Hey Tomorrow, Do You Have Some Room For Me: Failure Is A Part Of Being Alive
In Hey Tomorrow each work represents the many perceived failures that we experience during the course of our lives that, when taken as a whole, are simply what make us human. For Niles, these moments―getting kicked out of the house or an unplanned pregnancy―are not extraordinary events, but rather just part of the course of life. In this work, Niles marks a key moment in his subject’s life―a difficult one, but also one of growth and transformation. “All of these moments in life that people look at as failures are just a part of growing up and can actually open new doors and lead to new phases in life,” the artist explains, “when I look back at my own experiences, they weren’t really failures at all.”
The titular work in the exhibition is the only landscape featured and the first Niles has created in his professional career. The painting, Hey Tomorrow, Do You Have Some Room For Me (Failure is a Part of Being Alive), depicts an idyllic view from the edge of a body of water, the surface is blue and calm. The clouds are a vibrant pink that stand in stark contrast to the pale blue sky. The serene scene is the outlier in the exhibition and offers the viewer “room” for contemplation, self-reflection, a moment of pause in the otherwise dense body of work. In depicting not only people close to him but the places and times they inhabit, Niles creates his own chronicle of life today. Each painting invites us to consider the time in which it was made, as well as our own histories―our struggles, successes, and desires for the future. While most of the paintings represent the past and the present, for Niles, the painting Hey Tomorrow offers space to imagine tomorrow, and what might come next.
The titular work in the exhibition is the only landscape featured and the first Niles has created in his professional career. The painting, Hey Tomorrow, Do You Have Some Room For Me (Failure is a Part of Being Alive), depicts an idyllic view from the edge of a body of water, the surface is blue and calm. The clouds are a vibrant pink that stand in stark contrast to the pale blue sky. The serene scene is the outlier in the exhibition and offers the viewer “room” for contemplation, self-reflection, a moment of pause in the otherwise dense body of work. In depicting not only people close to him but the places and times they inhabit, Niles creates his own chronicle of life today. Each painting invites us to consider the time in which it was made, as well as our own histories―our struggles, successes, and desires for the future. While most of the paintings represent the past and the present, for Niles, the painting Hey Tomorrow offers space to imagine tomorrow, and what might come next.
