Inspired by his own experiences, family photographs, and memories, Arcmanoro Niles (American, born in 1989) paints people and daily life scenes using a radiant, electrifying color palette of oranges, pinks, purples, blues, and greens. For the artist, these colors are more suitable to render the world that feels real than the usually applied naturalistic hues. Paying tribute to his beloved Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio, Niles has given light the central role in his oeuvre, and also incorporated himself, his family, and friends in his paintings, making their moments of sorrow and happiness convey a particular type of universal experience. Niles aims to appeal to familiar feelings and common situations, such as being stuck in your life, longing for change, or saying goodbye to people and places.

Next to vibrant colors, Niles’ signature material is glitter, which he applies to highlight specific elements in the painting, such as the hair of the female figure in She Had Goodbye In Her Eyes (I’ve learned to travel Lightly) (2020). Niles started applying glitter years ago, seeking a material for strong glow effects and wanting somewhat to adorn his protagonists. Aware of the use of shine effects in the work of Mickalene Thomas, among others, Niles developed his own technique, firstly tapping the glitter in, then later painting it on, whereby the heavy material drips and slides down in a certain way. The glitter creates a source of light in the work and, in the case of this painting, gives a glimmering halo of purple color to the figure, as well as elevating it a bit. Despite her pink eyes, violet hair, and golden skin, this figure feels real, and like a woman of flesh and blood.

When rendering the skin, Niles thinks about the light effects as well, as the skin is the only part of the painting that the artist executes in layers of oil paint, and not acrylic. With the layered oil paint, the light comes back slowly and gives the skin a glow, without bouncing back, as is the case with acrylic. Niles’ titles are long and poetic, attempting to disturb, enrich, and expand the meaning of the work. Most of them are observations that Niles writes down and collects in his book, and while working on a painting he lets the content and the image develop together.