Pace Prints is pleased to present Way Things Are, an exhibition of new hand-painted monoprints by identical twin artists Raoul and Davide Perre, better known by the moniker How and Nosm. This is the artists’ inaugural exhibition with Pace Prints. An opening reception will be held Thursday March 6, 6-8pm.
Way Things Are is a body of new unique works on paper, created using the silkscreen process in combination with hand painting. Examining the monotonous everyday, the work pays homage to the quest for diversity in repetition. In the artists’ words, “Each day one goes through the same routine and while atmospheric changes occur, the core pattern remains and little changes. One must take charge in order to make one’s life more diverse, in order to break from this rhythm. The fact that things are the way they are has to be accepted first, in order to move on. “
Recognized by its unequivocal visual language, How and Nosm’s work creates a shifting maze of intricate detail, stylized mutating characters and geometric patterns. As the layers of meaning and imagery are peeled back, the narrative in each piece becomes more complex. The work is rendered in a selective black, white and red color palette and central forms appear in repetition, though their orientation on the page varies. At first glance, every silkscreened element appears unique. Upon closer observation, one realizes that these are the same images, existing in unique composition, light and color. The use of repeating motifs parallels life’s patterns and these echoing images are made active when transposed within layers of hand-painted and collaged elements. The core characters mutate, creating labyrinthine compositions.
Born in the Basque Country of San Sebastián Spain, How and Nosm grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany. The artists began experimenting with aerosol spray paint and tagging when they were teenagers. Upon moving to New York City in 1999, How and Nosm rose to prominence as part of the underground Bronx-based graffiti collective TATS CRU. Since then, the artists have been invited to countries all over the world to execute their large scale murals, their most recent in Portugal, Detroit, Brazil and the Houston Bowery Wall in New York City.