Raúl De Nieves: The Book

This new body of work references the artist’s transformation and renewal over the course of his career, featuring a series of 18 multi-media wall-based works alongside the artist’s signature style of beaded sculptures and ceramic works.

In his exhibition, the artist introduces a new body of wall works that will unfold like an open book. Meditating on his historical career thus far, the artist references his process-based approach in these collages — building and rebuilding, assembling and disassembling. “The Book” signifies a shift in the artist’s method, as well as a transformation in his career, leading the way to a new chapter.

Influenced by narrative elements found in Mexican folklore and the Catholic canon, de Nieves’s practice blends classical aspects with traditional elements, creating his own mythology that confronts sexuality and the human body, in addition to individual and collective histories. Known for his vivid three-dimensional beaded sculptures, de Nieves pays tribute to his Mexican heritage, as well as drag and ballroom culture, by transforming quotidian materials into chromatic and extravagant objects.