Nick Hissom manages the Wynn family collection and, with his partner Kameron Ramirez, leads Aktion Art, a Palm Beach-based gallery repping artists with rock ‘n’ roll allure.
(Aktion Art)
Aktion Art, in partnership with Wynn Fine Art, is exhibiting Jean-Michel Basquiat’s vivid 1983 work of acrylic, oil, and oilstick on canvas “Flash Naples”—acquired for $20 million—at their Palm Beach location.
The rare work is on view in “Evolve,” an exhibition about the sixty year life story of Aktion artist Kevin Hees.
(Courtesy of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Photos by SmART Lab)
Aktion Art also opened a show at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte called “Pop to Now: Warhol and His Legacy” in September, placing Hees and fellow roster artist ThankYouX, both from L.A., alongside contemporary N.Y.-based artist Kirstin McIver—all in conversation with Warhol himself, plus historical figures he inspired like Keith Haring and Basquiat.
(Courtesy of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Photos by SmART Lab)
Between Palm Beach and Charlotte, both shows explore communication across creative generations, but the cities themselves are also developing a sister relationship. The phenomenon has popped up elsewhere in America between cities like Dallas and Los Angeles, perhaps resulting from population redistributions during the pandemic.
“Pop to Now” arose organically in Palm Beach, through an Aktion collector who hails from Charlotte with ties to the Museum. “Charlotte saw this huge growth, as did Palm Beach, because of people leaving New York and L.A. during COVID,” Hissom said. Bank of America changed their headquarters to Charlotte at the time—and came to underwrite “Pop to Now.”
(Courtesy of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Photos by SmART Lab)
“Wherever there’s growth and excitement, art will then follow that movement,” he noted.
Hissom sees connections between Warhol and Hees. The Corpus Christi born artist grew up under Warhol’s influence as he came out as a gay man and artist in Texas. His potent hues and ragged forms evoke Basquiat’s aesthetics. Warhol himself directly inspires ThankYouX. “He started as a street artist doing stencil graffiti of Andy Warhol’s face, and putting thank you with an X mark, kiss mark,” Hissom said. “That’s where he got his name from.”
The show’s first, main room focuses on historical artists. “We showcased Warhol’s work as an illustrator,” Hissom said. “We showcased his influence on music, his portraiture of music stars.”
The next room, down a runway and styled like Studio54, features limited edition Haring sweatshirts and fashion shots by Warhol, of supermodels like Baby Jane Holzer. “Pop to Now” closes in the digital age, with immersive projection rooms, data-reduced Warhol portraits in painted pixels by Kirsten McIver, and NFT canvases by ThankYouX featuring LCD screens and original digital art woven into them, scored by the likes of Hans Zimmer.
“Really it’s a journey through time as you walk through the exhibit,” Hissom said.
Many pieces in “Pop to Now” are on loan from either Kasmin Gallery or Holzer, one of Warhol’s original studio superstars, who appeared on Vogue in 1964. She spoke with Hissom and Bechtler director Todd D. Smith before an audience of 250 at “Pop to Now” about her collaborators—the stars of the show—and their continued influence.
Holzer hails from Palm Beach herself. She’s partnered with Aktion on an art warehouse where “See Me Fly” by Hees is on view, depicting the artist soaring away from his teenaged traumas, his fashion career. That piece just left Aktion, making room for Basquiat’s “Flash” amongst work by ThankYouX and Hees’s “Evolve,” placing Aktion’s artists alongside a hero through January.
(Aktion Art)
“We’re continuing to explore the dialogue between Basquiat and Hees,” Hissom said, “that rebellious nature and outlier culture that became mainstream from an aesthetic perspective.”
Since new art enthusiasts who have just discovered these contemporary artists inspired by Warhol for the first time won’t be able to buy works on loan at the Bechtler’s exhibition, Aktion Art in Palm Beach offers an opportunity to make them collectors.
“The idea started with just one man from Charlotte,” Hissom said. “The natural ebb and flow of what’s going on in the wider world, it’s always reflected in art.”
