LIZ NIELSEN

Liz Nielsen

20 OCTOBER - 26 NOVEMBER 2022
Miles McEnery Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of photograms by Liz Nielsen. The artist’s inaugural solo exhibition at the gallery, “Edge of Forever,” will open on 20 October at 520 West 21st Street and remain on view through 26 November 2022. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated exhibition catalogue featuring an essay by Grace Edquist.
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New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Liz Nielsen: Edge of Forever,’ 20 October - 26 November 2022
"In 'Being With You'(left), two bright objects hang out together, their surfaces reflecting gold, magenta, white and turquoise. Their edges touch only at one small place, as if holding hands. As for the light that made them, 'you can know [it] but you can’t hold it', says Ms. Nielsen.'It’s almost like love.'"
- Peter Saenger in "The Art of Light"

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LIZ NIELSEN

Centerstage Stone Stack, 2019

Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

30 x 22 inches

76.2 x 55.9 cm
LIZ NIELSEN

Water Stone Arch, 2020

Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

50 x 62 inches

127 x 157.5 cm
" The exposures of each layer—sometimes 10, 25, or even 50 per work—must be planned in advance, since they are done in a specific order during one long session in the darkroom within her studio near the Hudson River. While her process may start with experimentation, in the end, it’s more like a tightly choreographed dance. 'I can’t be that intuitive or they won’t work,' she said of her photograms during a studio visit. Her background in painting and classic photography—which led to playing with negatives and ultimately to her current photogram form—are apparent in the way she uses the light as paint and the paper almost as one would use a camera shutter."

- Grace Edquist in "Portal to Paradise"
LIZ NIELSEN

Singing Stone Stack, 2021

Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

90 3/8 x 49 1/4 inches

125.1 x 229.6 cm
LIZ NIELSEN

Swan Landscape, 2021

Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

49 3/8 x 74 1/4 inches

125.4 x 188.6 cm
LIZ NIELSEN

Being With You, 2022

Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

50 x 74 inches

127 x 188 cm
"Beneath the surface, at the heart of this collection, is Nielsen’s interest in quantum physics, particularly entanglement theory, which posits that when two particles come into contact, their properties mix, and even after separation the two are forever connected. The broader implications are enticing. Two people who interact are forever changed, on a molecular level, from their contact with each other. It gives endless meaning to our personal connections, especially our deepest ones."

- Grace Edquist in "Portal to Pardasise"
LIZ NIELSEN

Fashion Stone Stack, 2022
Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

50 x 34 inches
127 x 86.4 cm

"Ever interested in space and time, the artist subtly represents doors or gateways in her compositions, tapping into the desire to be in several places simultaneously. New versions of Nielsen’s now iconic stone arches (Sky Stone Toro, Glowing Stone Arch) and stacks (Sneaky Stone Stack, Fashion Stone Stack, Friend Stones) appear in this show. The floating, silky stones glow with color and glee, each one a portal to the next, as if we could hop from one to the other and descend into a distant land, or another dimension entirely."

- Grace Edquist in "Portal to Paradise"
LIZ NIELSEN

Ghost Friends, 2022

Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

73 x 50 inches

185.4 x 127 cm
LIZ NIELSEN

Friend Stones, 2022

Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

33 x 27 inches

83.8 x 68.6 cm
LIZ NIELSEN

Glowing Stone Arch, 2022
Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

42 x 50 inches
106.7 x 127 cm
Liz Nielsen in her studio, 2021, Newburgh, NY
"Her singular style—with its unique mix of photography and painting, abstraction and representation, the interplay of positive and negative space—cannot be placed in one school or movement. Instead, she draws on a bevy of artists and thinkers: photography from Francesca Woodman and Wolfgang Tillmans, the otherworldly shapes of Joan Miró, the light and color of James Turrell, the stirring writings of Stephen Hawking and Joe Dispenza. Nielsen’s compositions recall Etel Adnan’s and Wassily Kandinsky’s geometries and Helen Frankenthaler’s abstractions, and her love of surrealism shines through in all her works."

- Grace Edquist in "Portal to Paradise"
LIZ NIELSEN

Healing Stone Stack, 2022
Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

76 x 40 inches

193 x 101.6 cm
LIZ NIELSEN

Lava Ocean, 2022
Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

50 x 74 inches

127 x 188 cm

"In her more sweeping landscapes, like Lava Ocean, horizontal layers like empty roads, cut across the paper. Instead of feeling desolate, the scene is enlivened by brilliant magenta, crimson, and goldenrod. Swirls, crinkles, and the other textures embedded in each layer add to the dreaminess. Nielsen uses objects like cellophane, candy wrappers, and spray paint to create a magical effect, evoking clouds or snow. I was instantly reminded of a drive in Norway years ago on a freshly plowed mountain road, enclosed on both sides by eight-foot-tall walls of snow—an ethereal journey that itself produced tears."

- Grace Edquist in "Portal to Paradise"
LIZ NIELSEN

Outdoor Concert, 2022

Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

40 x 49 inches

101.6 x 124.5 cm
LIZ NIELSEN

Rainbow, 2022
Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

50 x 75 inches
127 x 190.5 cm
Liz Nielsen in her studio, 2021, Newburgh, NY

"Nielsen has studied the scientific processes behind color and light, learning how wavelengths and exposure times result in different hues and intensities. Look closely at the edges of some of her shapes or along whole borders, and you will see a layering of exposures, a sign that her work has its technical roots in photochemistry, however significantly it has evolved beyond the simple point-and-shoot. (There is no actual camera involved here.) The bleeding, wisping colors throughout each piece breathe movement and life into the work, providing a new level of depth. It is as if the whole thing is vibrating, pulsating off the page."

- Grace Edquist in "Portal to Paradise"
LIZ NIELSEN

Rainbow Toro, 2022
Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

40 x 50 inches
101.6 x 127 cm
LIZ NIELSEN

Sky Stone Toro, 2022
Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

50 x 63 inches
127 x 160 cm
LIZ NIELSEN

Sneaky Stone Stack, 2022
Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

50 x 39 inches
127 x 99.1 cm

"In the worlds depicted in Nielsen’s light paintings, time is an infinite loop. One is always arriving, looking through, wandering in, traversing. Her saturated, gradient colors burst forth as an invitation to dwell. In our overly scheduled lives, with our self- imposed high expectations, our internal and external pressures, it’s nice to consider a kind of liminal space where to be or not to be is actually not the question—we are always just being. Here, the traditional conflict-resolution arc takes place within the viewer instead of within the painting: What arises within you when you see these pictures, and what resolves the longer you stare?"

- Grace Edquist in "Portal to Pardasise"
LIZ NIELSEN

Wind Stone Stack, 2022
Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex

88 x 40 inches
223.5 x 101.6 cm
Liz Nielsen in her studio, 2021, Newburgh, NY

LIZ NIELSEN (b. 1975, Ashland, Wisconsin) received her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL; her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, and her Bachelor of Arts from Seattle University, Seattle, WA.

Recent solo exhibitions include "Edge of Forever," Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY (forthcoming); “Apparitions,” Black Box Projects, London, United Kingdom; “Electric Romance,” 12.26 Gallery, Dallas, TX; “Rolling Aura,” David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, CO; “Liz Nielsen: Forcefield” (presented by Strongroom),The Dutch Reformed Church,Newburgh,NY;“I’d Like to ImagineYou’re in a Place LikeThis,” Over the Influence, Los Angeles, CA; “Spooky Action,” Art Austerlitz, Austerlitz, NY; “Triangle Moon,” SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, NC; “Small,” Black Box Projects, London, United Kingdom; “Interdimensional Landscapes,” Landskrona Foto, Landskrona, Sweden; “Entanglement,” Horizont Galeria, Budapest, Hungary; and “The Arrival,” Black Box Projects, London, United Kingdom.

Recent group exhibitions include “Why I Make Art” (curated by Brian Alfred), Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; “Who Really Cares?” (curated by Helen Toomer), Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY; “Time Lapse,” Fridman Gallery, Beacon, NY; “Signs of Spring,” Black Box Projects, London, United Kingdom; “All Out / All In” (curated by Will Hutnick), Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY; “Only Connect,” Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL; “Magic Edge” (curated by Michelle Tillou & Andy Cross), Troutbeck, Amenia, NY; “Coming Soon” (curated by Ryan Turley), Austerlitz Historical Society, Austerlitz, NY; “Color Lab,” Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, Doha, Qatar; and “Adorned,” McColl Center for Arts and Innovation, Charlotte, NC.

She is the recipient of numerous awards including a residency at the McColl Center for Arts + Innovation, Charlotte, NC; Finalist, Meijburg Art Prize, Unseen Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Residency, Budapest Art Factory, Budapest, Hungary; Orange County Arts Council Relocation Grant, Newburgh, NY, and the CAAP Grant, Chicago, IL.

Nielsen lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and Newburgh, NY.
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- Liz Nielsen
  Wind Stone Stack, 2022
  Analog Chromogenic Photogram, on Fujiflex
  88 x 40 inches
  223.5 x 101.6 cm
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Liz Nielsen

20 OCTOBER - 26 NOVEMBER 2022