Yasmina Alexandra Nysten is a Finnish/Lebanese artist who pursued her education in visual arts, specialising in painting. She attended the ALBA (Academie Libanaise des Beaux-arts) in Beirut, Lebanon, where she obtained a BFA in Visual Arts in 2009. Later, she pursued an MFA in Digital Arts and 3D Animation from Pratt Institute in New York City, graduating in 2013.
Since her graduation, Nysten has been actively involved in her career as a visual artist, focusing primarily on painting. Her work has been exhibited in various shows and galleries, including "Nafas Beirut" at Espace SD, Ayyam Gallery Dubai's "Young Collectors Auctions," "From Beirut Art and Design scene" at Piasa in Paris, and "Jabal" at Fransabank in Beirut. In her 2009 solo show, "The Seven Minute Special," held at Kleio Projects in New York, she showcased large- format works on paper that depicted individuals in a contorted figurative style. This asymmetrical experiment on the human form has remained a consistent aspect of her artistic approach.
Nysten has sought to adapt her unique stylistic language into a theoretical axiom, allowing her jagged lines to evoke anamorphic properties within the viewer's thoughts. Her 2019 solo show, "Live @ the crying room," held at Tornado Things Gallery in Brooklyn, featured large-format paintings and works on paper that remained faithful to this principle. In this exhibition, she focused on depicting cinematic urban scenes where secretive yet notable "everyday miracles" occur.
In 2021, Nysten relocated to Astoria, Oregon from New York city. Nysten’s aesthetic exploration has invited foreign components inspired by her relocation. Her latest show “artful crimes” at Mark Hachem gallery Beirut, in June 2023 explored mainly the “black market” theme with an emphasis on the black market existent within the medical field.
Artful crimes an exhibition opening June 22nd, 2023 at the Mark Hachem Gallery in Beirut that focuses on the theme of the black market and its presence in the global landscape. The artist draws inspiration from her encounters with black market vendors in Madrid and the underground exchanges resulting from the recent economic inflation in Lebanon.
The artist delves into various aspects of the black market, including animal fights, trade of exotic animals and drugs, prostitution, trafficking, and the functioning of the black market within the medical world. As an annex to the Black Market series, the artist has created a special section entitled “Malpractice”, depicting the proliferation of the black market within the medical field. Originally conceived separately, the "Malpractice" series found its place within the "Black Market" series as the artist found that they could not separate the illegal practices occurring within the medical field from its root in the illegal economy. This sub-series portrays empty “post-trauma” operation rooms that emphasise the absence/presence dichotomy. It marks a departure for Nysten’s habitual subject matter as she explores painting without incorporating human figures.
The artist also worked in partnership with artist Morrison Pierce on the "Bosta" series. Inspired by street art and their initial collaborative mural piece in Wynwood Miami from Decembre 2021, this approach brought spontaneity, visual acrobatics, and anecdotal storytelling techniques onto their canvas. They incorporate elements from the artists' respective American and Lebanese cultural backgrounds, and feature patterns and recurring themes such as animals, dinosaurs, flying objects, cityscapes, and current events.
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Black Market
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die Famous
Epidemic I , 2023Mix media on canvas
225 x 150 cm -
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die Famous
Epidemic II, 2023Mix media on canvas
215 x 150 cm -
Malpractice
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die Famous
TOD, 2023Mix media on canvas
152 x 175 cm -
BOSTA
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die Famous
Khosh bosh, 2023mixed media on canvas
121x91 cm -
die Famous
Drive By:Drive Through, 2023Mix media on canvas
190 x 160 cm