Charcoal Portraits by Nicholas Nadja at the February Market

Artist Nicholas Nadja will be doing charcoal portraits on toned paper in 30 minute and 1 hour increments. He will also have a couple of paintings and prints for sale.

Nicholas Nadja is a Chicago based contemporary artist. His work is focused in the practice of fine art paintings dealing with a scope between Realism and Surrealism.

Nadja attended the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design from 2012-2013 for a BFA in painting, when after the first semester, Nadja left his studies to pursue life in Florence, Italy. During 2013 Nadja practiced painting sustainable farming techniques on various farms throughout Tuscany region. The roots of Renaissance in Nadja’s work were born at this point of living throughout the Tuscan Hills and traveling until 2014.

In the winter of 2014 Nadja returned to Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design for one semester before moving to California to pursue sustainable farming for the spring on various farms, and working independently on painting. Soon after the farming, Nadja attended the San Francisco Art Institute for one semester studying painting and sculpture. Nadja had received a larger scholarship to study back in Chicago, and transferred to The School of The Art Institute Of Chicago for 2 years to complete his BFA in 2016 in printmaking and painting.

Nadja opened his studio storefront in Chicago shortly after graduating from SAIC, and started teaching painting lessons in academic realism there. Afterwards Nadja opened a studio at the famous Zhou B Art Center where he worked on until 2018. Now Nadja works and teaches in Chicago’s Northside area.

Nadja has been acclaimed and reviewed for his academic realism in publications such as New City Magazine, Poets & Artists Magazine, Surrealism Today, and Chicago Tribune. He has exhibited at numerous galleries throughout Chicago, and he continues to expand his work into the contemporary art world at the age of 25.