John Nava
Portrait of R. E. I, 2005
Jacquard tapestry
83 x 78 in.
edition of 10

Never content to rest on his laurels as a contemporary master of painting, John Nava
uses his canvases – and now, tapestries – to engage in a dialogue with voices from art history’s past and present. Nava’s Portrait of R.E. I borrows its haunting luminosity and sheer presence from Vermeer, but there is something of the 20th century in its figure’s confident, empowered expression, and something of the 21st century in the formidable technology hinted at by the perfection of its weave.