Nonda - 1970's Color and The Abstraction of Form

1970's Color and The Abstraction of Form

In the 1970’s Nonda’s forms evolved into abstraction and exploded into color. During this period he produced vibrant, modernist works on canvas and a series of wooden sculptures made from the hull of an abandoned fishing boat. The work is colorful but often dominated by a central, abstracted human form in brown or black which links it to his earlier and later work. A striking series made with the blood of spleen bought at the meat markets of Paris was produced in a painterly, free and gestural style. This series is a powerful simplification of all his styles combined. The repeating image of a figure with arms held high denotes a sense of joyousness or élan vital, just as the broad semi-circle linking two forms is often an abstracted “embrace”. The theme of the female form remains a constant and the paintings are often sculptural and relate to the shapes found in later sculptures.