The Third Line presents Sunrise at the Vortex, a solo exhibition by Iranian-American artist Nima Nabavi, on display until 27 July 2025. Featuring his works created between 2022 and 2025, the exhibition marks a significant evolution in Nabavi’s practice both conceptually and technically.
The show includes pieces produced in Roswell, Brooklyn, Dubai, and Los Angeles, locations considered by locals to be energy centres. These works reflect Nabavi’s deepened dedication to introspection, geometry, and modes of making that integrate technology with conventional instruments. He creates compositions of elaborate, layered, ordered forms; the mathematical approach relies heavily on planning. The execution aims to build complexity out of simple forms and reveal harmony.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is Roswell 2223 (2023), Nabavi’s largest work. Created over a year using a nine-foot ruler, it comprises countless intersecting lines that form a crystalline surface. Immersing himself in these specific sites allowed Nabavi to forge a profound connection with himself and the universe, transforming his art practice into a form of meditation and self-understanding. Crafted during periods of intense focus, the resulting works exude complexity and intensity in colour and form.
Roswell 2223 embodies the artist’s life philosophy: “If the intention to maintain a pattern is there, then over time, all these lines will form the pattern, like life. If we maintain the intention to live with kindness, openness, and consistency, we will lead that kind of life, even if we encounter difficult days along the way.” Nabavi’s geometric forms invite visitors to develop their interpretive language and lose themselves within the work.
Complementing these pieces, Nabavi presents a series of works created using an architectural pen-plotter, a device employed for printing building blueprints. The artist’s digital designs are translated by the machine, retaining his signature style while achieving intricate layering and added depth. For Nabavi, technology enhances his practice; it makes the execution of complex geometric forms impossible manually.
This integration stems from a personal history: “Growing up, I witnessed my grandfather, a self-taught geometric artist, becoming unable to execute his increasingly complex ideas as his body grew weaker with age.” The memory emphasises Nabavi’s decision to integrate technology into his process as a way to empower creativity and make it possible for him to create a space for self-reflection.
About the artist
Nima Nabavi (b. 1978, Tehran, Iran) lives and works between Dubai and New York (USA). He received a BS in Business and Entrepreneurship (1998) from the University of Southern California (USA) and an MBA (2005) from New York University (Stern School of Business, USA).
His practice explores geometric abstraction, drawing connections to the natural world, quantum processes, and psychedelic phenomena. Utilising a diverse toolkit, the artist constructs elaborately layered, grid-based compositions. Inspired by his grandfather, Nabavi employs a highly methodical approach reliant on advanced planning, precise calculations, and self-developed methodologies to ensure structural integrity. Through this process, he builds intricate complexity from simple forms, aiming to reveal the emergent harmony and inherent beauty within our shared reality.
Nabavi displayed his works in various exhibitions, including Geometry and Art in The Modern Middle East (Misk Art Institute, Jeddah, KSA, 2023); Visiting (solo) (Roswell Museum, New Mexico, USA, 2023); Ways of Seeing Abstraction – Works from the Deutsche Bank Collection (Palais Populaire, Berlin, Germany, 2021); and 1,2,3 (solo) (The Third Line, Dubai, 2018), to name a few.
To learn more about Sunrise at the Vortex, please visit the exhibition’s official web page.
You might also be interested in viewing Samur by Chinese artist Zheng Bo.
