, 1998 Ceramic 42 x 44 x 7 cm Bram Bogart

Untitled, 2004 Aluminium acrylic on canvas 122 x 91 x 12 cm Steven Parrino

BEYOND PRESS RELEASE.pdf

In celebration of our one-year anniversary, NISO presents 𝘉𝘌𝘠𝘖𝘕𝘋, an exhibition that challenges the boundaries of painting, transforming it into a field of expansion.

The exhibition “The Flower is Always in The Almond” at NISO Gallery showcases Daniel Brusatin’s latest series of works, exploring the hidden potential and inherent growth in nature and humanity. Using natural materials, Brusatin creates pieces that reflect the evolution of organic forms, akin to seeds containing the promise of future flowers.

The title is a poetic statement about the latent potential in all beings. Just as the flower sleeps within the seed, these works hold energy waiting to be released, promising growth and transformation. The exhibition establishes a dialogue not only with matter but also with time and spirit, meditating on what is and what could be, the visible and the hidden, the tangible and the ethereal.

The show celebrates the cycles of nature, exploring fragility and strength, and the perpetual search for meaning through art. Brusatin invites the viewer to immerse themselves in an experience where the primordial and the eternal intertwine. The works are arranged in a space that guides an introspective journey, reflecting the intrinsic connection between nature and human creation. Each element is a microcosm of meaning, a whisper of the very essence of existence.

The blue circular mosaic, titled “The Flower is Always in The Almond”, with its rich chromatic palette and sinuous lines, celebrates fragmentation and cohesion. The small stone fragments, precisely assembled, represent a whole that transcends the sum of its parts. Inspired by the sea and the sky, this piece invites contemplation of the dialogue between the immutable and the ephemeral. The deep blue choice reinforces a sense of immensity and contemplation, evoking the vastness of natural elements and the meditative nature of mosaic art.

The sculptures evoking “Totems” are pillars of history and mythology, objects that, by their form and presence, seem to hark back to archaic times. These totems, with their rough surfaces and varying heights, rise from the ground as witnesses of an ancestral era, speaking of ceremonies and rituals of connection with the earth. On the other hand, the pieces resembling bird “Nests” offer an intimate and protective contrast, suggesting a space of shelter and birth. These concave forms, carefully crafted, lead us to reflect on security and vulnerability, on how nature creates spaces for life in its most fragile state.

The three wooden sculptures, “Derinkuyu, Ellora, and Lalibela”, with an almost volcanic texture, embody erosion and the passage of time. Their perforated surfaces suggest a contained force, shaped by wind, water, and fire. These pieces represent the natural process of wear, where each hole tells the story of its creation, evolution, and transformation. It is a testament to how matter can be simultaneously solid and vulnerable, heavy and light, opaque and translucent.

The compositions on canvas, titled “Embers and Whispers”, worked with perforations and burns, amplify the duality of creation and destruction. Each burn on the canvas becomes a trace of fire, a reminder of impermanence. The perforations, arranged with an almost mathematical sense, suggest coding and hidden messages. These works echo the idea that, in art, as in nature, every mark, scar, and scratch contributes to the object’s narrative.

At the heart of the exhibition stands “Intimate Immensity”, a large-scale work that dominates the space with its monumental presence. Constructed with raw materials like burlap and earthy tones, this piece embodies the tension between the vastness of the cosmos and the intimacy of human experience. The delicate balance of textures and forms invites viewers to lose themselves in its vast landscape while simultaneously grounding them in the tactile reality of the materials. This duality captures the essence of Brusatin’s exploration of the infinite within the finite.

This collection not only reflects Brusatin’s technical skill but also his ability to infuse his works with profound emotional and spiritual resonance. By intertwining tradition and modernity, the exhibition invites reflection on the viewer’s place in the continuous cycle of life and the universe.

The powerfully present idea of silences as moments of mutation and connection between works evokes an intermediate space where time dissolves, allowing the pieces to dialogue with each other in a language that transcends the verbal. These silences are like pauses in a visual symphony, intervals that not only mark the rhythm of the journey but also imbue each work with latent potential. In these interstices, the works not only exist but transform and reveal themselves to each other, creating a tapestry of meanings in constant evolution. It is in these silences that the cyclical, organic, and eternal essence of art manifests, showing how each piece is rooted in a temporal continuum that transcends its individual existence.

Text written by Christian Domínguez Dietzel

Installation view of The Flower is Always in the Almond. January, 2025. NISO, London. 

Intimate Immensity, 200 x 300 cm Daniel Brusatin

Installation view of The Flower is Always in the Almond. January, 2025. NISO, London.

The Flower is Always in the Almond, 2025 100 cm diameter Daniel Brusatin

The Tower, 2025 55 x 45 cm Oil on Linen Daniel Brusatin

Ellora, 2024 30 x 50 x 50 cm Oak Shou Sugi Ban Daniel Brusatin

Press Release - The Flower is Always in the Almond - NISO Gallery .pdf

Centering on perceptions of the world around us, ‘Cirrus: On Landscape’, at NISO, is a group show placing in dialogue emerging and historical artists, spanning Europe to Latin America and Asia. Taking its cue from a type of cloud - cirrus, a wispy genus that is distinctive for its movement and shifting - the exhibition, curated by Jenn Ellis, explores forms of landscape painting. Pointing to the evolving nature of our perceptions, the exhibition explores the tradition from art historical approaches at different points in time to distinctive geographic vantage points. Drawing connections between more descriptive or precise articulations over to more emotionally-inclined interpretations of the natural environment, ‘Cirrus: On Landscape’ investigates how landscapes - as we see or remember it - have inspired artists across centuries and continents. Including works by Jamiu Agboke, Alexandre Calame, Pierre-Athanase Chauvin, Francesco Cima, Janus La Cour, Katy Moran, Sawako Nasu, SALVO, Ulf Saupe, Alexandre Wagner and José Antonio da Silva, the exhibition poses itself as a pan-temporal contemplation of the observed, felt and interpreted world around us. 

Opening the exhibition and in the heart of the first room is a work, exhibited publicly for the first time, by SALVO (1947-2015, Italy), whose practice is principally categorised by their richly coloured metaphysical landscapes and cityscapes. ‘Bosnia Erzegovina’ (2006), in its citric hues and modernist articulations of a place, reflects SALVO’s emblematic approach of creating simplified, hyper-saturated compositions that imply abstract concepts like time and memory. Flanked on either side by variations of mnemonic feeling, the triumvirate on the leftmost wall is composed of Francesco Cima (b. 1990, Italy) and Ulf Saupe (b. 1975, Germany). Cima’s work, with its delicate ochre and burgundy hues, depicts with magnanimity and expanse a tall, foliage-filled forest, the roots of each tree trickling through the earth like tributaries. Akin to SALVO, there is a saturation of colour, albeit distinctly more sombre, and there is a comparative sense of pictorial mystery. The landscape is distant, as if a treasured component of his imagination. Saupe shares elements of introspection and a consciousness of journey; his works, which expand on the medium of photography, explore the balance between humanity and nature. Sensitive to process and the incorporation of elements in his pieces themselves, his works encompass mediums from soil and gold leaf, to pigment and pulverised coal

Extending our considerations of memory and journey-making in the context of an exploration of landscape is a further dialogue, on the rightmost wall, between Katy Moran (b. 1975, UK) and Jamiu Agboke (b. 1989, Nigeria). Moran, in her language of abstraction, conjures atmospheres. Thinking of the landscape from a place of external and internal observation, her paintings are rooted in process and the collection and re-articulation of readymade objects - prior found paintings, frames - which have given way to a new gestural release. Delving into feelings of longing, impression and association, is the work of Agboke. Articulating an observed and recollected terrain, the emphasis turns to one of gesture and movement. Sensorial, the tones of the sky evoke a warmth, a hue that speaks to a geographic and temporal particularity where the sun sets or rises distinctly. As if recollecting a vivid memory, Agboke, like Moran, seem to evoke moments in colour and gesture, in texture and tone, a freedom of wrist being most akin to what’s been perceived and recollected. 

On the opposite wall to SALVO are two works by José Antonio da Silva (b. 1909-1996, Brazil), an iconic  self-taught artist from Brazil’s rural, labouring classes, who shifted the nation’s relationship and pathway with modern art. Initially working the land as a labourer on coffee, sugar and cotton plantations, da Silva turned to making art at the age of thirty-seven. Distinct to his practice is his contemplation and correlated criticality of the agricultural landscape; exploring on the one hand the riches of the earth, da Silva equally points to its exploitation by industry and how it’s being reshaped forever. ‘Untitled’ (1980), for example, depicts a lush, crop-encircled home; the scene, however, is balanced by the presence of two crosses, rising from the soil, and several leafless trees. Birds are seen circulating in the distance, a seemingly ominous sign. 

 ‘Untitled’ (1984) is even more explicit in its relational critique with modernity: a railroad weaves its way through a forest, a locomotive being at once a sign of the future in progress, while in tandem a tree has been visibly logged on the right. Presenting an important and alternative reflection of memory to the room, da Silva questions the merits of progress, and introduces a consideration of the economic as well as romantic associations with the land that surrounds and makes us. 

Entering the second room, we are introduced to more subliminal and pictorial considerations of landscape, exploring the range between observation and expression. In the centre back wall is a masterpiece by Janus Andreas Bartholin la Cour (b. 1837-1909, Denmark), entitled ‘The Ruins of Bramante's Nymphaeum in Genazzano’ from 1870. Classically trained at the Eckersberg school and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, la Cour travelled to Italy and Switzerland for inspiration. As the title suggests, the painting is of an archeological site to the southeast of Rome; delicate in its delineation, the stones seem to have been taken over by a hyperbolic overture of vegetation. The skies in the foreground, with their pinkish hues, emblematic of his cloudy yet glowing approaches to the sky. The work is placed in dialogue, on the leftmost wall, with two works by Sawako Nasu (b. 1996, Japan). As if extrapolating a detail from La Cour’s painting, Nasu is inspired, in her paintings, by classical techniques yet strives to balance and contrast these with the contemporary context she creates in. Evoking the unbridgeable distance as well as evolutions between the times of the past and her current present, Nasu’s work evokes landscape as a vision. Aware of being in a constantly shifting art history, her expansive works in their delicacy and attention to the horizon reflect on this element of renewal. 

Extending interpretations of the natural world around us is another dialogue, on the opposite wall, between two work by Alexandre Wagner (b. 1986, Brazil) and a historic masterpiece by Pierre-Athanase Chauvin (1774-1832, France). Thinking about the creating and visioning of space, Wagner’s works depict with gesture and rhythm confluences of forests, rivers and cliffs. Furtive, Wagner’s palette is that of earth tones, his strokes ones that combine vigour with lightness. By comparison, Chauvin trained at the Écôle des Beaux Arts in Paris and excelled in a neoclassical style, eventually moving to Rome in 1801-2 where he gained international prominence. Travelling to Naples and Florence in addition to his thence ‘native’ Rome, Italian views became the focus of his perspective; indeed, the work on display is entitled ‘Vue des Pins de la Villa Borghese / prise du derrière la Villa Médicis’, which translates as “view of the pines of the Villa Borghese, taken from behind the Villa Médicis”. Opting for delicate pictorial accuracy, the work gives the impression of having been created ‘en plein air’ or in the open air, rather than back in the studio. The pines additionally lend an element of depth, this feeling of witnessing from afar. From the soft skies to the seeming sways of the trees, however, an element of light movement is permitted to appear. 

In the final wall, there is a parting conversation between two works, which explore the extended nuances of the exhibition. On the one hand there is a third work by Katy Moran, which in its gestural releases bridges the themes explored across the two rooms, from memory to rhythm, landscape as something that’s observed but also felt, and the exploration of sensorial elements when it comes to the natural world around us that extends beyond our sight. On the other hand, there is a work by Alexandre Calame (1810-1864, Switzerland) who focused on the natural world with a pictorial leaning on subliminal fascination. Specialised in the Alps, his work varies between an observation of the geological world and a wonder of what it can behold. Capturing moments of natural beauty, Calame’s work encompasses a romantic spirit, depicting grandiose landscapes where nature, untamed by man, preserves its frailty, chisel and rawness. 

Ultimately ‘Cirrus: On Landscape’ explores our pluralistic and continuously evolving relationship with the natural landscape. From absolute admiration and observation over to depicting the inevitability of our own involvement - from the archeological sites in Italy over to the laboured erosion in Brazil - the exhibition points to an ever-shifting coexistence between man and nature. From moments of abstraction evoking memory and rhythm in contemporary works, over to details of greater expression as articulated through the skies and foliage in the classical masterpieces, ‘Cirrus: On Landscape’ investigates how things can quickly change, or indeed, are constantly evolving - how the world around us is a matter of our own perception and articulation.

Installation view of Cirrus: On Lanscape, November 2024. Courtesy of NISO, London.  

Study of Rocks At The Lake of The Four Cantons, c. 1855-1860 Alexandre Calame 30,5 x 24,5 cm



Rome, View of the Villa Borghese behind the Villa Medicis, 19th Century
Pierre-Athanase Chauvin 20,4 x 31 cm



Installation view of Cirrus: On Lanscape, November 2024. Courtesy of NISO, London. 

Never No Turning Back, 2024 Jamiu Agboke 30 x 25 cm 

Bosnia Herzegovina, 2006 SALVO 20 x 14 cm

Laminetta, 2024 Francesco Cima 60 x 50 cm

Centering on perceptions of the world around us, ‘Cirrus: On Landscape’, at NISO, is a group show placing in dialogue emerging and historical artists, spanning Europe to Latin America and Asia.

NISO is pleased to announce Sawako Nasu’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, opening on Tuesday, September 17th. This marks the artist's first presentation outside of Japan and reinforces the gallery’s dedication to showcasing young talent from the Japanese art sceneSeptember 17th. Vestige presents a body of sixteen works on canvas that explore the breadth of her practice, from portraiture to landscape.

Sawako Nasu’s work serves as a profound meditation on the passage of time, memory, and the ephemeral quality of human nature—themes encompassing both her technique and subject matter. Nasu reduces her landscapes to abstraction by superimposing thin layers of paint, meticulously applied according to a geometric division of the surface plane. This method renders her brushstrokes nearly invisible, resulting in compositions that exude a subtle stillness, serenity, and a quiet melancholy.

The visual impact of Sawako Nasu’s work is reminiscent of Hiroshi Sugimoto's seascapes, where time—and patience—plays an integral role in the creative act. Much like the slow, deliberate process of capturing light in a photograph, she must patiently wait between each layer of paint to dry, allowing time to create a marbled texture that reveals itself slowly, just as sediment builds over time.

The result of these deliberately repetitive gestures in composing her landscapes manifests as subtle variations across the body of work, giving rise to numerous perspectives that intersect and coexist on the surface plane. The only constant is the horizon line—a consistent element that, like a compass, anchors the viewer.

The principles guiding her creative method serve a different function in her portraiture. With each layer of paint, the figures depicted gradually fade away, much like the sea wears away the rock, leaving behind only the memory of what once was. At once visible and obscured, the figure is captured both in its immediate reality and its ephemeral, elusive nature. Sawako Nasu's portraiture serves as a reminder that nothing is permanent—everything is in a constant state of change.

Sawako Nasu (Tokyo, b. 1998) lives and work in Tokyo, Japan. The artist holds a  BFA and MFA from the Tokyo University of Arts. Solo exhibitions include: Sunny, Rainy at Biscuit Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2023); Slipped Moonlight, Ginza Tsutaya Books, Tokyo, Japan (2022); To the Lighthouse, myheirloom, Tokyo, Japan (2022). Recent group exhibitions include: Biscuit Gallery 3rd Anniversary Exhibition「grid3」, Biscuit Gallery, Tokyo (2024); Inaugural Group Exhibition, NISO, London (2024);「Selection」, KEN NAKAHASHI, Tokyo, Japan (2024);  Draw Lines & Shapes in My Maps, Taka Ishii Gallery Maebashi, Maebashi, Japan (2023).

Installation view of Vestige, NISO, London. 

Landscape n.3,2024 56 x 74 cm Oil on Canvas

Landscape n.1, 2024 120 x 170 cm Oil on Canvas

Portrait of A Man n.1, 2024 50 x 41 cm Oil on Canvas

Man At The Window II, 2024 101 x 76 cm Oil on Canvas

Man At The Window I, 2024 130 x 106 cm Oil on Canvas

Sawako_Nasu_Press_Release .pdf

NISO is pleased to announce Sawako Nasu’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, opening on Tuesday, September 17th. 

Vestige_Preview_NP_NISO_London__.pdf

In participation with this year’s London Gallery Weekend,  NISO is pleased to present a monographic exhibition of works by the esteemed British painter Patrick Procktor, shedding light on one of the seminal figures of the Swinging Sixties art scene through candid watercolour depictions of everyday moments. Curated by art critic and curator Ophelia Sanderson, “A Life in Watercolour: Patrick Procktor and the Swinging Sixties”  will be on view from May 30 to July 20, 2024, showcasing a selection of 18 oil paintings and watercolours spanning three decades of artistic practice (1963-1991) displaying celebrity portraits as well as unguarded moments of queer experience.

A virtuoso in portraiture and travel painting – Proctor’s mostly autobiographical works freely depict the artist’s surroundings.  Delicate renderings in watercolour relate quotidian scenes ranging from the landscapes he encountered on his bohemian wanderings from the Middle East to Asia “Kyoto, Golden Temple, Rain” (1991) to the intimate portraits of friends, lovers and colleagues made from the comfort of in his living room “Portrait of Richard Buckle” (1968), “Peter Hinwood”(1969). A chronicle of daily life as an artist, a dandy, and an integral member of the swinging sixties, Procktor’s honest reflections deeply resonate with the modern-day documentation of life in the digital Age. 

Marked by a unique and understated painterly language that blends traditional and contemporary influences – Procktor’s portraits  reveal a subdued and pasty palette and lingering atmosphere redolent of the pre-pop ‘Euston Road’ artistic movement, combined with an audacious use of white space that parallels the aesthetic modernity of the time. Marked by a non-hierarchical way of seeing, extraneous detail is opted out, figures carefully poised within the white space of the paper - some with mannerist distortions – coming together in a gentle and elegant quality that is muted in its transparency and deliberate areas of unpainted surface.  

Balanced with an equal measure of finesse and flair – the subjects of Procktor’s portraits unveil a colourful melee of artists, musicians, designers, photographers and socialites that relay to the audience a generational snapshot of the milieu of art, theatre, fashion and rock music the artist inhabits.  

Among them, some of the greatest figures of the era as well as many queer icons such as his friend the artist David Hockney and fashion designer Ossie Clark, interior designer Christopher Gibbs, Richard Beer, Peter Schlesinger, Mo McDermott, David Gwinnett, Francis Bacon, Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, and Cecil Beaton; making up an almost complete cast of the ‘swinging’ London of the 60s and 70s.

Seemingly unguarded, Procktor’s portraits and renderings show a recurring - almost voyeuristic - depiction of the male figure – as carefree bodies recline half-naked “Brittas Bay” (1968), baking in the summer heat in parks “Lawn” (1975), or on the decks of boats “Tropic of Cancer”(1974). Conjuring airs of queer eros and nonchalance, these epitomise much of the liberal revolution of the time, where accepted norms of behaviour, sexual and otherwise, were being jettisoned for a new age of social freedoms.

A charismatic dandy renowned for his Wildean theatricality and wit, Procktor

was one of the UK’s most controversial and enigmatic figures. Spanning several decades, his work compassed diverse styles and mediums, subject to significant acclaim as well as controversy over his lifetime. First gaining recognition the year after his graduation, his first show at the Redfern was a sell-out before it opened. The following year, Bryan Robertson selected him for the seminal 1963 exhibition “New Generation” at the Whitechapel, exhibiting his early paintings – dynamic, abstract depictions of the male nude – alongside those of the most promising artists of his time Patrick Caulfield, John Hoyland, Bridget Riley and David Hockney. With subsequent tendencies that included the out-of-vogue medium of watercolour, paired with the thematic monotony of his 1968 ‘One Boy Show’ fiasco - Procktor’s acclaim would never reach that of his close friend and muse David Hockney. By the mid-90s, doomed by alcoholism and a series of personal disasters that included a fire that destroyed his home and much of his art, brief spells of incarceration and homelessness quickly ensued, blighting the later years of his life.

Today, his prints, watercolours, and oil and acrylic paintings sit in private and public institutions including the British Museum, the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, The Los Angeles County Museum, the Metropolitan Museum (NY), and the MoMA (NY), subject to a particular resurgence since the publishing of Ian Massey’s major monograph “Patrick Procktor: Art and Life” in 2010. Spotlights include Tate Britain's survey show of watercolourists in 2011 and Queer British Art exhibition in 2017, as well as his acclaimed retrospective at Huddersfield Art Gallery in 2012, and the eponymous exhibition at Palazzo Bentivoglio (Bologna) “A View From A Window” in 2022.

Installation view of "A Life in Watercolour: Patrick Procktor and the Swinging Sixties"

Mick Jagger, 1969 Watercolour on paper 51 × 35,5 cm

Nicholas, 1973 Watercolour on paper 85 x 56 cm

Untitled (Neil Pridham), 1987 Watercolour on paper 41 x 31 cm

Untitled (Students at Yale), 1969 Watercolour on paper 57 x 103 cm 

Portrait of Richard Buckle, 1968 Watercolour on paper 36 × 49,5 cm

Peter Hinwood, 1969 Watercolour on paper 35,5 x 51 cm

Untitled (Child Laying Down), 1968 Watercolour on Paper 23 × 29 cm

Untitled (Young American Boy), 1967 Watercolour on Paper 34 x 26 cm 

Installation view of "A Life In Watercolour: Patrick Procktor and the Swinging Sixites"

Ole Glaesner - Entre jour, 1969 Watercolour on paper 46 x 78,5 cm 

Installation view of "A Life In Watercolour: Patrick Procktor and the Swinging Sixties"

Brittas Bay, 1968 Watercolour on paper 36 x 51 cm 

L.0° Lat 17.5° W. St Valentine’s, 1974 Watercolour on Paper 25 × 34.5 cm

Lawn ,1975 Enamel paint on Wood 26 x 36 cm 

Tropic of Cancer, 1974 Oil on Canvas 178 x 255 cm 

Installation view of "A Life In Watercolour: Patrick Procktor and the Swinging Sixties" 

Untitled (Two black swans), 1982 Watercolour on paper 31 x 41 cm 

Kyoto, Golden Temple, Rain 1991 Watercolour on paper 25,5 x 35,5 cm 

Untitled (Parco Querini, Vincenza) Watercolour on paper 31 x 41 cm 

Procktor Press Release.pdf

In participation with this year’s London Gallery Weekend,  NISO is pleased to present a monographic exhibition of works by the esteemed British painter Patrick Procktor, shedding light on one of the seminal figures of the Swinging Sixties art scene through candid watercolour depictions of everyday moments.

NISO is thrilled to announce Guy Haddon Grant’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, opening on Thursday, April 25th. This marks the artist's second collaboration with the gallery following a successful two-person show, "Dust to Dust," in 2023. 

Haddon Grant’s latest collection of sculptures delves into notions of duality and hybridization, drawing inspiration from the ancient Greek mythological creature, the Chimaera. Expanding on his exploration of cloud-like totems in plaster, he introduces new elements—representational forms suggesting body parts seemingly extracted from their origins, converting the sculptures into Chimaera-like beings. 

This series signifies a revival of the artist’s enduring fascination with classical sculptural figures, a subject he studied while in Florence in 2008. It testifies of the artist’s ongoing experimentation with reconciling both abstract and classical styles into a single oeuvre. The first pivotal piece of its kind, Mother, executed in 2019 marks the genesis of this collection. Mother is to Guy Haddon Grant what Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is to Pablo Picasso: a transition. 

Haddon Grant deftly plays with textures to emphasize this dual nature. The abstract elements are richly textures, rough, grainy, and organic forms that bear the imprints of the artist’s hand and brushstrokes. In contrast, the representational aspects, evoking body parts such as hands, faces, paws, eyes, hors, are meticulously polished, boasting soft, rounded surfaces. As the beholder’s gaze navigates the rhythmic interplay of textures, the artist’s guidance becomes palpable, leading the observer through glimpses of realism amidst the turmoil and chaos of plaster. 

The forest of confrontational figures force us to ask questions: what remains of the body, when knowledge is stripped away, but matter and form ? How can we understand ourselves in relation to the passage of time, detached from historical context and function ?

Installation view of Chimaera, courtesy of NISO. 

NISO_Chimaera_Press_Release.pdf

NISO is thrilled to announce Guy Haddon Grant’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, opening on Thursday, April 25th. This marks the artist's second collaboration with the gallery following a successful two-person show, "Dust to Dust," in 2023.

NISO is proud to announce the inauguration of its first space in Central London. The gallery's transition from a nomadic project space to a permanent venue marks a significant milestone in its mission to make impactful contributions to the contemporary art landscape.

NISO has been committed to supporting the next generation of talents as well as rediscovering the legacy of XXth-century artists whose remarkable contributions have mostly gone unnoticed in recent times. Located in Fitzrovia, the gallery will provide a dynamic platform for engaging with their work.


Our inaugural group exhibition embodies this ethos by unveiling eleven contemporary artists whose influential work in art history spans five decades of painting and sculpture. With names previously featured in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Venice Biennale and Japan's leading art galleries, the body of works exhibited play with tenuous contrasts and synergetic aesthetics. The viewer jumps from the straight and oblique lines of Hitoshi Nakazato (1936-2010) and Claude Chaussard (b. 1954) to the weightless structure of Takis’ (1925-2019) tele-magnetic sculpture to impalpable hatchings that melt into the atmospheric compositions of Max Wechsler (1925-2020) and Nanami Inoue (b. 1996). Each work’s individual intensity corroborates the various themes explored in this exhibition: the search of balance and tension, the incorporation of industrial processes or materials in the creative act, the concept of materiality.


With works by Manabu Mabe, Hitoshi Nakazato, Takis, Max Wechsler, Eve Gramatzki, Claude Chaussard, WaichiTsutaka, Daniel Brusatin, Guy Haddon Grant, Sawako Nasu, and Nanami Inoue

Press Kit Inaugural Exhibition _compressed.pdf

NISO is proud to announce the inauguration of its first permanent space in London.

Selected Artworks Inauguration.pdf

Since 2021, NISO has been organizing exhibitions between London and Paris. The gallery’s program, which focuses on the young international contemporary scene, also includes an annual showcase of overlooked twentieth-century artists. The first exhibition of its kind since the inception of the gallery, ‘Nakazato, Brusatin’ is an intergenerational dialogue bringing together a body of work from 1968-1971 of Japanese artist Hitoshi Nakazato (1936-2010) with a series of works by Colombian artist Daniel Brusatin (b. in 1989). 

Curatorial dialogues are at the heart of NISO's programming. This exhibition brings back to the limelight the work of an established and highly relevant yet under-represented artist in a carefully curated dialogue with a young contemporary artist who is particularly sensitive to his work. By anchoring Brusatin’s work to the timeline of art history and bringing Nakazato’s back to the centre of the contemporary scene, the exhibition not only shows the pertinence of these artists but creates a connection between the past, present and future. Exposing thus a timeless quest and oeuvre. 

NISO is committed, amongst other interests, to show a keen and informed look at Japanese art of the last 60 years. The first exhibition organized by the gallery in 2021, ‘Komorebi’, was  a dialogue between young Japanese ceramicist Yuki Nara, and Daniel Brusatin. The famed essay on Japanese aesthetics, “In Praise of Shadows” by Junichiro Tanizaki, laid the curatorial structure for the exhibition. A confrontational dialogue on aesthetic values between East and West was embodied by the juxtaposition of Nara’s and Brusatin’s work. The gallery maintains close ties with Japan and is proud to collaborate with the Osaka-based Artcourt Gallery. 

Hitoshi Nakazato’s Ichinchiani series is a testimony to minimalism, and to challenging the traditionally engrained practices of art. “Why paint? What would a painting that rejected conventional concepts of painting look like?”. Nakazato’s puzzling reflections around traditional art-making were spurred by student turmoil against authoritative figures at Tamabi Art University, where he taught in the late 1960s. At a pivotal moment in his career, he sought to redefine the act of making by introducing into the painting process elements born of Japanese industry and architecture. The sumitsubo, a Japanese line marking tool, was his predominant technique. His characteristic monochromatic works of 1968-1971, which brought him international institutional recognition, are composed entirely of straight lines. Poetic and lyrical, spontaneous yet controlled, the laying of the pigment through snapping the sumitsubo on the surface of the canvas conjures all mark-making characteristics. The excess pigment scattered on the extent of the line provides a spontaneous dotted topography. 

With the same subversive energy of trying to redefine painting Brusatin expresses,“ If art is to survive in the collective consciousness, we must integrate craft, industry and poetry. Art cannot exist on the periphery, it must be part of nature and human architecture”. Resonating profoundly with Nakazato’s work, his subtle combination of colour, form and material creates a balance and tension between opposites, between the purity of an idea and the chaos of production, a constant dialogue between pathos and logos. Always striving to come closer to the Gesamtkunstwerk, the all encompassing, global work of art. In this series, the paintings are as much constructions or sculptures as they are paintings, and the installations are conceived as interdisciplinary liaisons. In his work, he uses materials from industry: a beam that held railway tracks, ropes that tied ships to land and pieces of cargo pallets. He combines them with ceramics and traditional elements of fine art. By painting with brushes, blowtorches or ropes, he seeks, like Nakazato, to disrupt practice and create new paths for poetry that link different facets of humanity. 

Press Release Nakazato Brusatin English.pdf

‘Nakazato, Brusatin’ is an intergenerational dialogue that brings together a body of work from 1968-1971 of Japanese artist Hitoshi Nakazato (1936-2010) with a series of works by Colombian artist Daniel Brusatin (b. in 1989).

NISO

NISO

21.05—28.06.25

21.05—28.06.25

12.03—10.05.25

12.03—10.05.25

24.01—01.03.25

24.01—01.03.25

15.11—11.01.25

15.11—11.01.25

18.09—09.11.24

18.09—09.11.24

30.05—20.07.24

30.05—20.07.24

25.04—25.05.24

25.04—25.05.24

20.03—20.04.24

20.03—20.04.24

16.10—26.10.23

16.10—26.10.23