Google & Refinery 29 / Nina Chanel Abney
Dual Artist Activations.
During two active solo exhibitions in New York City: Seized The Imagination at Jack Shaiman Gallery and Safe House at Mary Boone Gallery, Google invited Nina Chanel Abney to curate two simultaneous projects celebrating the Google Pixel 2. The first was an exclusive set of designs in support of their Live Case Program and the second was to lead the design efforts for their branded space at 29 Rooms, Refinery 29’s artistic funhouse for adults.
Canvas For All.
Google’s “Live Cases” program started in 2016 with world-renowned artist Jeff Koons and since then has expanded to include a diverse list of distinctive artists in support of their unique method of personalizing phone cases. The goal of the program is to curate and customize exclusive Pixel cases with artworks relevant in today’s culture. In this sense, there was no better artist to collaborate with than Nina Chanel Abney.
Purposeful Spontaneity.
Known for her bold approach on subjects like race, gender, politics and pop culture, her works are included in collections throughout the world. She combines abstraction with spontaneous color to vividly reinterpret our past and present cultural landscapes.
Unlock The Fun.
There were two types of live cases, each with an interactive wallpaper companion. Users were able to unlock different versions of artwork that could be displayed as a slideshow on the home screen.
29 Rooms.
At 29Rooms, Refinery29 and Google Pixel came together to create a platform that inspired guests to ask more questions. Much like Nina’s work itself, challenging the status quo was at the heart of each dynamic piece throughout the installation and was done so by design. This was the first time Nina has applied her work in a 3-dimensional format but a perfect time to do so. The goal was to celebrate the nostalgic elements in our past when asking questions occurred as matter of fact, by returning people to the ubiquitous familiarity of the childhood playground. By applying her designs in this form, she was able to bring her powerful composition to life while honoring the theme of “ask more questions.”
Endless Inspiration.
Both projects were able to provide two seperate creative territories that supplied a canvas for Nina’s work to inspire people to explore their beliefs, ask questions, and continue to encourage self-expression, while hopefully inspiring others around them to do the same.