Liz Nielsen’s work is a contemporary application of one of the best-known avant-garde photographic processes - the photogram - which was first mastered by Man Ray and Maholy-Nagy at the beginning of the twentieth century. Each unique image is created without a camera in the artist’s studio using handmade negatives and ‘found’ light sources. She calls her work ‘painting with light’ referring to the performative nature of its creation.

A colourist at heart, Nielsen’s works are deeply saturated, sometimes deceptively simple, compositions. Carefully planned and executed with skilled precision, nevertheless these works are subject to the unpredictable nature of the artist’s chosen medium – light. ‘The final outcomes are pre-planned with strong intention and formally composed,’ Nielsen explains, ‘but because I’m working with light, there are always some surprises. The light bleeds and spills and doesn’t want to be contained.’

Nielsen's in-depth knowledge of the physics of light and the colour wheel are necessary to execute her unique analogue colour photograms. There is a mastery of skill, not only with the variation, depth of colour and texture she is able to achieve in her compositions, but also the intricacy of shapes, layers and precision within the work. Unlike traditional black and white photograms where a red light can be used in a darkroom, Nielsen must work in total darkness when creating these pieces. Even a hint of unintended light would expose the paper in unwanted ways, potentially jeopardising the final outcome. Nielsen has mastered both the light and the dark to execute her works, inspired by colourists of the art historical cannon, the laws of physics and the mystical nature of the cosmos.

BIOGRAPHY

Liz Nielsen received a M.F.A. in Photography at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a B.F.A from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Nielsen is part of this new generation that have returned to the essential elements of analogue photography and its processes as subject matter, reimagining the abstract and painterly potential of the medium. Nielsen’s work has been exhibited extensively in solo and group shows in London (Black Box Projects), Chicago (Zolla/Lieberman Gallery), New York (Danziger, Laurence Miller, Yossi Milo and David Zwirner Galleries), Berlin, Dublin, Budapest, Paris (NextLevel Gallery). Nielsen’s work was part of the J.P. MORGAN CURATOR’S HIGHLIGHTS - “PICTURES-IN-PLAY” at Paris Photo Fair 2016. Nielsen has works included in the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection. Nielsen’s exhibitions have also been reviewed in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Guardian, Artslant, the Wall Street Journal and Libération, among others.

Born in 1975 in Wisconsin, USA

Lives and works in Brooklyn, NYC

EDUCATION

2004 MFA, University of Illinois, Chicago, United States

2002 BFA, The School of the Art Institute, Chicago, United States

1998 BA, Philosophy and Spanish, Seattle University, USA

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019

Liz Nielsen: The Arrival, Black Box Projects, London, UK

London Art Fair with Black Box Projects, London, UK

Entanglement, Horizont Gallery, Budapest, Hungary

2018

Liz Nielsen: Tracing the Azimuth, May 16 – July 27, 2018, SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Liz Nielsen + Paul Smith Collaboration with Black Box Projects, Paul Smith Global Flagship, Mayfair,

London, UK

Liz Nielsen: Hotspots, Danziger Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2017

PULSE Miami with Danziger Gallery, Miami, USA

Unseen Amsterdam, with Danziger Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland

Photo London, with NextLevel Galerie, London, United-Kingdom

Force Fields, NextLevel Galerie, Paris, France

Snake Charmer, Horizont Gallery, Budapest, Hungary

2016

The Medium, Danziger Gallery, New York, USA

2015

Night Garden, SOCO Gallery, USA

Magic Lantern, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, USA

Wolf Moon, Denny Gallery, New York, USA

2013

Tiger Teeth: Red Light: Liz Nielsen, Benrimon Contemporary, New York, USA

Blue Shifts, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, USA

2011

LIZ by LINA, Schalter Gallery, Berlin, Germany

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019

Fundamentals, Black Box Projects, London, UK

Painting with Light, Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, NY USA

Unseen Amsterdam, Black Box Projects, The Netherlands

Artfare Launch, New York, USA

2018

Launch Exhibition, Black Box Projects, London, UK

Work in Process, The Photographers Gallery, London UK

Liz Nielsen & Dylan Gebbia Richards, April 6 – May 12, 2018, David B Smith Gallery, Denver, Colorado, USA

Angell Gallery, Toronto Art Fair, Canada

Aspen Art Museum, Art Crush, courtesy of SOCO Gallery

Let There be Light, Angell Gallery, Toronto, Canada

Winter Song, NextLevel Gallery, Paris, France

Lights, Camera, Action, curated by Haley Finnegan at Kunstraum, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Usable Space, curated by EddysRoom, Milwaukee, WI

2017 Paris Photo, with NextLevel Galerie, Grand Palais, Paris, France

Women in Color: women and color photography, curated by Ellen Carey, Rubber Factory, New York, USA

Full Bloom II, NextLevel Galerie, Paris, France

VIVE ART BENEFIT curated by Rachel Philips and Anna Ortiz , Honey Ramka, Brooklyn, NYC, USA

Painters and Photographers curated by Jamilee Polson, Providence College, Rhode Island, USA

Art Market Budapest, Horizont Galeria, Budapest, Hungary

Aspen Art Museum, Art Crush, courtesy of SOCO Gallery, Aspen, Colorado, USA

Along a River of Saphire Pools, Mountain Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Double Vision, Artists who Instagram, LabSpace, Hillsdale, New York, USA

2016

Pulse Miami Beach Contemporary Art Fair, with Danziger Gallery, Miami, USA

Untitled Art Fair Miami Beach, with Soco Gallery, Miami, USA

Satellite Art Show, with Elijah Wheat Showroom, Miami, USA

Paris Photo, with NextLevel Galerie, Paris, France

Davidson College Gallery, USA

Two person exhibition with Max Warsh, curated by Jessamyn Fiore, Pallas Projects in Dublin, Ireland

Summerzcool, Curated by Austin Eddy and Benjamin Edmiston, Houston, USA

Two person exhibition with Max Warsh, Curated by Jessamyn Fiore, Sirius Art Center, Cobh, Ireland

Spring Break Art Show, curated by Kelly Schroer, New York, USA

Geometric Cabinet, Kristen Lorello Gallery, New York, USA

EddysRoom, Brooklyn, New York, USA

2015

Double Vision, Silver Projects, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Handmade Abstract, BRIC Art Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Hot Slice, Zolla/Lieberman gallery, Chicago, USA

Wonderful Lies, Danziger Gallery, New York, USA

Black and White, Ameringer, McEnery, New York, USA

Project Room, Danziger Gallery, New York, USA

Material Art Fair with LVL3, Mexico

2014

Paris Photo, with Laurence Miller Gallery, Paris, France

Westport Arts Center, Westport, USA

Expo Chicago, Laurence Miller Gallery, USA

Real Time, Future, Experience, New Capital, Chicago, USA

Spring Break Art show, New York, USA

Black and White, La Montagne Gallery, Boston, USA

2013

Art Untitled Benrimon Contemporary, Miami, USA

2012

Fractal Semblance, Roots & Culture, Chicago, USA

NADA Miami, Rawson Projects, USA

Fictitious Truths, Curated by Kara Rooney, Rooster Gallery, New York, USA

Anderson, Murphy, Nielsen, New Capital Projects, Chicago, USA

People Who Work Here, Curated by Rawson Projects, David Zwirner gallery, New York, USA

First Love, Curated by Angela Bryant, O’Connor Gallery, Dominican University, River Forest, USA

2011

Color: Fully Engaged, curated by Jamilee Polson, A & D Gallery, Columbia College, Chicago, USA

Juried Auction, NURTUREart hosted by the Chelsea Art Museum, New York, USA

2010

Feeble Intimacy, LVL3, Chicago, USA

COLLECTIONS

J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation

RESIDENCIES, AWARDS, & GRANTS

2016

Budapest Art Factory, Hungary

Orange County Relocation Grant, Newburgh, New York, USA

2011

Dave Brown Art Prize

2005

CAAP Grant, Chicago, Illinois, USA

VISITING ARTIST LECTURES & WORKSHOPS

2018

SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, NC

International Center of Photography, Teen Academy, New York, USA

2017

Unseen Living Room, Unseen Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2016

Knockdown Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Penn State, State College, PA, USA

Sirius Art Center, Cobh, Ireland

FASHION COLLABORATION PROJECTS

Paul Smith Design, with Black Box Projects, Mayfair, London, UK

Hermes Parfumerie, with art director Cory Jacobs, New York City, New York, USA

Refinery 29, New York City, New York, USA

Stevan Alan, Chelsea, New York City, New York, USA

Salvatore Ferragamo, Chicago, Illinois, USA

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Liz Nielsen

(SMALL)