Esmé Miami Beach, 1438 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Dates of Exhibition: November 14, 2024 through December 12, 2024
We Are Nice’n Easy is a collaborative endeavor by artists Allison Matherly (b.1990) and Jeffrey Noble (b.1987). Matherly received her BFA in Sculpture from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston in 2012. Noble received his BFA in Painting from New World School of the Arts in Miami Florida in 2013. The now husband and wife duo met in Miami while working at the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami and in 2015 began collaborating under the name, We Are Nice’n Easy.
Focused on creating immersive mixed media installations, works in sculpture, painting, design and murals, Nice’n Easy develops a visually cohesive subtropical vernacular with their material choices and use of repeated motifs. Often referencing themes of self-help, recovery and interpersonal dependency, their fabricated environments utilize romantic tropes, pop culture iconography, and the aesthetics of wellness culture to enhance the collective emotive truisms between participants and create a platform for intimate exchange.
We Are Nice’n Easy maintains a studio in Miami and has exhibited works at Locust Projects, Spinello projects, Art and Cultural Center of Hollywood, Young at Art Museum and the Bass Museum. They have realized several public art projects throughout South Florida commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places, Miami Beach Art in Public Places, Broward Public Art & Design, Downtown Hollywood Mural Project among other private commissions. Their mural Off the Deep End won the Miami New Times “Best Mural” of 2017, they were winners of a South Florida Cultural Consortium grant in 2018, they were awarded a fellowship as Artists in Residence in Everglades in 2019 and were recipients of a Miami Individual Artists Grant in 2023.
Artist collaborative We Are Nice’n Easy’s “Soft Squeeze” represents a site-specific artwork rooted in the dynamic interplay between nature and culture inherent to South Florida. With a focus on public projects within its practice, Nice’n Easy believes in the transformative power of public art and works to elevate Miami’s cultural identity. This playful creation, however seemingly compressed, creates a visual tension that highlights the clash and fusion of natural and cultural elements. As viewers move around and underneath the artwork, the recognizable shapes shift and merge, creating an ever-evolving visual narrative that reflects the fluidity and complexity of Miami’s subtropical environment. This work not only captures the playful spirit of Miami Beach but also prompts deeper reflection on how cultural artifacts and natural habitats coexist and influence one another.
https://www.weareniceneasy.com/
Photo credit: Monica McGivern