About
Will Nolan is an Australian artist known for his range of contemporary photographic works. Born in Tarntanya/Adelaide in 1979, the artist is concerned with exploring the limits of photography as a medium.
His oeuvre is characterised by a keen interest in pushing the boundaries of traditional photographic genres, particularly still life and portraiture. Through these classical forms, Nolan attempts to challenge and redefine the very essence of photography, transcending its conventional constraints. He employs techniques such as collage and installation, techniques typically associated with other artistic disciplines, to reimagine the possibilities of photography in a modern context. By blending elements of different mediums, Nolan creates engaging visual experiences that compel viewers to reconsider their relationship with images in an era saturated with visual stimuli.
Nolan has been short-listed in the Bowness Photography Prize, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award and Olive Cotton Photographic Prize. His artworks have been published in magazines, including Art Monthly in Australia, Esquire in Russia and Kunstbeeld in the Netherlands.
Will Nolan currently lives and works in the Adelaide Hills, Australia.
CV
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Conversations: Selected artworks from 1998 to 2023, Hahndorf Academy, Hahndorf, SA
2022 A Reference to Crossing Over, Duo show with Tom Borgas, Post Office Projects, Adelaide, SA
2020 Deep Sea Diving, Galerie Pompom, Sydney, NSW
2018 CUT, Unley Museum, Adelaide, SA
2015 I’m Here For You, CACSA, Adelaide, SA
2014 Where to Now, Edmund Pearce, Melbourne, VIC
Where to Now, Felt Space, Adelaide, SA
2010 Everything is Melting, Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne, VIC
Everything is Melting, AP Bond Contemporary & Aboriginal Art, Adelaide, SA
2009 To Be of Use, Gallery 139, Adelaide, SA
2008 Trace Elements, Gallery 139, Adelaide, SA
Group Exhibitions
2022 Neoteric, Adelaide Railway Station Concourse, Adelaide, SA
Embedded, Adelaide Town Hall, Adelaide, SA
2021 150, Unley Museum, Adelaide, SA
2020 Et al. Galerie Pompom, Sydney, NSW
2019 The Summer Painting Show- ‘Colour came out of the future’, Fontanelle, Adelaide, SA
2018 Remain in Light, Galerie Pompom, Sydney, NSW
The Churchie, Emerging Art Prize, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, QLD
Synergies, Photo Access, Canberra, ACT
Looking but Not Seeing, Curated by Kiron Robinson, Benalla Art Gallery, VIC
2017 Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, VIC
2016 Even Still, Adelaide Town Hall, Adelaide, SA
2015 Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photo Award, The Arts Centre Gold Coast, Gold Coast, QLD
Transit: Pictures A Hotel Lobby, Level One Gallery, Adelaide, SA
Colour Me, Adelaide Town Hall, Adelaide, SA
Third Space, Light Square Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2013 Full Spectrum, Touring for Country Arts SA for 2 years to 13 Regional Galleries.
Unexpected Encounters, Light Square Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2012 Objectified, SASA Gallery, Adelaide, SA
Art + Food: Beyond the Still Life, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2011 Full Spectrum, Light Square Gallery, Adelaide, SA
Undercurrent: Before Today, Sawtooth ARI, Launceston, TAS
2010 Undercurrent, MOP, Sydney, NSW
2009 Inside the Stockroom, Australian Commercial Galleries Association (ACGA), Federation Square, VIC
Little Treasures, Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne, VIC
Loreto Spring Art, Marryatville Adelaide, SA
Territory, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, NT
Off The Wall, Melbourne Art fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, VIC
Helpmann Graduation Exhibition, Drill Hall, Adelaide, SA
2008 Freefall, University of South Australia Grad Show, South Australian School of Art, Adelaide, SA
Untitled, Gallery 139, Adelaide, SA
Undercurrent: Underlying Landscapes, Kerry Packer Civic Gallery, Adelaide, SA
The Olive Cotton Award, 2008, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, NSW
Helpmann Graduation Exhibition, Drill Hall, Adelaide, SA
2007 Puncture, University of South Australia Grad Show, South Australian School of Art, Adelaide, SA
Tender is the night, South Australian School of Art, Adelaide, SA
Foundation Front, Helpmann Academy end of year exhibition, Adelaide SA
Undercurrent, Queensland Centre of Photography, Brisbane, QLD Undercurrent, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, SA
Arts Industry
2016-25 Head of Photography at the Adelaide College of the Arts, TAFE SA and adjunct lecturer at Flinders University.
2008-16 Lecturer in Photography at the Adelaide College of the Arts, TAFE SA and adjunct lecturer at Flinders University.
2012-13 Lecturer in Photography at the Department of Art, Architecture and Design at the University of South Australia
Publication
Dominic Symes, A reference (crossing over), Catalogue poem, July 2022
Michael Newall, Neoteric, Catalogue essay, March 2022
Michael Waite, “Notes on Remain In Light”, Catalogue essay, September, 2018
Mimi Kelly, “I’m Here For You (you are here for me), Catalogue essay, Decemeber 2015
Jane Llewellyn, “Profile: Will Nolan” The Adelaide Review, January 2015
Mark Kimber, “Processing the past: Contemporary photomedia in South Australia” Art Monthly, October 2014
“Beeldessay, Aan tafel”, Kunstbeeld, Number 5, 2014
Jessie Lumb, Review of Will Nolan’s ‘Where to Now’ exhibition at FELTspace, Citymag July 2014
Jemima Kemp, We are, Catalogue essay, July 2014
“Interview with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita”, Esquire Russia, Issue 85, 2012
Jemima Kemp, The most beautiful thing…, Catalogue essay, September 2011
Lance Campbell, “Painting through a Lens” SA Life, September 2011
Lauren Tomczak, Everything is Melting, Catalogue essay, April 2010
Louise Nunn, “One man’s rubbish is another’s artwork”, The Advertiser, Box Office, 2 April 2009
Lauren Tomczak, To Be of Use, Catalogue essay, March 2009
Jena Woodburn, Trace elements, Catalogue essay, April 2008
Awards / Grants
2020 Awarded Arts SA Project Development Funding, Galerie Pompom,
2018 Finalist in the The Churchie Emerging Art Prize, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, QLD
2017 Finalist in the William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, VIC
2015 Finalist in the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, The Arts Centre Gold Coast, Gold Coast, QLD
2013 Awarded Arts SA Emerging Artist Mentorship Funding
2011 Awarded Arts SA Project Development Funding, Full Spectrum
2010 Awarded Arts SA Project Development Funding, Undercurrent
2009 Selected for the Off The Wall, Affordable Melbourne Art fair, Carlton, VIC
2008 Selected for the Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition
Finalist in The Olive Cotton Award 2008, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, NSW
Awarded Arts SA Grant, Last minute presentation, Trace Elements
2007 Deborah Paauwe Award for excellence in photography, South Australia School of Art, University of South Australia.
Selected for the Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition Helpmann Academy
Project Grant – Exhibition at Queensland Centre of Photography
Education
2008 Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) South Australia School of Art, University of South Australia.
2007 Bachelor of Visual Arts (Photography) South Australia School of Art, University of South Australia.
2002 Diploma of Arts (Applied Photography) RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC
1999 Studied at North Adelaide School of Art, Adelaide, SA
Collections
Many of Will Nolan’s artworks have been acquired by Artbank and are also held and loved in numerous private collections.