Nick Schleicher

STM-HMS

2019

Nick Schleicher (b. 1988) received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011 where he focused on painting and sculpture. Most recently, Schleicher’s practice skews the perfection of minimalism. Using abstraction as a tool to explore human emotion, he pulls layers of paint over shaped canvases which loosely recall tombstones, ghosts, and windows. His process suspends each work in a perpetual state of movement, allowing the wobbly, color-filled forms to assume a bodily presence. Something close to human. For Schleicher, many works serve as personal markers, created during periods of profound loss or significant transition. The imperfections - congealing paint on the edges, canvases slightly askew, the improvisation of the mark-making process - imbue the works with a sense of empathy and are essential components of his practice. It’s through these inconsistencies and nuances that the paintings acknowledge discomfort, but those moments are transformed into something new, more beautiful, and endlessly playful. Recent solo exhibitions include Monaco, St. Louis, MO; Grease 3, St. Louis, MO; and PLAQUE at Granite City Art & Design District, Granite City, IL. Selected group exhibitions at Julius Caesar, Chicago, IL; The Luminary, St. Louis, MO; and Aupuni Space, Honolulu, HI. Schleicher’s work has been featured in New American Paintings (No. 143 & 167), Soft Quarterly (Spring 2021), The Pinch (Fall 2020), and Under the Bridge (Concentric Series: Issue 2) among others. Schleicher also co-hosts the visual arts podcast cool WIP with Silver Space STL founder Marina May. cool WIP features conversations with artists, curators, gallerists, and anyone interested in creative pursuits. Check out cool WIP on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or coolwipofficial.com. He currently lives and works in Saint Louis, MO where he is a member of Monaco USA. His work can be found on the web at nickschleicher.com as well as on Instagram @nick_schleicher