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ARTISTS | Catherine Nelson

EXHIBITIONS CV

Catherine Nelson is a photographic and photomedia artist whose fascinating practice has evolved from a degree in fine art from Sydney’s College of Fine Arts combined with subsequent film work in creating visual effects for films such as Moulin Rouge, Harry Potter and Baz Luhrmann’s Australia.

With years of experience in special effects, Nelson’s refocus on her own studio practice in 2008 has resulted in her developing compelling photo composite images and video works that broadly address ideas about ecology and the environment.

In 2012 Nelson was selected as the winner of the Gallery NOW Artist Award in Seoul, South Korea. In 2010 she was shortlisted for the Royal Bank of Scotland Emerging Artist Award, also winning the Client Choice Award in the same prize. She has also been shortlisted for numerous photographic award exhibitions including the Bowness Prize at a leading Australian photography gallery, Monash Gallery of Art in Melbourne’s east. Her works have captured the attention of photography collectors worldwide with works in collections in Europe, Asia, USA and Australia.

VIEW AVAILABLE CATHERINE NELSON WORKS >

Exhibitions:

GOLD CHIP | one-night-only exhibition

Gallerysmith closes the 2023 curtain on December 12 with the annual exhibition, GOLD CHIP. At this one-night-only event, the gallery presents…

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New Works | Catherine Nelson

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XV: PAST PRESENT FUTURE

Gallerysmith launches its 2023 exhibition program with a group exhibition which celebrates 15 years of gallery operations. This exhibition features works by more than 50 artists who have shown at the gallery between 2008 and 2023....
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Sydney Contemporary 2021 | Explore

Gallerysmith Presents Kate Ballis, Dadang Christanto, Fiona Hiscock, Susanne Kerr, Waldemar Kolbusz and Catherine Nelson at Sydney Contemporary Explore 2021.

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2020(REAR)VISION

In this time like no other, Gallerysmith has brought together a curated selection of artists' experiences of 2020 with this online exhibition 2020 (REAR) VISION. This exhibition draws artists from both within and beyond Gallerysmith and aims to provide a snapshot, as a social history record of a most unusual and challenging time. It contains work which is reflective, responsive, reactive and importantly, honest.
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I AM WOMAN | International Women’s Day 2021

On International Women's Day 2021 we acknowledge the achievements of girls and women around the world. We celebrate those who ...
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Sydney Contemporary presents 2020…

Gallerysmith is excited to present the works of Kate Ballis, Penny Byrne, Fiona Hiscock, Waldemar Kolbusz and Catherine Nelson in Sydney Contemporary presents 2020... Click for further details.
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Future Memories 2020 | Catherine Nelson

Catherine Nelson's conceptual and evocative photo-montage imagery endeavours to capture the experience of a landscape.
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Every NoThing | Catherine Nelson

An infinite video loop of disappearing flora is central to this photo-media exhibition. Catherine Nelson once again captures our imagination with dramatic imagery and haunting inferences in this unique and captivating exhibition.
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Catherine Nelson, Pond, 150x300cm

Expedition | Catherine Nelson

Catherine Nelson was born in Sydney and studied painting at the College of Fine Art, graduating in 1996. Shortly after…

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CV:

CATHERINE NELSON

born Australia 1970, lives Belgium

Education

1996     B. Fine Art, College of Fine Arts, Sydney

Solo Exhibitions

2021
Future Memories 2020, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2020
Future Memories 2020 (virtual exhibition), Gallerysmith, Melbourne
Future Memories 2020, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney

2018
Every NoThing, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2016
Submerged, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
Submerged, Michael Reid Gallery, Berlin

2014
Expedition, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
Expedition, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney

2013
Other Worlds, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
Other Worlds, Michael Reid Gallery, Berlin

2012
Other Worlds, Gallery NOW, Seoul, South Korea

2011
Future Memories, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
Future Memories, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Beijing, China
Future Memories, Domonik Mersch Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Future Memories, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris, France

2010
Creation, Australian Centre of Photography, Sydney

Group Exhibitions

2022

Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney (upcoming)
Above the Canopy, Hawthorn Town Hall Gallery, Melbourne (upcoming)
Amazon//Amazon, curated by Ashleigh Jones, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney
Art and Gender, Justin Art House Museum, Prahran, Victoria
For the Love of Trees, Burrinja Gallery, Upwey, Victoria
Enlighten Festival, Projection on Parliament House, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

2021
Light Years, Basil Seller’s Exhibition Centre, Moruya, New South Wales
Return to the Beginning, Horsham Regional Gallery, Horsham, Victoria
Sydney Contemporary: EXPLORE, virtual exhibition
Re-Gathering, RACV Collection exhibition, Benalla Art Gallery, Victoria

2020
Waterhouse Science Prize Finalist Exhibition, Adelaide
Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, New South Wales
Sydney Contemporary presents 2020, Gallerysmith, virtual exhibition, Sydney

2019
Noorderlicht 30 Jaar, Groningen, The Netherlands
Lightyears 1999-2019, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney
Lightyears 1999-2019, Perth Centre of Photography

2018
Waterhouse Science Prize (Finalist Exhibition), Adelaide, Australia
This Wild Song, Melbourne, Australia
Is It Real, Jeonju International Photo Festival, Jeonju, South Korea
IN VIVO, Noorderlicht Photography Festival, Groningen, The Netherlands
Natural/Unnatural, Kortrijk, Belgium
AQUA Miami, Rademakers Gallery
Wall Power: Contemporary Australian Photography, Michael Reid Gallery, Berlin

2017
Hyper-Botanica, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2016
Divine Abstraction, JAHM, Melbourne
Aquatic Life
, Monash Gallery Of Art, Melbourne

2015
Non Existing Reality, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver
Wall Power: Significant Australian Contemporary Photography, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney

2014
Human + Graphy, Ulsan International Photography Festival, Ulsan, South Korea
Mandorla Prize, Finalist Exhibition, Perth

2013
Blake Prize, Director’s Cut, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Moreton Bay Art Awards, Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia
The Poetry of Earth is Never Dead, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
Capture Photography Festival, Vancouver, Canada
Australian Landscape : Present in the Now, Michael Reid Gallery, Berlin
Digital Generation, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Brussels, Belgium

2012
Melbourne Art Fair, Gallerysmith, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Australia
Heysen Prize for Interpretation of Place, Hahndorf Academy, Hahndorf, SA
Murr-ma, Michael Reid Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Terra Cognita, Noorderlicht Photography Festival, Groningen, Netherlands
Space Oddity, S Cube Gallery, California, USA
South of the Border, Queensland Centre of Photography, Brisbane
Flipside; Australian Photography, Project A7, Sarah Lee Artworks & Projects, LA, USA
Out of the Darkness, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2011
Hyper Realistic, Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney
Royal Bank of Scotland Emerging Artist Award Exhibition, Sydney, Australia
Bowness Photographic Award, Monash Gallery of Art
Art Paris 2011, with Galerie Paris-Beijing
Magic Spaces, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Plus One, Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2010
Lake, Lake Macquarie Regional Gallery, Australia
Royal Bank of Scotland, Emerging Artist Award, Australia
Blake Prize Director’s Cut, Sydney, Australia

2009
Future Artist, Nikon Next online exhibition, Japan

Awards / Commissions

2021
Commission, Silky Oaks Lodge, Daintree National Park, Queensland, Australia

2014
Finalist, Mandorla Prize, Finalist Exhibition, Perth

2013
Photographer of the Year, AX3 Awards, USA (global shortlist)
Finalist, Moreton Bay Art Awards, Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia

2012
Winner, Gallery NOW Artist Award, Seoul, South Korea

2011
Winner, Eclectica 2011, Frensham Fellowship Art Prize, Mittagong, Australia
Finalist, Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
Finalist, Royal Bank of Scotland Emerging Artist Award, Sydney, Australia

2010
Winner, Royal Bank of Scotland Emerging Artist Client Choice Award
RBS Emerging Artist Award (finalist)

 Selected Publications / Press

2021
Mur, Jorge, “Otros Mundos (English: Other Worlds)”, Culturamas, March 12, 2021

2020
Ebert, Grace, “Hundreds of Collaged Photographs Form Rich Botanical Worlds”, Colossal, August 21, 2020
Foster, Alasdair, “Catherine Nelson: Distilling the Essence of Landscape”, Talking Pictures, September 5, 2020
Fishman, Susan Hoffman, “Water Worlds”, Artists & Climate Change, article for the Imagining Water Series, October 26, 2020
Arnold, Amanda, “Catherine Nelson’s Digital Collages Celebrate Nature”, Professional Photographer, December 2020 issue

2016
Swann, Dee, “Hundreds of Photographs create ‘Other Worlds’”, The Washington Post, August 11, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2016/08/11/hundreds-of-photographs-create-other-worlds/
Mallonee, Laura, “The Magical Underwater World You’ve Never Seen – And Never Will”, WIRED, July 14, https://www.wired.com/2016/07/1000-photo-elaborate-underwater-shot/

2015
Interview with James Valentine, The Mix, ABC24, Feb 1, Sydney
“Distilling the Essence of Landscape”, Photoworld, Beijing, pp167-177
Mechademia (cover), Volume 10, published by the University of Minnesota, USA
Aauvagette, Bernadette, Liberation newspaper, June 2015, Paris, pp 4-5

2014
Fractured Worlds, The New Yorker, New York, May 2014

2013
Gentre Di Fotographia, Modena, Italy, pp. 8-13
Financial Review Magazine, Front up, July Issue, France
Square, Magazine, France, pp 46-57
Premier Magazine, No 11, Vol 10, Beijing

2012      Huffington Post, Arts and Culture, October

IO DONNA, Rome, Italy

The Monthly Photo Art Magazine, Vol 283, No. 11, Beijing

BND Magazine, No 4, Vol 10, Seoul, Korea

2011
Alternative Law Journal (cover), vol 36 (2), Monash University Press, Melbourne
La Vie L’Art, Arts Magazine, June – July Issue, France
Future Memories, Catherine Nelson, 2011, ex. cat., Galerie Paris-Beijing
Aude de Bourbon Parme, Paris-Beijing, Aller Retour, Art Actuel, March – April Issue, France
Next Gen Leadership Series, Catherine Caines, WISH magazine, The Australian, May
Photoshop Til You Drop, Bethany Small, Time Out Sydney, February
Art Paris 2011, Photo, March issue, France

2010
Lake, exhibition. catalogue, Malcolm Smith, Lake Macquarie Press, NSW
RBS Emerging Artist Award 2010, ex. catalogue

Collections

Parliament House Collection, Canberra
Microsoft, USA
Hyatt Regency, Amsterdam
Lucas Holding Singapore
University of South Florida, USA
Morgan Stanley, New York
City of Sydney Collection
Artbank Australia
RACV Club, Torquay
Australia Club
David Lowe Collection, Sydney
Charles Justin Collection, Melbourne
Daryl Hewson Collection, Queensland
Various private collections in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia

News:

CATHERINE NELSON’S TROPIC PROJECTED ONTO PARLIAMENT HOUSE

Catherine Nelson's Tropic was projected on Parliament House Australia as a part of the Enlighten Festival 2022 in Canberra. "Catherine…

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CATHERINE NELSON ARTIST PROFILE + Q&A

CATHERINE NELSON was born in Sydney and studied painting at the College of Fine Art, graduating in 1996. Shortly after, she commenced  a career in…

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Inspiration:

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