Taking cue from her character as a downtown gallerist in season three of Broad City, Wendy Nichol is set to open her own art exhibit. Known for dressing the likes of Beyoncé, Rihanna, Zoë Kravitz, Claire Danes, Ilana Glazer and Naomi Campbell in couture gowns and jewelry over the last two decades, Wendy Nichol has found a new outlet for her art: painting.
After closing her two SoHo stores in 2020, Nichol said she was inspired by the move into her more exclusive space in 2022, explaining that her new atelier atmosphere lent itself to creating large-scale canvases, which she began painting with new passion.
“I had been searching for a space that felt special, and when this building presented itself, despite needing some love and repair, I saw it as a diamond in the rough,” Nichol said. “There’s a legacy of painters in this building — Takeshi Kawashima, whose work is in the MoMA, painted here for decades. I could feel that the energy in the space would lend itself to large-scale work.”
Wendy Nichol’s studio.
The paintings, she said, are a transition in her artistry and draw on her experience with transparent fabrics, fluid lines and stitch-like details — delicate, flowing strokes are meant to mimic the soft fall of fabric and intricate patterns that echo the stitches of couture design. Nichol, notably, began taking painting classes at the Victor D’Amico Institute in Napeague, N.Y., and immediately felt the difference between the preciseness of couture gown making when compared to painting.
“Painting, while similar to draping fabric, offered a different kind of freedom,” Nichol said. “There was nobody to fit, just an uninhibited flow of form. My gowns have always reflected my love for layered transparency — exploring the space between the seen and unseen. Painting, in a way, became a new form of fabric for me, coming to life through acrylic and oil, with the models now finding their place on canvas rather than on the runway.”
Nichol will be inviting friends, clients and art lovers to view her collection of paintings at the Museum Building on Mercer Street in New York through Oct. 17. The collection focuses on weaving together “abstract forms, distorted figures and rich textures to present a visual dialogue between the seen and unseen. These works aim to strip away fear, offering instead a perspective that celebrates the unknown and embraces death as a part of life’s grand tapestry.”
“Missing Witches” by Wendy Nichol.
The largest piece featured in the show is called “Missing Witches,” and taps into the “esoteric undercurrents of past life regression, channeling the energies and memories of lost wisdom and forgotten histories.” Another, called “As Far as We Know, Death Is Fun,” plays off of Nichol’s inspiration from Julia Fox, who she describes as having “both an ethereal beauty and an alien-like presence.” She is inspired, she said by Fox’s ability to manifest such high-level creativity and confident femininity.
Other works being presented include “gown forest” and a “gemstone garden,” which celebrate the continuation of Nichol’s work in fashion while expanding on those themes through painting. The painting “Beauty as a Decision” then explores the notion of beauty being inherent versus dictated by society’s standards and choice of individuals.
“I’m excited to share this new body of work, which carries an underlying sense of hope,” Nichol said. “My exploration of past life regression, The Law of Attraction, and neuroscientific ideas has led me to believe that we are all powerful source energy, constantly evolving. We have the ability to reshape our present reality and create the future we desire. Our past life memories and dreams guide us, reminding us of this endless evolution.”
