nyck_rausch

please join us this saturday for « I imagine it all the time » our staging of Yoko Ono’s script « AOS, the Opera », 1961 at K20 @kunstsammlungnrw with Aerin Hong, bela, Nicholas Grafia and Mira Mann @6_e_l_a @hongaerin @nyck_rausch november 23rd, 5-7 pm, free admission curated by @patriziadander ♥

LONDON (UK): LAST DAY 2DAY at @friezeofficial London with @peresprojects, showing work at booth A23! Grateful to everyone who came by so far 🦭🧚🏾‍♂️👼🏾💖 My painting “The Rose of Versailles” is on view for another few hours within a curated selection of works of the other gallery artists. Don’t miss out on this! LOVE, Nicky [PRESS EXCERPT]: "Nicholas Grafia’s The Rose of Versailles is a poignant exploration of cultural hybridization and identity, inspired by the semi-historical narrative of The Rose of Versailles (commonly known as Lady Oscar). The artist has long been fascinated by this anime series, which bridged the gap between Southeast Asia and Europe during their childhood. As a favorite series while growing up in the Philippines, it shaped Grafia’s understanding of European ideals before immigrating to Germany, where they encountered a different cultural lens. The artwork captures the complexity of Lady Oscar as a gender-transgressive figure who defies societal norms by posing as a man to fight in the army during the era of Marie Antoinette. This theme of gender fluidity resonated deeply with Grafia, both during their youth and later as an artist, reflecting broader queer and trans narratives. Grafia also connects this piece to larger themes of cultural fascination, particularly how non-European societies engage with European imagery and histories. Drawing parallels to phenomena such as Bollywood’s obsession with Swiss Alpine settings, the work invites viewers to consider the exoticism and idealization of European culture by other regions. For Grafia, Lady Oscar embodies this intersection of identity, fantasy, and historical revision….The artist is intrigued by the notion of fan fiction as a form of narrative control and reinterpretation, where audiences can reshape or rewrite stories to fit their own perspectives. This act of cultural reclamation feeds into a wider discourse on Erinnerungskultur—the politics of memory and who holds the power to define historical narratives […]." #frieze #friezelondon #nicholasgrafia #peresprojects #theroseofversailles #ladyoscar #fanfiction

AACHEN (DE): The museum show „Time-Images. Forms of Appearance of Time-Based Art“ opens at @kunsthausnrw, TODAY (3PM), curated by @elkekania. ✨👼🏾💫 To quote the other Nicki (MINAJ — duh! 💁🏾‍♂️): "You know…I took some time off to rest & now it’s GAME TIME B*TCHEZZZZ” 🎭💅🏾🤡👅. For real tho lol — my friends know why I’ve been keeping it relatively low profile for some time now, going through some THINGS — y’all know me 🤷🏾‍♂️ — BUT I’ve been secretely ON IT somewhere in the back doing….stuff….ehehehe 💁🏾‍♂️👼🏾🧚🏾‍♂️🦭👽. I’m EXCITED to share the results of these last few months with u all this fall season, starting with this extensive museum project I’ve been working on for Aachen 😊. As the German title “Zeit-Bilder. Erscheinungsformen zeitbasierter Kunst” suggests, this exhibition brings together a group of works from artist working within the realm of time-based art and I’m more than honored to have my works included in this presentation along side those of great colleagues and friends! ALSO — I’ll be premiering a newly commissioned performance next month, Nov 17th, so please save the date and stay tuned for more info. Finally, I wanna say a HUGE thank you to @elkekania & the museum team, especially @studio_burkhardmoennich, for trusting me with my vision and supporting its execution BIG TIME <3. OK OK OK!!!!!111!!!!🥵😸🎃….. CAN'T WAIT 2 C U ALL TODAY 3PM at @kunsthausnrw, in Aachen! 👼🏾💘 LxoOxoVxoE — NICKKKKKKXYZ 🦋✨🦭💋. 1. IMAGE CREDIT: "Situation Report: EUROSKILLS (THE SKILLS OF THE FUTURE). 02.10.2021, HD-Video, 14:02min. Commisioned by @steirischerherbst, made in collaboration with @mickowhysobchack & curated by @mire_la_ 💞. [PRESS]: "The exhibition Zeit-Bilder focuses on processes of artistic work and on the visualization of time. Based on pictorial works, sound and video installations, room staging and live performances, visitors can experience the temporal development of art. Seven exhibition rooms and four cellar vaults will be played […]." #TimeImagesFormsofAppearanceofTimeBasedArt #zeitbildererscheinungsformenzeitbasierterkunst #kunsthausnrw #kornelimünster #museum #aachen #nicholasgrafia #mikołajsobczak #elkekania

🕺 PORTRAIT D'ARTISTES Nicholas Grafia (DE /PH/USA) et Mikołaj Sobczak (PL/DE/NL) Nicholas Grafia (@nyck_rausch) utilise la peinture, la vidéo, le son et la performance collaborative pour interroger les thèmes de la race, de l'origine ethnique et de la vulnérabilité sociale et sexuelle. Référençant les récits de naufragés et les voyages coloniaux, il invite à une réflexion sur l’essence du voyage dans un monde postcolonial. Mikołaj Sobczak (@mickowhysobchack) développe une pratique artistique mêlant peinture, vidéo et performance qui s’intéresse à des thèmes tels que la contreculture queer et la résistance politique. Mêlant des figures historiques et des éléments de culture populaire, son univers fait dialoguer l'utopie transgressive avec une critique sociale profonde. Les deux artistes sont anciens lauréats du programme de résidence @art.explora et présenterons une performance commune lors de PERFORMISSIMA, le nouveau festival des arts performatifs du @cwb_paris, le 18 octobre 2024. Dans le cadre du partenariat @goetheinstitut_paris x PERFORMISSIMA - Nicholas Grafia (@nyck_rausch) uses painting, video, sound and collaborative performance to interrogate themes of race, ethnicity and social and sexual vulnerability. Referencing shipwreck narratives and colonial voyages, Grafia invites reflection on the true essence of travel in a postcolonial world. Mikołaj Sobczak (@mickowhysobchack) develops an artistic practice combining painting, video and performance that focuses on themes such as queer counterculture and political resistance. Combining historical figures with elements of popular culture, his work combines transgressive utopianism with a profound social critique. Both artists are former recipients of the @art.explora residency programme and will present a joint performance at PERFORMISSIMA, @cwb_paris' new performing arts festival, on 18 October 2024. As part of the @goetheinstitut_paris x PERFORMISSIMA 📸 Roland Baege, Bergen Kunsthall, Lukasz Michalak, Wolf Silveri, Mikołaj Sobczak, Nicholas Grafia, Volker Renner #nicholasgrafia #mikolajsobczak #performissima #performingarts #performingartsfestival

DÜSSELDORF: Performing “It’s 10PM. Do You Know Where your Children are?” today 5PM within the frames of “Eine Strasse”, a program organized by @mapprojekte at Graf-Adolf Platz with @mickowhysobchack 👩🏾‍🌾👼🏾. It’s been 5 years since we last performed sequences of this piece in Düsseldorf, during my graduation at the Kunstakademie @knstkdmdssldrf here eheheh 🌞🥵🥹🫶🏾 I am BEYOND excited and thrilled to see all hometown babes for this 🥹❤️‍🔥💧. It’s HOT! So we’ll be having drinks, sweat a little (a lot I guess??), talk, dance and hopefully swing away as the sun sets later this day. Make us HAPPY and COMETH in plentyyyy 💘🦭🧚🏾‍♂️❤️‍🔥 LOVE NICKXOXOXO PS: Sun screen on my face be like…eww but cute? 🫠🦭 AND don’t miss @moritzkrauth and AMAZING Marina and their special SIESTA performance at 4PM TODAY!!! 💋

VIENNA: Performing „Rooms“ today at @kunsthallewien with @mickowhysobchack 🥵🔥💦🔫🌊🐟 The performance is conceived as part of the current exhibtion “Genossin Sonne”, curated by @inke.arns, @erdandrea_ & @hannah.marynissen. 33 degrees — it’s HOT 2day so better COMETH y’all and get ur ultimate brain freeze 👅🤓💅🏾. More info & link to the event below: PRESS: Join the performance “Rooms” by the artists Nicholas Grafia and Mikołaj Sobczak! Grafia and Sobczak expose the unconscious violence against the Other that underlies our shared cultures. The protagonists are possessed over and over by different entities, who tell intertwined stories of exclusion and injustice that stem from world history, Filipino myths, Slavic folklore, and contemporary political events. The performance will take place in the exhibition 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲 and will be held in English. 📍19/6, 8 pm at Kunsthalle Wien Museumsquartier, free admission Please enter via the entrance of Halle E+G, our shop entrance will be closed already. Link: https://kunsthallewien.at/en/event/nicholas-grafia-mikolaj-sobczak-rooms/ — Nicholas Grafia & Mikolaj Sobczak, Rooms, Biennale Zielona Góra 2020, Lubuski Teatr, photo: PAWEL JANCZARUK / WueF @nyck_rausch @mickowhysobchack Genossin Sonne in cooperation with @wienerfestwochen @biennale.wien @brunnenpassage #GenossinSonne #KunsthalleWien #WienerFestwochen #festwochen2024 #freierepublikwien #KlimabiennaleWien #kbw24 #Brunnenpassage #CamaradaSol #CamradeSun #PerformanceArt #NicholasGrafia #MikołajSobczak

VENICE: SUPER EXCITED to perform TODAY during @labiennale Venice’s 60th edition 🙀👽🥹🫠🐎🦭🧚🏾‍♂️. Come to @mare_karina to experience „Word of Mouths”, an afternoon of spoken word performances, from 4PM to 6pm, curated by @_aliceamati, featuring @juliuspristauz, @olgahohoh, @agnieszka__szczotka & yours truly 🙀🤓. This is our first time performing in Venice and we couldn’t be more THRILLED to be able to present works in these very turbulent times. Hoping to see many friends and fellows around for this one😚❣️💘💝💞❤️‍🔥. KISS KISS KISS HUGS HUGS HUGS Nickkkkkkkkkxoxoxoxo 😎💗🏝️ Swipe 👉🏾 for more info <333 #wordofmouth #marekarina #nicholasgrafia #olgahohmann #juliuspristauz #agnieszkaszczotka #aliceamati #venicebiennale #labiennaledivenezia #60thvenicebiennale

MADRID: Performing at @lacasaencendida tonight 8PM. SUPER THRILLED to be invited by @juf.project 💞 to premier the second chapter of my “Meditationism” performance series. Visit @lacasaencendida’s website and reserve your ticket to see the performances tonight. Swipe 👉🏾and scroll👇🏾for more info. COMETH THIS GON’ be FUN 🤡👽🎭 XOXO NICKKKK PRESS: “A poetry experiment that links queer theater, spoken word, and music. This new edition of Prompt Corner departs from the work of Cuban playwright María Irene Fornes, who emigrated to New York in the 1950s and became a leading figure in Off-off Broadway. Nicholas Grafia’s 'Meditationisms II: Vertigo Vulture Checking In', embarks on the second chapter of his latest ongoing series of solo performance, displaying “magnetic characters”, that, among other activities, attract “issues” as they try to examine and define their social mobility and agency on a regional and global level. Referring to castaway narratives, colonial travel, sea warfare and movie history, as well as personal experiences, the artist irritates and stretches the concept of “packing lightly”, “easy traveling”, the “economy class” and post-tourism. Furthermore questioning conventional ideas behind “souvenirs”, travel logs, popular holiday plans and destinations, Grafia delivers a spoken word performance that seeks to redefine the way we envision travel as an act of independence and mobility in modern society. “Checking in has never put you further away from your destination than this, and I’m a veeeery reliable narrator.” #lacasaencendida #jufproject #madrid #nicholasgrafia #meditationism #performance

DÜSSELDORF: Giving a tour at @kunstverein_duesseldorf today 5PM 💞. Will be speaking about my practice and contribution to the 20th anniversary exhibition of @kunstverein_duesseldorf & DHCS artist in residency program, curated by @kathrinbentele & @dietmar_lutz. Feeling lucky that I was able to spiral to DEATH and back to LIFE 🫠🤡🥲👼🏾, intensify my research and reformulate my work in the amazing @houseofmatare for the last two years 🎭🥹. Come say hi before I say goodbye again for a while 🖤💋 XOXO Nick 🧚🏾‍♂️ Credits: Nicholas Grafia, “Bedlam State of Mind”, 2023, Acrylics on Canvas, 180x160cm. Courtesy of the artist and @peresprojects (Berlin/Seoul/Milan). Photo: Katja Illner. #kunstvereindüsseldorf #artistinresidence #houseofmataré #dhcs #studio #grant #kathrinbentele #dietmarlutz #nicholasgrafia

LONDON: Performing at @_aliceamati today, 4PM! I’m excited to show you a revised version of “Meditationism (I)”, premiered at @kunsthalleduesseldorf last October. THRILLED to be back in London after a while to present this piece within the exhibition “The 7th Wall”, curated by @jeanettebisschops1 🤍. LOW-KEY hyped and very excited 4dis 😻🫠😵‍💫🥵🎭👼🏾. COME & SAY HELLO post performance & stay for the FUN & convos! We be out & about 2NITE…❤️‍🔥 😎🫃🏾🧚🏾‍♂️🤡👅 KISS KISS BANG BANG NICK X💋X🫦 Photo credit: Katja Illner. Courtesy of the artist, @kunsthalleduesseldorf & @peresprojects (Berlin/Seoul/Milan) [PRESS]: "SCENE ELEVEN - Meditationisms (1) by Nicholas Grafia Hearing some distant chatter, we walk off stage and stumble on a bar. There, we see a man, pacing, seemingly drunk. Or is he just jittery? Who is this man, wearing this unusual outfit? And what is he rambling on about? We get closer to him. At first, his monologue seems banal. But as we approach him, his seemingly random chatter takes a profound turn. With Meditationisms (1), Gratia disrupts the contemporary idealization of bars and clubs as ‘safe spaces’ by expanding the register of what such establishments have represented in the cultural sphere of different geographical locations. Taking us through the historically unpredictable experience of interacting with a stranger at a bar, the work captures the potentially banal and intellectually exhilarating qualities of meandering encounters uniquely occuring during nightlife. ‘Blinded by the lights,’ the performer however also alludes to situations that happen during day time, in which many bars and clubs operate as cafes and meeting points for ‘like minded fellas.’ Meditationisms premiered at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf in 2023, and is part of an ongoing series of performances and events initiated by Grafia, in which the artist creates soliloquies and collaborative spoken word formats, that fragmentize, stretch and irritate acts of speech and codes of conduct in different architectural, social and historical settings. Text by curator Jeanette Bisschops @nyck_rausch" #the7thwall #aliceamati #aliceamatigallery #nicholasgrafia #jeanettebisschops

DÜSSELDORF: Hi friends! 😘 Doing a talk at K21 Museum @kunstsammlungnrw today, 6:30PM. I’ll be in conversation with @muratoenen & @victorzaiden 💞and we’ll be discussing the potential of contemporary figurative painting, its relation to other dimensions of and approaches in our practices, among other subjects. Say hello afterwards! 🦭🎭 There’ll be drinks served and time to hang after the talk by the bar and piazza! Looking forward to C U all later 🎭💘🧚🏾‍♂️ XOXO Nick 💋 PRESS: [EN]: "Grafia & Önen open up personal and collective experiences with different artistic approaches. Painting serves them as a vehicle to initiate differentiated & multi-layered subjectivation processes. In the conversation, the artists will discuss established viewing habits, traditional thought patterns & visibility spaces." https://www.kunstsammlung.de/de/events/k21-encounters-grafia-oenen [DE]: K21 ENCOUNTERS ❌ ARTJUNK We are back! Nach der Winterpause präsentieren wir zusammen mit unserem Medienpartner @artjunk.de das nachste K21 Encounters im Januar! Malen zwischen Selbstermächtigung & Aneignung: Am Donnerstag, den 25.1. sprechen die Künstler Nicholas Grafia @nyck_rausch & Murat Önen @muratoenen in der Diskursreihe K21 Encounters X ArtJunk über das Potenzial der zeitgenössischen figurativen Malerei. Die beiden Absolventen der Kunstakademie Düsseldorf erschließen mit unterschiedlichen künstlerischen Ansätzen persönliche und kollektive Erlebnisse. Im Gespräch werden die Künstler über etablierte Sehgewohnheiten, überlieferte Denkmuster & Sichtbarkeitsräume diskutieren. Im Anschluss an den Vortrag seid ihr eingeladen, bei free Drinks auf unserer Piazza mit den Künstlern ins Gespräch zu kommen! Do, 25.1., 18.30 Uhr K21, Salon21 Eintritt frei Keine Anmeldung erforderlich @nyck_rausch @muratoenen @vivientrommer @cathe.frere @victorzaiden Credits: 📷 #2: Courtesy of the artist 📷 #3: Nicholas Grafia. Glass Candies (If looks could kill), 2023, acrylic & graphite on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and @peresprojects (Berlin/Seoul/Milan) 📷 #4: @nevenallgeier 📷 #5: Murat Önen, Selbstporträt mit Motten, 2023, Courtesy of the artist #nicholasgrafia #kunstsammlungnrw

LONDON: The exhibition "The 7th Wall” opens today at @_aliceamati at 6PM 🎭 Very happy to present work in this show, curated by @jeanettebisschops1 💞 alongside my fellow dramatis personae 🤡🌹 Y’all know the sad clown & Weltschmerz drama queen I can be sometimes, but this gets me real excited ehehe 👼🏾🌹🧚🏾‍♂️🦭 Catch me perform in London also next week, Jan 27th (4PM — just before pub time hits differently), weirding out some of those feelings & things that run tru my mind & possibly urs on “stage” & watch me lurk around ur city for a while postpostpost backback stage 🎭👽💋🫦💄💅🏾. HOPE 2 C U, cuz if I DON’T SEE YA, then, I don’t C YA… *chuckles in Cardi B* 😌💁🏾‍♂️ xoxo Nicky PRESS [Excerpt]: "DRAMATIS PERSONAE Rinella Alfonso...............................An Artist Lulua Alyahya................................An Artist Alice Amati...................................A Galerist Jeanette Bisschops......................A Curator CFGNY...........................An Artist Collective Phoebe Collings-James.................An Artist Nicholas Grafia...............................An Artist Jennifer J. Lee................................An Artist Littlewhitehead.......................An Artist Duo Talia Levitt......................................An Artist Miko Veldkamp................................An Artist SCENE - London, UK —-————— ACT I SCENE ONE A gallery in Fitzrovia, London. The curtains are drawn, the stage is set. The actors have already made their exit. Left behind are their artworks. Through them we see objects and architecture sketched out, forming an outline of a familiar world. The objects in this world, however, are seemingly out of place, their meanings obscured, reproduced and reappropriated. Their makers have composed the objects in their work into a state where they are rescripted and imbued with their own agency, becoming actors in their own right. No longer obfuscated by a sense of mundanity, they have shed their constructed meaning and have become sites to tell, carry and enact new stories." #the7thwall #aliceamati #aliceamatigallery #london #jeanettebisschops #nicholasgrafia #dramatispersonae