John Nixon
John Nixon’s practice encompassed painting, printmaking, photography, drawing, collage, filmmaking and experimental music. Nixon explored the truth of materials and his tools, giving voice to found and pre-used objects. His first solo exhibition was in 1973 at the avant-garde gallery Pinacotheca in Melbourne, and his practice of the late 1970s established the ‘Experimental Painting Workshop’ (EPW): Nixon’s name for his varied exploration of painting in different compositions, colours and found objects. Where possible, he extended his exhibition space to include the gallery walls, explored in the 2017-2018 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki exhibition of Chartwell works, John Nixon: Abstraction, curated by Dr. Zara Stanhope and Natasha Conland.
John Nixon was born in Sydney in 1949, and moved to Melbourne to study first at the Preston Institute of Technology and then the National Gallery of Victoria Art School and State College of Victoria. He passed away in August 2020.
