Chicago Artworks on Display: Explore the Current Space

New works by Dutch contemporary artist Nemo Jantzen have arrived at Carousel Fine Art Chicago, showcasing the artist’s distinctive nail-and-thread technique. Known for pushing the boundaries between painting and sculpture, Jantzen creates striking portraits and images using hundreds of stainless-steel nails and a single continuous thread stretched across a wooden panel. 

Working from photographic references, the artist carefully zigzags thread from nail to nail, building layers of line and tension that gradually reveal a hyper-detailed image. The result is a work that appears almost photographic from a distance yet transforms up close into an intricate web of thread and structure. Light and perspective play a crucial role in these pieces. As viewers move around the work, shadows from the thread subtly shift across the surface, creating a dimensional effect that gives the image depth and movement. Blending craftsmanship, photography, and sculpture, Jantzen’s nail-and-thread works invite viewers to reconsider how images are constructed.

New works by Canadian artist Sylvain Tremblay have arrived at the Chicago gallery, introducing collectors to the artist’s distinctive sculptural paintings. Tremblay’s practice centers on transforming the traditional canvas into a dimensional surface, where layers of sculpted material rise from the panel to create richly textured compositions. Working primarily in monochromatic palettes, Tremblay builds his surfaces through carefully applied layers that form rhythmic patterns across the canvas. The resulting works blur the boundary between painting and sculpture, inviting viewers to experience the piece not only visually but through its depth, shadow, and movement.

Light plays a central role in Tremblay’s work. As it moves across the surface, the raised textures cast subtle shadows that shift throughout the day, giving each piece a quiet sense of motion and presence. Balancing minimalism with material intensity, Tremblay’s works offer a contemporary exploration of texture, repetition, and form—transforming simple surfaces into immersive visual fields.