Jonathan Nichols
Studio portrait of Jonathan Nichols. Courtesy the Gertrude Archive.1993 - 1995
Jonathan Nichols is an artist and independent curator whose paintings investigate ideas of the medium's character and history. Drawing from photographs and found images, his practice in concerned with examining the representative and mimetic natures of painterly forms and movements.
Nichols began painting in the early 1990s, participating in the Gertrude Studio Program from 1993 to 1995. He co-founded melbourne based ARIs Stripp (1996-98), Lovers (1998-99 & 2014) and The Green Door (2005). In 2012 Nichols undertook a year-long residency at Rmbun Dahan, Luaka Lumpur, following which he remained in Singapore until 2019. Now based between Naarm Melbourne and Garramilla Darwin, Nichols continues to exhibit and curate. Recent shows include The Inside of Painting, Castlemaine Art Museum & Yeo Workshop 2023, Walking with Ghosts, VCA Artspace Gallery 2022, and Painting. More Painting, ACCA 2016. In 2026 he curated Painting Itself, a show of Southeast Asian Contemporary Painters at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art.
Nichols holds a Bachelor of Arts (Visual - Sculpture) from ANU School of Art & Design (1988), a Graduate Diploma of Arts in Visual Arts from UNSW Art & Design (1989), and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Melbourne (2023). He is represented by Yeo Workshop (Singapore).