studios

JAN NELSON

 

Jan Nelson (b.1955) has exhibited extensively in Australia and internationally.  Selected individual exhibitions include: In the Pines, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne, 2007; Listening to Music Played Backwards, Anna Schwartz Gallery at Melbourne Art Fair, 2006; Jan Nelson and Liza May Post, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2004; Walking in Tall Grass, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, 2003; Studio Practice pt 1, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, 1998 and 31 Days, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, 1996.

Selected group exhibitions include: Optimism, Gallery of Modern Art | Queensland Art Gallery, 2008; The New Contemporary Collection Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2006; A Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, 2005; Exiles and Emigrants, National Gallery of Victoria, 2005; SWOON, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, 2004 and Shhh!, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 2002.

Nelson's practice encompasses painting, photography, video, sculpture and installation.  She often creates intimately detailed, 'hyper-real' paintings of young people deeply absorbed in thought. These relatively small-scale paintings set figures against brightly coloured grounds, removing them from any sense of location or context.  Nelson also creates large-scale striped enamel paintings whose kinetic energy evokes hard-edge abstraction.   These dramatically different visual experiences and historical references reveal Nelson’s fusion of high design and emotional content.

All images are courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery.