Lisa Nankivil
Encyclopedia
Lisa Nankivil is a contemporary American painter
and printmaker
.
at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design
(MCAD), where she earned a BFA
degree in painting
in 1995.
Nakivil is best known for her non-representational
striped-format oil paintings and monotypes. Though her work shares formal qualities with the modernist tradition
of European and American abstraction
, her paintings typically feature color schemes, brushwork, and techniques that are based on long-established painterly traditions.
According to art historian William Peterson, the striped format of Nankivil’s paintings evolved while she was concentrating on certain figure-ground relationships in her work. “I was searching for ways to make the background as essential as the image,” she says. “I began to explore qualities such as motion, ascendance, and hierarchy through painted stripes, and eventually the image fell away leaving me to navigate the implications of the vertical and the horizontal by painting only the orientations with stripes.” A phrase in the art writings of John Berger
—“Home is where the vertical meets the horizontal”—helped her as she began to explore the physical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of her discovery. “To me,” she says, “this phrase refers to a sense of spiritual well being: finding ground in which to prosper.”
Nankivil is an artist-member of the Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art
, a prominent artist cooperative
established in 1993 in the historic Warehouse District
of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota
, where she maintains her principal studio and private press.
In 2004, Nankivil was awarded the Jerome Foundation Fellowship
(New York City
& St. Paul). In 2011, Nankivil received an Artist Initiative Grant in Visual Arts from the Minnesota State Arts Board (St. Paul), with funding provided by Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
.
Nankivil's paintings and prints are exhibited nationally and internationally and are found in numerous public and private collections, including the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum
, Minneapolis; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Borusan Contemporary Museum, Istanbul, Turkey ; Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis; U.S. State Department
, Washington, D.C.; William J. Clinton Foundation
, New York and Little Rock, Arkansas; SURDNA Foundation
, New York; General Mills
, Golden Valley, Minn.; Valspar
, Minneapolis; Harris Private Bank
, Chicago, Winston & Strawn LLP
, Geneva, Switzerland, and others.
Nankivil is represented by Spanierman Modern, New York; Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago; William Shearburn Gallery, St. Louis; and Highpoint Editions, Minneapolis. Her monotypes are available at Marlborough Gallery
, New York.
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and printmaker
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
.
Life and work
Nankivil trained with American artist Kinji AkagawaKinji Akagawa
Kinji Akagawa is an American sculptor and arts educator best known for sculptural constructions that also serve a practical function. A pioneer in the public art movement, Akagawa has throughout his career examined the relationship between art and community, most notably the concept of art as a...
at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit four-year and postgraduate college specializing in the visual arts. Located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, MCAD currently enrolls approximately 1,000 students offering curriculum that includes...
(MCAD), where she earned a BFA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
degree in painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
in 1995.
Nakivil is best known for her non-representational
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
striped-format oil paintings and monotypes. Though her work shares formal qualities with the modernist tradition
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
of European and American abstraction
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
, her paintings typically feature color schemes, brushwork, and techniques that are based on long-established painterly traditions.
According to art historian William Peterson, the striped format of Nankivil’s paintings evolved while she was concentrating on certain figure-ground relationships in her work. “I was searching for ways to make the background as essential as the image,” she says. “I began to explore qualities such as motion, ascendance, and hierarchy through painted stripes, and eventually the image fell away leaving me to navigate the implications of the vertical and the horizontal by painting only the orientations with stripes.” A phrase in the art writings of John Berger
John Berger
John Peter Berger is an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a university text.-Education:Born in Hackney, London, England, Berger was...
—“Home is where the vertical meets the horizontal”—helped her as she began to explore the physical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of her discovery. “To me,” she says, “this phrase refers to a sense of spiritual well being: finding ground in which to prosper.”
Nankivil is an artist-member of the Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art
Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art
The Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art is an artist cooperative located in the historic Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1993, TZCVA was established to create an artist-owned and managed building that provides stable, safe, and affordable studio, teaching and...
, a prominent artist cooperative
Artist cooperative
An artist cooperative is an autonomous visual arts organization, enterprise, or association jointly-owned and democratically-controlled by its members. Artist cooperatives are legal entities organized as non-capital stock corporations, non-profit organizations, or unincorporated associations...
established in 1993 in the historic Warehouse District
North Loop, Minneapolis
The North Loop is a neighborhood of the Central community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The neighborhood is commonly known as the Warehouse District from the city's shipping hub years. It includes the Minneapolis Warehouse Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places...
of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, where she maintains her principal studio and private press.
In 2004, Nankivil was awarded the Jerome Foundation Fellowship
Jerome Hill
Jerome Hill was an American filmmaker and artist. He was born into the family of Louis W. and Maud Van Corlandt Hill, one of the prominent families of Saint Paul and heirs to the railroad fortune of James J. Hill, the famed “Empire Builder.”He attended St...
(New York City
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
& St. Paul). In 2011, Nankivil received an Artist Initiative Grant in Visual Arts from the Minnesota State Arts Board (St. Paul), with funding provided by Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grants
The Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grant is a grant program created with funds appropriated from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, and administered by the Minnesota Historical Society. This program provides grants to projects in the state of Minnesota focused on preserving Minnesota’s history...
.
Nankivil's paintings and prints are exhibited nationally and internationally and are found in numerous public and private collections, including the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum
Weisman Art Museum
The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is an art museum located on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. A teaching museum for the university since 1934, the museum is named for Frederick R. Weisman, and was designed by the renowned architect Frank Gehry...
, Minneapolis; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is the state of Arizona's only permanent museum dedicated solely to modern works of art, design and architecture. The museum is located in the Old Town district of downtown Scottsdale, Arizona....
, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Borusan Contemporary Museum, Istanbul, Turkey ; Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis; U.S. State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, Washington, D.C.; William J. Clinton Foundation
Clinton Foundation
The William J. Clinton Foundation is a foundation established by former President of the United States Bill Clinton with the stated mission to "strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence." The Foundation focuses on four critical areas:...
, New York and Little Rock, Arkansas; SURDNA Foundation
SURDNA Foundation
The SURDNA Foundation was established as a charitable foundation in 1917 by John Emory Andrus to pursue a range of philanthropic purposes.-History:...
, New York; General Mills
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...
, Golden Valley, Minn.; Valspar
Valspar
The Valspar Corporation is an international manufacturer of paint and coatings based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the fifth largest paint and coating corporation in the world. The 200+ year old Valspar was founded in 1806 as a paint dealership in Boston, Massachusetts...
, Minneapolis; Harris Private Bank
Harris Bank
BMO Harris Bank is a subsidiary of Montreal-based Canadian bank Bank of Montreal. Today the bank holding company is formally named BMO Bankcorp, Inc....
, Chicago, Winston & Strawn LLP
Winston & Strawn LLP
Winston & Strawn LLP is an international law firm with approximately 900 attorneys among 13 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.-Locations:...
, Geneva, Switzerland, and others.
Nankivil is represented by Spanierman Modern, New York; Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago; William Shearburn Gallery, St. Louis; and Highpoint Editions, Minneapolis. Her monotypes are available at Marlborough Gallery
Marlborough Fine Art
Marlborough Fine Art was founded in London, England, in 1946 by Frank Lloyd and Harry Fischer.In 1963, a gallery was opened in Manhattan, New York, USA,on Madison Avenue and 57th Street, which later relocated in 1971 to its present location, 40 West 57th Street. The gallery operates another New...
, New York.
External links
- Lisa Nankivil's website: images, biography, exhibitions, collections, press/media, news/events
- Interview with Lisa Nankivil in her Minneapolis studio, Twin Cities Public Television (KTCA-TV)
- Lisa Nankivil at Spanierman Modern, New York
- Lisa Nankivil at Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago
- Lisa Nankivil at William Shearburn Gallery, St. Louis
- Lisa Nankivil at Highpoint Editions, Minneapolis
- International Print Center New York (IPCNY): Lisa Nankivil artist statement, biography