U Want IT

WE ARE NICE'N EASY LLC

b. USA

U Want IT, 2020

Two photographs and recorded message

Courtesy of the artists and photography courtesy of Kathrin Krok

U Want It is a two-part work by We are Nice’n Easy LLC that builds off the artists’ interest in advertising and the subtle taboos of intimate relationships. The visual component comprises two photographic works depicting the artists in a romanticized Miami Beach setting. The sentiment evoked by the imagery is contrasted by text overlying the images reading: “Are you faking it?” and “Can’t stop thinking about it?” These anxious questions are accompanied by the phone number (855) U WANT IT which connects the caller to the second component of the work- an audio recording by the artists. The script is composed of a heterogeneous mixture of generic self-help mantras, affirmations and sexual innuendos that often form contradictory responses to ambiguous reflection and questions posed towards the nature of “IT.” Together, the two components play off of each other to perform a sort of a “bait and switch.” Drawing upon viewers/callers’ imaginations and latent desires to fill the vague mental space held by “IT,” allusions can be made towards achieving lofty life goals and ambitions or merely perusing sexual gratification.

A collaborative endeavor by artists Allison Matherly and Jeffrey Noble. We Are Nice’n Easy focuses on creating immersive mixed media installations and developing 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 to enhance the collective truisms between participants and create a platform for intimate exchange.

We Are Nice’n Easy maintains a studio in Miami and has exhibited works through 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 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 and in 2019 they were awarded a fellowship as Artists in Residence in Everglades.