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.
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