I'm Just Like You: Nicholas Kontaxis

September 8 - 30

UTA Artist Space presents - I’m Just Like You featuring new works by painter, Nicholas Kontaxis.

Kontaxis is a self-taught artist whose abstract expressionist paintings communicate a unique passion for life. Born with a brain tumor that causes significant and frequent seizures, he began painting as a teenager and has grown an expansive body of work. Solo exhibitions include West Contemporary (London), Heather James Fine Art (Palm Springs), Gilman Contemporary (Sun Valley), TAO (Chicago), and Anne O Art (Atlanta). His work has been commissioned by Adidas at Coachella, the Los Angeles Chargers, and Kaiser Permanente Hospitals, among other collectors.

Kontaxis has had numerous sold-out, solo shows in Los Angeles, London, Chicago, Atlanta, Palm Desert, and Sun Valley. His paintings have garnered critical comparisons to Sam Francis and Jasper Johns but remain singular in their raw and visceral anomaly.

The pieces in I’m Just Like You incorporate a multitude of layering applications. The 27-year-old artist uses a battalion of unique, idiosyncratic techniques and tools with a variety of media on massive canvases, rendering vibrantly colored works of art that ring with joy and optimism. The paintings have a sublime, contemplative effect created by Kontaxis’ persistent attention to pattern, texture, and color. Kontaxis used several unique materials for these works including sticks, bark, ash, spices, oil, crayons, linen, and acrylic. This structured chaos lends itself to a hypnotic, visceral, captivating experience for viewers.

Instinctively drawn to painting, the medium has provided Kontaxis with a conduit for expressing his notably distinct interior life. The artist was born with a brain tumor that has resulted in tens of thousands of seizures over his lifetime, atypical motor function, and neurodiversity. His speech consists of short utterances, which are documented while he paints and often become the imaginative titles for his works: Got Issues, That Would Be Me, Unlock Doors, Oh No! My Hair is Puffy, Corn on the Cob, and Put Your Beanie On, to name a few. The profound titles of the works in I’m Just Like You are deep articulations of his inner life, voiced on the canvas.

About UTA Artist Space

Since the establishment of its flagship Beverly Hills location in 2018, UTA Artist Space – the gallery extension of UTA – has been committed to showcasing art by globally recognized talent. With the opening of a new Atlanta office and gallery in spring 2023, UTA Artist Space has expanded its impressive vision and reach across the United States. Over the past few years, the gallery’s original location has presented notable exhibitions with interdisciplinary artists and creatives, including The Estate of Ernie Barnes, Enrique Martínez Celaya, Mandy El-Sayegh, Nicholas Kontaxis, Arcmanoro Niles, Ferrari Sheppard, and more. UTA presented a series of pop-up exhibitions at Atlanta’s historic Pullman Yards before inaugurating its permanent gallery space in March 2023 with a solo exhibition by Lonnie Holley.

About Nicholas Kontaxis

Nicholas Kontaxis (b. 1996) is a self-taught artist whose abstract expressionist paintings communicate a unique passion for life. Born with a brain tumor that causes significant and frequent seizures, he began painting as a teenager and has grown an expansive body of work. Solo exhibitions include West Contemporary (London), Heather James Fine Art (Palm Springs), Gilman Contemporary (Sun Valley), TAO (Chicago), and Anne O Art (Atlanta). His work has been commissioned by Adidas at Coachella, the Los Angeles Chargers, and Kaiser Permanente Hospitals, among other collectors.

Kontaxis has had numerous sold-out, solo shows in Los Angeles, London, Chicago, Atlanta, Palm Desert, and Sun Valley. His paintings have garnered critical comparisons to Sam Francis and Jasper Johns but remain singular in their raw and visceral anomaly.