Tucker Nichols

UNTITLED (BR16107)

2016
enamel on panel
36 x 40 inches

Flowers are a secret language nobody understands. I’m guessing that over the ages, different flowers have conveyed critical messages among queens and spies and lost lovers. This kind of tulip, that color rose. A certain number of willow branches. No doubt world history has been shaped by these coded messages in ways we will never realize…And the same flowers can say completely different things. “Congratulations. I’m sorry. I love you. I can’t believe you’re gone.” Flowers weirdly don’t really mean anything except meaningfulness. And then they’re gone. – Tucker Nichols

Tucker Nichols renders bouquets in a signature child-like style, where delicate petals and gnarled stems are distilled down to their most simplified color and shape. His compositions possess a subtle sophistication, evident in the balance of earthy reds against the pale green backdrop in this work. The hand-painted edges and dribbles keep the sense of touch in the forefront, lending the work a vulnerability. Nichols lives and works in the Bay Area. His paintings have been included in exhibitions at The Drawing Center, New York; Denver Art Museum; and Den Frie Museum, Copenhagen. His drawings have been published in magazines and newspapers, and he has co-authored two books, including This Bridge Will Not Be Gray with Dave Eggers.