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Jan Nelson

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Jan Nelson (born 1955) is an Australian artist who works in sculpture, photography and painting. She is best known for her hyper real images of adolescents. She has exhibited widely in Australia as well as Paris and Brazil. Her works are in the collections of Australian galleries including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and the Gallery of Modern Art Brisbane, as well as major regional galleries. She represented Australia in the XXV biennale in Sao Paulo, Brazil. [1][2] [3]

Early life and education

Nelson was born in Melbourne in 1955[1] and attended the Victorian College of the Arts, graduating in 1983.[4]

In 2018 she completed a PhD at Deakin University, Faculty of Arts & Education, School of Communication and Creative Arts, Melbourne. Her thesis, titled Lasagna composting: strategies for painting in a digital age proposed strategies for the survival of painting in a digital age. [5]

Career

As a painter, Nelson originally explored landscape and in the 1980s focused on politics of occupations and space. Nelson produced drawings in crayon.[6] After the mid-1980s, Nelson focused on ideas about woman's place in society, and the invisibility of women in society. Her works incorporated traditional crafts including plaster work and basket weaving.[7]

In 1989-91 Nelson produced a series of works called The Long Century.[8]

In the 1990s, Nelson's works looked internationally at events beyond her native country, In her work International Behaviour (2000) she imposed a photograph of Vietnam refuges in boats on a background of vivid, psychedelic colours and patterns.[6] In 1994, Nelson exhibited sculptures recalling the grand canyon and the Amazon jungle: simple shapes on plinths. Even then critics noted her theatricality and comment on the traditional presenting of works on plinths.[9]

Nelson's more recent works are hyper realistic, and recall the gloss of advertising and magazine. Her works portray people between their worlds and their desires, often adolescents.[10]

Nelson's best known series is Walking in Tall Grass, portraits of adolescents, that Nelson worked on for fifteen years, ending in 2016. Nelson began with photographing people she knew as well as strangers. She drew on the photographs for the paintings, which may combine a head, a torso and features from multiple subjects she has photographed. When she paints the portraits, Nelson adds vibrant colours and often paints reflections in eyes or sunglasses. To heighten vibrancy, Nelson has painted exhibition walls in vibrant colours.[1] Each young adolescent is dressed and accessorized to express individuality as well as fashion at the time the painting was done.[11] Yet each individual looks away from the viewer, suggesting they are looking inward uncertain of where they are going.[12] In an interview, Nelson noted that when walking in tall grass you can't go back, you have to go forward, but you can't see where you are going.[12]

Awards and honours

Collections

  • Art Gallery of New South Wales [18]
  • Bendigo Art Gallery [19]
  • Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney [1]
  • National Gallery of Victoria [20]
  • National Gallery of Australia [21]
  • Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art [22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Jan Nelson | MCA Australia". www.mca.com.au. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  2. ^ "Biography". Jan Nelson. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  3. ^ Nelson, Jan & Cross, David & Bienal Internacional de S©Đo Paulo (25th : 2002) (2002). Jan Nelson : walking in tall grass. s.n.], [S.l
  4. ^ "Jan Nelson". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2020-12-06.
  5. ^ "Trove". trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  6. ^ a b "Jan Nelson's International behaviour | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  7. ^ "Australian Centre for Contemporary Art". acca.melbourne. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  8. ^ "Works | NGV | View Work". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  9. ^ McAuliffe, Chris. "Explore the work of Australian artist, Jan Nelson". Explore the work of Australian artist, Jan Nelson. Retrieved 2020-12-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "Hyper Real". nga.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  11. ^ QAGOMA. "Jan Nelson". QAGOMA. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  12. ^ a b Nelson, Jan. "Walking in tall grass, Shelby 2". Item held by National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  13. ^ Australia Council (1985-06-30), "AUSTRALIA COUNCIL Annual Report 1983-84 (30 June 1985)", Annual Report (153 of 1985), Australian Govt. Pub. Service: 184, ISSN 0725-7643
  14. ^ Australia Council (1985-06-30), "AUSTRALIA COUNCIL Annual Report 1984-85 (30 June 1985)", Annual Report (486 of 1985), Australian Govt. Pub. Service: 202, ISSN 0725-7643
  15. ^ "Australia Council Annual Report 2003–2004" (PDF). Australia Council. p. 80. Retrieved 2020-12-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ "Art prize for three Australian artists - State of the Arts". 2011-09-28. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  17. ^ "Jan Nelson". Anna Schwartz Gallery. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  18. ^ "Works matching "Jan Nelson" :: The Collection :: Art Gallery NSW". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  19. ^ "Summer Collection". Bendigo Art Gallery. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  20. ^ "Artists | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  21. ^ "NGA collection search results". artsearch.nga.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  22. ^ "StackPath". collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
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