Statement

Paintings

The figures in these paintings are based on real entities and actual events. They depict the moment of contact that marks the beginning of a transformative event.  Different modes of abstraction are used throughout the paintings’ development to produce distinctive characters that are fraught with strange interruptions.  This way, collisions among abstract forms in the paintings can be specific enough to allude to a wide range of real situations while avoiding some of the constraints of representation and vagueness of abstraction.

Wall-cut Drawings

Cutting entered through my drawing practice as reminder of the real within the fictional space of painting and drawing.  This came from a part-time job as a painting restorer from 2000-2002.  A painting of a landscape, for instance, depicts an illusion of depth.  Punch a physical hole in this painting and this illusion collapses, and the object-ness and material of the painting dominates.  In the process of restoration, I controlled the threshold between what was real and physical and what was illusion because I controlled the brush that in-painted over the patched hole to “restore” the image.  In some restoration projects the moment of crossover was breathtaking and spectacular, stopping me in my work to simply look at the paradoxical image in front of me.  I made this in-between stage the main subject of my work.

To intensify the presence of this in-between place as my subject matter, I began “stacking” opposing elements within my work, especially in the more sparse monochromatic wall-cut drawings.  I explored the real and illusion; the creative and destructive; light and shadow; space and object; drawn line and cut line; natural and mechanical etc.

The wall-cut drawings became for me the crossroads of these stacked opposites.

Both the paintings and the wall-cut drawings explore the impermanence of all forms.

Resume

Education

2001     Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA          MFA
1997     University of Washington, Seattle, WA                 BFA, BA
1996     UW Studio Art Program in Rome, Italy

Exhibitions

2011     Tegnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway (upcoming)
            The Suburban, Oak Park, IL (upcoming)

2010     Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago, IL (solo, upcoming)
            Abgehängt, G.A.S.-Station: Tankstelle für Kunst und Impuls, Berlin, Germany
            Geometric Constructs, Flanders Gallery, Raleigh, NC
            Traces and Places, Boston University, Boston, MA
            The Sitka Residencies, Washington County Museum, Portland, OR
           
2009     Chaos, G.A.S.-Station: Tankstelle für Kunst und Impuls, Berlin, Germany (catalogue)
            Apparently Invisible The Drawing Center, New York, NY (catalogue)
            Cutters, Hunter College, New York, NY and Hunterdon Museum, Clinton, NJ (catalogue)

2008     Au Courant, Dam Stuhltrager Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
            Room Carving and the Human Nesting Project, Babson College, Babson Park, MA
            New Works on Paper, OH+T Gallery, Boston, MA

2007     Undone and Made, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA (solo)
            Art Spotting, The Distillery Gallery, Boston, MA
            Multiple Singular, Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA
            Industrial Strength, Emmanuel College, Boston, MA

2006     Chris Nau: Paintings, Artists Foundation Gallery, Boston, MA (solo)
            Chris Nau: Drawings, The Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA (solo)
            Lucky Seven, The Washington Street Arts Center, Somerville, MA
            One is Better, Dam Stuhltrager Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
            Drawing/Dibujo, Studio Soto, Boston, MA

2005     Abstraction Obstruction, SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA

2004     Cut, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA
            Seamless, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
            On the Surface, Studio Soto, Boston, MA
            The Drawing Show, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA
            On the Edge of Form, Fort Point Art Gallery, Boston, MA

2003     Flat not Flat, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA
            Doubletake, ArtComplex Museum, Duxbury, MA

2002     Chris Nau and Nancy Murphy Spicer, Green Street Gallery, Boston, MA
            Megan Goltermann & Chris Nau, Hereford Salon, London, UK

2001     Drawing the New Millennium, The Maine Artists Space, Portland, ME

Grants/ Awards/ Residencies

2010     Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc. Grant
2009     Workspace Residency, Dieu Donné
2008     Artist’s Resource Trust Grant, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
            Jordan Schnitzer Print Residency, Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
2006     Somerville Arts Council Artist Fellowship Grant
2005     St. Botolph Club Foundation Grant
            Blanche E. Colman Foundation Grant
2004     Bok Center Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University
            Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, Inc. Grant
2003     Bok Center Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University
2002     Fort Point Cultural Coalition Public Art Grant

Reviews

Professional Experience

2008-2009         Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
                        Visiting Lecturer: Painting
2008-2009         Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
                        Graduate Program Faculty: Non-Resident Studio Instructor
2004-2008         School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
                        Full-Time Visiting Faculty: Drawing and Printmaking
2007                 Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
                        Visiting Artist
2006                 Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Mexico
                        Visiting artist
2003-2004         New England School of Art and Design, Boston, MA
                        Adjunct Faculty: Color Theory, Drawing, 2-D Design
2003-2004         Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
                        Teaching Assistant: Painting and Sculpture
2003                 Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
                        Visiting Artist
2002                 University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA
                        Visiting Artist

Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Wellington Management Company, Boston, MA

Interviews

Sketch Pages: Contemporary Drawing Practices, December 30, 2008
Responsive Drawings: Chris Nau's Relief Works

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