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“Randomness and absurdity can be the seeds to new things.”
— Robert NavaInformed by a plethora of sources from Vincent Van Gogh to Jean-Michel Basquiat, and from Egyptian glyphs to Sumerian symbols, the works of American artist Robert Nava are unequivocally and unapologetically absurd, showcasing the artist’s indomitable creative force.
Embodying the idea of ‘errors’ during creation, Nava also became obsessed with the ‘mistakes’ he discovered in his vast library of source materials: ‘And even looking at a Renaissance painting, I would be looking for error[s], like mistakes were more alive to me. By drawing things “incorrectly”, I found more things to do in that realm,’ Nava explained; ‘So that's why I find it more interesting and why I draw and paint like this. It's been like that since probably 2007 or 2008, but now it's getting really refined, and I know what I want to do more.’i
“I know what I’m doing. It’s carefully done wrong.”
— Robert Nava‘Seriousness in Play’
Completing his paintings within a few short days or even a few hours, Robert Nava developed his current expressive style through the idea of ‘seriousness in play’ ii, after exploring different modes of artistic expression in university. The complexity of the artist’s paintings is not immediately discernible to the viewer’s eye at first glance, as he plans his designs over many varied sketches before arriving at a canvas: ‘I think the zone comes by continuously drawing in my sketchbook. It’s like an athlete practising a three-point shot—when the game comes, he can just hit the shot without thinking about it. i Nava would spend hours rigorously sketching out the forms he wants to create in his sketchbooks, allowing him to confront the canvas with unbridled confidence.
Nava’s signature fantastical world of mythical creatures defies the black and white distinction between the avant-garde and kitsch, introducing a skilfully planned playfulness that is reminiscent of children’s drawings. Deceptively simple, it however took Nava ‘a lifetime to learn how to draw like a kid again’iii. Interestingly, the compositional technique of imitating children’s drawings and returning to simple visual cues is commonly adopted by other contemporary artists such as Edgar Plans, Katherine Bernhardt, Aboudia, and Szabolcs Bozó.
The Graffiti / Children's Drawing Aesthetic
Lot 48, Edgar Plans, Night Creatures, 2020
Estimate HKD1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Lot 38, Katherine Bernhardt, Laundry Day, 2017
Estimate HKD800,000 - 1,200,000
Lot 46, Aboudia, Take Me II, 2011
Estimate HKD500,000 - 700,000
Lot 37, Szabolcs Bozó, One bird, a cat and a man, 2020
Estimate HKD400,000 - 600,000-
Lot 48, Edgar Plans, Night Creatures, 2020
Estimate HKD1,200,000 - 1,800,000 -
Lot 38, Katherine Bernhardt, Laundry Day, 2017
Estimate HKD800,000 - 1,200,000
Modern Myths
"I wanted to return to my childhood interests. I wanted to see these fabled creatures in my studio. I’m interested in a new kind of mythmaking, even though there are no real stories behind them yet."
— Robert NavaTransporting the viewer to a childlike world of imaginary hybridised creatures, works such as Shark Wing Pegasus feature Nava’s most iconic motif – two sharks, engulfing a turquoise pegasus in the foreground. Bursts of neon yellow curl around the bodice of the pegasus like flashes of lightning, whilst spritzes of blue entwine the creatures as one, as shark fins pierce through the chest of the pegasus. Exemplifying his enthusiasm in the creation of fantastical animal hybrids, Nava often divides the compositions of his paintings, fragmenting forms of different creatures, as he did in Shark Wing Pegasus with a horizontal split, adding a subtle layer of complexity and ambiguity to his chimeric figures. The forthright arrangement of these simple motifs of shark heads, wings, fins and legs capture the remarkable speed of the artist’s creative process. Indeed, the artist has once cited that his quickest work only took a mere 27 seconds to complete.
Detail of the present lot With a slapdash aesthetic that is deliberately cartoonish, Nava’s enigmatic paintings draw comparisons to works by fellow Brooklyn based artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat. Also drawing from a myriad of sources such as religious iconography, music, art and cultural history, Basquiat creates a unique visual vocabulary of symbols and cyphers, often incorporating symbols he found in Henry Dreyfuss’s Symbol Sourcebook. As opposed to Basquiat’s more immediate references to old masters, jazz musicians and boxing champions in his works, Robert Nava is more cryptic in his use of symbolic motifs. Nava exploits the creative potential of free association by inviting viewers to make their own interpretations, demonstrating the artist’s raw, unhindered imagination.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Beef Ribs Longhorn, 1982
Collection of The Broad, Los Angeles
© The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by ArtestarCollector’s Digest
Born in Indiana and based in Brooklyn, American artist Robert Nava has captured the attention of the international art scene ever since the Art Institute of Chicago had acquired four of his works on paper into their collection in early 2020.
In July 2020, Phillips New York debuted Nava at auction with The Tunnel, 2019, which sold for 4 times its low estimate at 162,500 USD (Premium). It was then when Pace Gallery had quickly announced representation of the artist later in the same year, holding two solo shows for Nava that sold out at a blink of an eye.
Robert Nava, Angel Shark, 2020
Sold by Phillips Hong Kong, 30 November 2021 for HK$4,410,000 (Premium)
The next year in 2021, Vito Schnabel Gallery announced joint representation of Nava, holding a solo exhibition for him in the same year. Nava has recently been honoured with another solo show hosted by Night Gallery in Los Angeles, Bloodsport, which ran from 19 February to 26 March 2022, focusing on works on paper by the artist. His solo exhibition with PACE London, Thunderbolt Disco, has just opened 13 May and will close 25 June, 2022.
Nava’s works have found places in prominent collections such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the ICA Miami, and Zuzeum Art Centre in Latvia.
i Robert Nava, quoted in Sasha Bogojev, ‘In Conversation with Robert Nava’, Juxtapoz, 18 September 2019, online
ii Robert Nava, quoted in Lance De Los Reyes, ‘Robert Nava's Secret Friends’, Office Magazine, 22 April 2020, online
iii Keith Estiler, ‘Robert Nava’s New Mythologies’, Hypebeast, 19 March 2020, online
Provenance
v1 Gallery, Copenhagen
Acquired from the above by the present ownerArtist Biography
Robert Nava
Robert Nava (b. 1985) is a contemporary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Using a rough and
free-flowing hand, Nava recreates the innocent and unlearned art of childhood. His works are
“carefully done wrong,” subverting the rigid fundamentals of painting and conventions of
completeness that Nava learned as an MFA student at Yale University. Nava’s paintings often
feature imagined mythological figures and histories of the artist’s creation whose drama is
brought to life with the frenetic energy of the artist’s brush.
Property from a Distinguished Scandinavian Collection
40
Shark Wing Pegasus
signed, titled and dated '"Shark wing Pegasus" Nava 19' on the reverse
acrylic, spray paint and grease pencil on canvas
182.2 x 213.2 cm. (71 3/4 x 83 7/8 in.)
Executed in 2019.
Estimate
HK$1,200,000 - 1,800,000
€146,000-219,000
$154,000-231,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
Charlotte Raybaud
Specialist, Head of Evening Sale
+852 2318 2026
CharlotteRaybaud@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Hong Kong Auction 22 June 2022
1
Julie Curtiss
Funky Boots
Estimate HK$600,000 - 800,000
Sold for HK$1,071,000
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2
Jamian Juliano-Villani
Hand's Job
Estimate HK$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for HK$819,000
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3
Lucy Bull
8:50
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for HK$11,382,000
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4
Scott Kahn
Soundview
Estimate HK$900,000 - 1,400,000
Sold for HK$4,032,000
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5
Hernan Bas
Who Told Them We Were Coming?
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$3,528,000
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6
Shara Hughes
Pleasure House
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for HK$6,542,000
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7
Loie Hollowell
Linked Lingam in Red and Blue
Estimate HK$1,800,000 - 2,800,000
Sold for HK$3,024,000
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8
Anna Weyant
Chest
Estimate HK$500,000 - 700,000
Sold for HK$4,158,000
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9
George Condo
Transparent Female Forms
Estimate HK$25,000,000 - 35,000,000
Sold for HK$36,550,000
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10
This lot is no longer available.
11
Matthew Wong
Pink Wave
Estimate HK$16,000,000 - 26,000,000
Sold for HK$22,635,000
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12
David Hockney
Painted Landscape (Or Red and Blue Landscape)
Estimate HK$16,000,000 - 24,000,000
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13
Ed Ruscha
Spied Upon Scene: Window
Estimate HK$3,500,000 - 5,500,000
Sold for HK$3,150,000
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14
Huang Yuxing
Pearl Shore
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$3,024,000
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15
This lot is no longer available.
16
Nicolas Party
Two Portraits
Estimate HK$6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Sold for HK$6,542,000
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17
George Condo
The Strangers
Estimate HK$5,000,000 - 6,500,000
Sold for HK$5,670,000
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18
Ernie Barnes
Life After Sundown
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$6,048,000
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19
Javier Calleja
1971
Estimate HK$3,500,000 - 5,500,000
Sold for HK$4,032,000
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20
Yoshitomo Nara
Untitled
Estimate HK$6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Sold for HK$7,510,000
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21
This lot is no longer available.
22
Adrian Ghenie
Pie Fight Study 4
Estimate HK$3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for HK$4,032,000
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23
Michaël Borremans
Stars
Estimate HK$2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for HK$2,772,000
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24
Li Chen
Angelic Smile
Estimate HK$2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for HK$4,284,000
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25
Zhang Xiaogang
Bloodline Series - Big Family
Estimate HK$7,500,000 - 10,000,000
Sold for HK$8,115,000
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26
Zhang Enli
Things
Estimate HK$2,200,000 - 4,200,000
Sold for HK$2,520,000
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27
This lot is no longer available.
28
Lee Ufan
From Line No. 790372
Estimate HK$9,000,000 - 14,000,000
Sold for HK$11,140,000
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29
Pierre Soulages
Peinture 102 x 130 cm, 11 mars 2016
Estimate HK$7,500,000 - 10,000,000
Sold for HK$8,115,000
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30
Ouattara Watts
Intercessor
Estimate HK$800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for HK$1,134,000
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31
Sam Francis
Untitled
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
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32
KAWS
UNTITLED
Estimate HK$3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for HK$3,276,000
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33
Kohei Nawa
PixCell-Deer #21
Estimate HK$2,800,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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34
This lot is no longer available.
35
Anna Park
I to I
Estimate HK$300,000 - 500,000
Sold for HK$2,268,000
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36
Trey Abdella
Some Things Aren't Worth Waiting For
Estimate HK$600,000 - 900,000
Sold for HK$2,646,000
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37
Szabolcs Bozó
One Bird, A Cat and A Man
Estimate HK$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for HK$882,000
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38
Katherine Bernhardt
Laundry Day
Estimate HK$800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for HK$2,142,000
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39
Issy Wood
Dog With Pendants (Not as Close)
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for HK$1,386,000
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40
Robert Nava
Shark Wing Pegasus
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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41
Ayako Rokkaku
Untitled
Estimate HK$2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for HK$8,115,000
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42
Allison Zuckerman
Bullseye
Estimate HK$550,000 - 750,000
Sold for HK$1,071,000
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43
Serge Attukwei Clottey
Valentine's Day
Estimate HK$250,000 - 450,000
Sold for HK$693,000
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44
Genieve Figgis
Pink Ballroom
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for HK$2,016,000
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45
Emmanuel Taku
Brothers in Red
Estimate HK$300,000 - 500,000
Sold for HK$1,512,000
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46
Aboudia
Take Me II
Estimate HK$500,000 - 700,000
Sold for HK$2,520,000
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47
José Parlá
Writers' Bench: Grand Concourse & 149th Street, The Bronx
Estimate HK$800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for HK$1,764,000
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48
Edgar Plans
Night Creatures
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for HK$3,024,000
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49
Rafa Macarrón
Sin título (Cosmos)
Estimate HK$700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for HK$1,386,000
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