Nicole Bigar’s artistic career spans decades. Her paintings are alive. Her joyous vision a constant. Her enthusiasm is boundless, overwhelming, thrilling, beckoning. Figures spin and whirl in ecstasy. Hers is a world of beauty. A poem. A meditation on humanity’s goodness. The mystery of creation. The scent of the ocean. Happiness. A dance. Nicole’s paradise.
Though her roots are French, much of her life has been in America. In New York City.
The buildings, paths, and crowds of Times Square thrill. A crossroads of her understanding of this country, its life. A vibrant abstraction. With perspective.
She came quite late to collage, though quickly grasped its ability to harness gestures, movement, forms. She is always the master, allowing all the city elements to tumble about, swept up into a blizzard of activity. Cutout paper in a frenzy.
The works are studied and free. Fluid vistas sweep by, coming to roost as buildings.
The collages on exhibition represent a selection of her most recent work. Pure striking color aligned on the page. In the realm of Matisse. With her scissors Nicole offers a new slice of New York.
Nicole Bigar studied at Barnard College and The Art Students League in New York. She has exhibited extensively in the US and Europe for the past 45 years, including solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Washington DC, Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington NY, the Benton gallery in Southampton NY and Gallery Harry Stendhal, New York, NY.
The recently published book, Hustle & Bustle: Collages by Nicole Bigar, with an introduction by Robert Gordon, will be available for sale at the opening reception and throughout the exhibit.