Small Paintings Dedicated to Big Names | Nadia Curnow

In this exhibition, Nadia Curnow draws inspiration from an international canon of art history, combining artistic influences from a wide range of ‘big names’ into unique paintings that blend abstract and figurative elements.

These paintings are homages to a variety of artists, from titans of modern art such as Malevich and Rothko to lesser-known but important modernists such as Etel Adnan and Mary Fedden, and luminaries of New Zealand art including Billy Apple and Jaqueline Fahey. She also pays tribute to practitioners in other art forms – the Aotearoa New Zealand poet Allen Curnow and the Italian Futurist dancer Giannina Censi.

Image: Nadia Curnow, Untitled, 2025, oil on paper