Willa Nasatir

July 14–Oct 1, 2017

Photograph of a mirrored floor with leopard-print butterfly leaning against a small bed.

The emerging artist Willa Nasatir (b. 1990) creates photographs routinely informed by a cinematic vocabulary, inspired by the shifting landscape and individuals who inhabit New York, where she works and lives. Nasatir’s compositions routinely function as part-still life, part-portrait (notably without bodies), evoking a surreal otherworldly environment—a realm that’s familiar yet simultaneously difficult to pin down.

Nasatir’s photographs begin as makeshift sculptures, quickly assembled in her studio from an array of unexpected, disparate objects ranging from decorative fans to a car headlight. She alters and combines these found objects, which she photographs and re-photographs, subjecting the surfaces to dramatic material and light effects. The resulting works are hand-manipulated images that become psychologically charged and difficult to discern; the viewer is left to parse out unresolved narratives that the image only implies.

For this exhibition, Nasatir presents a significant new body of work in addition to a selection of earlier works, produced over the past few years.

This exhibition is organized by Jane Panetta, Associate Curator.

Generous support for Willa Nasatir is provided by Jackson Tang.

Events

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Installation photography

Willa Nasatir. Installation view. Hitchhiker, 2017. Chromogenic print, 53 x 43 in. (134.6 x 109.2 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Chapter NY, New York. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Willa Nasatir (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 14–October 1, 2017). From left to right: Candy, 2017; Up Here (Negative), 2017. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Willa Nasatir. Installation view. The Red Room, 2017. Chromogenic print mounted on wood (exhibition copy): sheet, 80 x 65 in. (203.2 x 165.1 cm); mount, 82 x 67 in. (208.3 x 170.2 cm). Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; courtesy Chapter NY, New York. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Willa Nasatir (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 14–October 1, 2017). From left to right: Up Here (Negative), 2017; The Red Room, 2017. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Willa Nasatir (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 14–October 1, 2017). From left to right: Street Sweeper, 2017; Half Heart, 2017; Bus Depot, 2017; Untitled (Landing), 2017; Scale, 2017. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Willa Nasatir (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 14–October 1, 2017). From left to right: R.V., 2017; The Green Room, 2017; Bird, 2017; Blue Girl, 2017; Sunbather, 2017; Conductor, 2017. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Willa Nasatir (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 14–October 1, 2017). From left to right: R.V., 2017; The Green Room, 2017; Bird, 2017; Blue Girl, 2017; Sunbather, 2017; Conductor, 2017; Butterfly, 2017. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Willa Nasatir (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 14–October 1, 2017). From left to right: Conductor, 2017; Butterfly, 2017; Candy, 2017. Photograph by Ron Amstutz