Meet Nicole Schonitzer | Artist and Curator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicole Schonitzer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I’ve taken on creative pursuits since I was a kid. Making physical objects and exercising creativity feel fundamental to existing for me. I envisioned numerous creative jobs for myself growing up, but in college I began to think about fine art more seriously as a career path. I remember attending my first art department crit at Vassar, a bi-weekly event in which all the art students and faculty would gather and critique the thick-skinned volunteers that hung their work that night. Sitting on the ground eating pizza off a paper plate and listening to the group obsess over a painting of glass bottles strangely made me feel like I was really among my people for one of the first times in my life.

After college, I moved back to Chicago and continued making art but toyed with taking a more practical career route. I seriously considered going to law school and focusing on IP or something art-adjacent, but when it came time to make the call about graduate study, I knew if I didn’t at least try to pursue life as an artist, I would always regret it. I went off to RISD for my MFA, set up my studio in Brooklyn afterwards, and my life was totally transformed. But since my work isn’t my primary source of income, I think of being an artist more as an ongoing commitment rather than a singular choice. Everytime I make it to my studio or put pencil to paper, I make the choice again.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
World-building in and of itself is far from unique to me, but my work has a distinctive setting and cast of characters (I think of them as ‘guys’): the worms, the ghosts, the stingrays, the moles, the Id monsters, the three-pronged form, tongue guy, uvula guy, and so on and so on. I truly love my guys; they are like my friends, my pets, my children, and myself all in one. In this regard, I think I have a sort of unique relationship to my work. It is not just a thing I make; it’s a container for my companions. The guys live in this bizarro-earth world where they mostly inhabit giant bodily chambers, bathrooms, and the sea – spaces that are hidden, interior, wet, and gross. As I craft my images and stories, I think a lot about shame and shamelessness, being inhibited and uninhibited, how to best care for others, the underestimated value of fun; all ideas that have been taken on throughout art history but that I’m chewing up and spitting out in my singular tutti-frutti gum wad of artwork.

Sometimes I feel like I could be more commercially successful if I swapped out all my guys for human figures or returned to the tasteful abstraction I tried on in my younger years, but those courses would feel empty to me. I’ve learned that you have to make work that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning, even if that’s not what the market or institutions want. Keep pushing on with work that titillates and challenges you, and maybe one day someone will start to care about it. If not, at least you cared.

You also need to have people around who want to see you move forward in your practice. I’ve gone through periods where I felt like I was making art in a vacuum, and that was really tough. Even though the literal making of art is usually a solitary pursuit for me, the osmosis of others’ support profoundly improves the work and my outlook.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I have a tendency to make overly-packed itineraries when people come to visit (to both people’s delight and dismay), so you have really opened a can of worms with this question.

First, I have no shame in hitting up the classics – the major art museums, Chelsea or LES galleries, a Broadway show – with people from out of town, depending on who’s in and what’s on. Thai Diner, Los Tacos #1, Quality Bistro, Cook Shop, Clockwork Bar, and Automatic Slim’s are some favorite spots for food and drinks before and after these activities.

A day in my neighborhood (Crown Heights) would include a trip to Prospect Park, nachos from Gueros, and stops at Rialto Grande for drinks and Friends and Lovers for dancing. Other favorite day activities of mine are a trip to Brighton Beach or a shopping day in Williamsburg with stops at Stella Dallas, Amarcord, Awoke Vintage, and the Supreme store (I like to pretend to be a hype beast for half an hour).

For a chill night out in Brooklyn, Terre in Park Slope has amazing fresh pasta. Then, you can walk over to Littlefield for some comedy and end the night across the street at Lucky 13 Saloon, a very solid metal bar. For a more festive night out, start at Tong in Bushwick, which has Thai food to write home about. The next stop can either be Happyfun Hideaway for kitschy decor or Wonderville, a barcade with all indie games, which I like because it has a mix of sceney Bushwick people and actual nerds. For dancing, Mood Ring or Bossa Nova will do the job. And then end the night getting OK pizza in that little triangle shaped joint around there.

Lastly, I often feel really homesick for Chicago and seek out places that remind me of there. Rubulad in Bushwick and TV Eye in Ridgewood both scratch that itch and have great outdoor spaces for hanging out and indoor stages for live music.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First, I’d like to shoutout my mom, who made sure art was a big part of my world from day one. She humored every new medium I wanted to try, sent me to every kind of art class and summer camp she could, set up elaborate craft projects for us around every holiday, and kept taking me to museums until I eventually came to appreciate them. Before I was born and when I was little, she worked as an art director in advertising, and as a result of doing storyboards, can draw anything you can name on the spot. Drawing felt like it was incorporated into our day to day life in a very casual way. She helped instill in me that art isn’t an extra; it’s a core part of living.

My next shoutout is for my friend, Tomás Guarnizo, who took me seriously as an artist as soon as we started hanging out in the art department in college. I owe many of my first substantive talks about my work to him, and he has always made me feel as though I’m capable and worthy of achieving my dreams.

I’d like to shoutout my screen printing teacher from Lillstreet Art Center, Matt Ginsberg, who not only did a fantastic job teaching me the craft, but made working fun and invigorating for me again after a couple years of an art slog. If you’re in Chicago, I cannot recommend his class more.

Of course, I must shoutout all my professors from college and grad school and my Painting cohort from RISD. I would be lost at sea without their input and support. Special shoutout to my curatorial collaborator, Orli Swergold, who has convinced me that coming out of my solitary-art-cave and working together can be worthwhile, fun, and add up to something greater than the sum of its parts.

My final shoutout is to Pee-Wee Herman (RIP) who taught me more is more, be as weird as your heart desires, and you never have to grow up, nor should you.

Website: https://www.nicoleschonitzer.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schonitzertime/