JONATHAN NICHOLS

Jonathan Nichols is an artist, independent curator and writer born and raised in Canberra and based in Melbourne. He began painting in the early 1990s after studying sculpture at the ANU and the University of NSW. Jonathan’s paintings are based on figure arrangements that he finds in photographs he has taken himself or found online, or that he collages from memory. He is concerned with a painting’s painterly character and its particular history. He builds a muted palette—tonal browns and greens, blue greys and shades of pink—and his works on paper, canvas and fabric are generally small scale. His paintings have been described as conveying ‘the experience in seeing someone at a distance. Jonathan has participated in recent group exhibitions in Australia at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, National Portrait Gallery, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Geelong Gallery and Bendigo Art Gallery, among others. He has held solo exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. In 2012 Jonathan initiated the online publishing project stamm.com.au, which reciprocated the work of contemporary artists through writing and collaborative editing practices. He co-founded Melbourne artist-run initiatives The Green Door (2005), Lovers (1998–99 and 2014) and Stripp (1996–98). Recent curatorial projects include Learning to Leave at the VCA Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne (2014). For a year in 2012–13 he was an artist-in-residence at Rimbun Dahan, Kuala Lumpur, and for six years until late 2019 he lived between Melbourne and Singapore. Jonathan regularly contributes to art magazines and journals. He is currently a Doctor of Philosophy candidate at Monash University.