José Nava : Fish Out Of Water
30 November 2016 – 20 January 2017
The Koppel Project
93 Baker Street, London
Artists: José Nava & Zadoc Nava
José Nava was a Mexican fisherman turned self-taught artist. Nava was born in 1937 and grew up in the barrios of Acapulco on the pacific coast of Mexico. In 1961 he travelled to Europe and settled in England. Nava quickly became involved in the experimental theatre company, The People Show, building sets, props and costumes and performing internationally.
After leaving the theatre Nava dedicated his time to painting and drawing, producing a vast body of work, which was catalogued over years by his sons Zadoc and Joe. Living in a self-built ‘shed’ in Kentish Town, reminiscent of a Mexican barrio house filled with stuffed fish, sculptures, an intriguing array of artefacts, art materials, textiles and hundreds of sketchbooks and folders full of artwork, Nava never really left Mexico, bringing its vibrancy back to London, preserving memories and feelings within his work and the world he has built around him.
Gabriella Sonabend met José Nava in 2009 after meeting his son in India and hearing of his father’s prolific secret career. She was invited to meet him in his studio where he shared thousands of drawings and stories. It took Sonabend seven years to persuade José to exhibit his work, with the help of his family. Over those years she came to consider him a close friend, mentor and inspiration, a true maverick and an elder from another era.
Sonabend was honoured to curate José Nava’s first solo exhibition which he put together with a vibrant urgency at the age of 80 a year before his passing. After years of painting and drawing reclusively, Nava shared a significant selection of his life’s work, which had remained largely unseen. The exhibition brought together drawings, paintings, sculpture and objects from Nava’s workshop and included a portrait and film by his son filmmaker Zadoc Nava, a publication by his son Joe Nava and an essay by David Lillington.
“Si bien Nava ha vivido en la capital británica durante más de 45 años, apenas ahora se realiza esta primera exposición, tras ser descubierto por la directora creativa de la galería, Gabriella Sonabend.” Informador
‘Big Fish’ (trailer) directed by Zadoc Nava. Watch the full film here.
‘Big Fish’ (23 mins, 1996) is an impressionistic portrait of José, by his eldest son Zadoc. The film chronicles his strange and sometimes surreal experiences both in Mexico and ‘this cold land’, where he feels like ‘a fish in the wrong pond!’ It also explores how circumstances, including his father’s murder, have influenced Jose’s unique way of seeing.
The exhibition was generously supported and made possible by Phaidon Press and The Mexican Embassy.