Audrey NERVI (1974-)

Ofir, 1999

Oil on canvas

Signed, titled, and dated on the reverse

30 x 20 cm (11.8 x 7.9 in)

Audrey Nervi’s work portrays today’s world viewed from its fringes, specifically focusing on "counter-cultures"—the world of free parties, raves, and techno music travelers. Her modus operandi remains consistent: using thousands of photographs captured, annotated, and selected during her travels, she creates paintings with hyperrealistic undertones that document alternative communities living apart from mainstream society. Her body of work functions as a travel log, capturing the memories of these festive gatherings, which serve as true open-air temples of celebration.

Through the medium of pictorial language, Nervi elevates these subjects into symbols of causes close to her heart. They take on meaning against a backdrop of nocturnal gatherings or the aftermath of parties, allowing the artist to document contemporary sociopolitical tensions with a strikingly candid aesthetic. Works such as Histoires courtes diptyques open up a world where everything appears physically and socially accepted. Moving from intimate gestures to political statements, her pieces are politically engaged and inviting, immersing the viewer in a collective, excessive world of ecstasy and unprecedented freedom.

Born in 1974 in Lyon (France), Audrey Nervi graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (1999) and the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris (2000). She currently lives and works in Berlin.