
Rose Nolan: Why Do We Do The Things We Do
Artspace Sydney and Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane 2011
Born Melbourne, Australia 1959
Lives and works in Melbourne
Rose Nolan works across painting, installation, sculpture, photography, prints and book production. Her practice regularly oscillates between the intimate and the monumental, often informed by a strong interest in architecture, interior and graphic design – combining formal concerns with the legacies of modernism. Nolan’s practice is known for its attention to the formal and linguistic qualities of words, using language to transform architectural space. By making language concrete, meaning is asserted.
Nolan typically employs a radically reduced palette of red and white, and simple utilitarian materials and methods, in an exploration of personal, playful and often self-effacing narratives. Each work describes a concern for economy; a desire to be responsive to site; an interest in seriality and repetition; and the importance of language, interactivity, and the experience of the viewer.
Public collections include: NGA Canberra; NGV, Melbourne; AGNSW, Sydney; AGSA, Adelaide; MCA, Sydney; Heide MOMA, Melbourne; and Monash University Museum of Art.
Urban art commissions include ‘Screen Works – ENOUGH-NOW/EVEN/MORE-SO’, Queen Victoria Market, City of Melbourne (2021); ‘GIVE OR TAKE’, Monash University Library Caulfield Campus (2017); ‘A Big Word – HELLO’ (The Hello House in collaboration with OOF! Architecture), Melbourne (2014); ‘It’s Okay to Be Alright’, Melbourne Art Trams (2013) and ‘It’s Hard to See What This All Means’, Site One, Docklands, Melbourne (2006).
Rose Nolan
Working Models
18th March – 15th April 2023
Anna Schwartz Gallery
Rose Nolan
White Trash Constructed Work (1995)
4th – 3rd December 2022
Guzzler
Rose Nolan
YOU/ME/US/HERE/NOW
Rose Nolan
Parlour Games
30th October – 18th December 2021
Anna Schwartz Gallery
Rose Nolan
Wall Work
18th February – 13th March 2021
Conners Conners
Rose Nolan
A Singular Impulse
28th August – 29th September 2018
Anna Schwartz Gallery
Rose Nolan
Immodest Gestures & Irrational Thoughts
7th October – 14th November 2015
Anna Schwartz Gallery
Kerrie Poliness, Rose Nolan, Stephen Bram
Poliness, Nolan, Bram
20th September – 1st November 2014
Anna Schwartz Gallery Carriageworks
Rose Nolan
Performance Architecture
16th May – 6th July 2013
Anna Schwartz Gallery
Tom Nicholson, Jenny Watson, Mutlu Çerkez, Peter Tyndall, Ian Whittlesea, Mike Parr, Emily Floyd, Janet Burchill & Jennifer McCamley, Rose Nolan, Grant Stevens
WORD
4th July – 8th August 2009
Anna Schwartz Gallery Carriageworks
Rose Nolan
Another Homework Experiment
14th May – 20th June 2009
Anna Schwartz Gallery
Rose Nolan
Why Do We Do The Things We Do
9th May – 7th June 2008
Artspace
Rose Nolan
Extra Homework
8th – 30th July 2005
Anna Schwartz Gallery
Rose Nolan
More Rose Nolan
7th – 28th March 2002
Anna Schwartz Gallery
Rose Nolan
Centrepoint Carpark, 2023
52 x 12.5 x 12 cm
52 x 12.5 x 12 cm
Rose Nolan
Adobe House, 2023
Cardboard, found packaging
25 x 28 x 25 cm
Rose Nolan
James Turrell Fun Palace , 2023
Acrylic paint, cardboard, found packaging
38 x 42 x 38 cm
Rose Nolan
Mt. Table Top Water Tower , 2023
Acrylic paint, cardboard, found packaging, poster rolls, paper drinking straws
31 x 34 x 34 cm
Rose Nolan
O U Short Stay Motel, 2023
Acrylic paint, cardboard, found packaging
22 x 23 x 24 cm
Rose Nolan
Home-Sweet-Home House Museum , 2023
Acrylic paint, cardboard, found packaging, exhibition invitation
39 x 24 x 29 cm
Rose Nolan
New Age / Care Facility , 2023
Acrylic paint, cardboard, found packaging, poster roll
44 x 14 x 31 cm
Rose Nolan
OSS (One Stop Shop), 2023
Acrylic paint, cardboard, found packaging, cake base, take-away coffee cup
41.5 x 24 x 30 cm
Rose Nolan
T‑Tree House , 2022 – 23
Acrylic paint, cardboard, found packaging, cardboard roll
43 x 21 x 24 cm
Rose Nolan
IF NOT YOU WHO (hessian version), 2022
Acrylic paint, hessian, embroidery thread, tap washers
72 x 41cm
Image: Christian Capurro
Rose Nolan
M‑Bar, 2022
Acrylic paint, found packaging, coffee cup
36 x 24 x 21 cm
Rose Nolan
M‑Bar, 2022
Acrylic paint, found packaging, coffee cup
36 x 24 x 21 cm
Rose Nolan
AA Hydrotherapy Pool, 2022
Acrylic paint, found packaging
29 x 29 x 22.5 cm
Rose Nolan
Wrapped Temple, 2022
Acrylic paint, found packaging, Glad Wrap rolls
36 x 24 x 21 cm
Rose Nolan
LAB , 2022
Acrylic paint, cardboard, found packaging, take-away coffee cups
39 x 28 x 28 cm
Rose Nolan
Big Words (Not Mine) – Be confident that…, 2022
Acrylic paint, hessian, embroidery thread, tap washers
180 x 179cm
Image: Christian Capurro
Rose Nolan
IF NOT NOW WHEN (hessian version), 2022
Acrylic paint, hessian, embroidery thread, tap washers
72 x 41cm
Image: Christian Capurro
Rose Nolan
A Big Word – EVEN (V.1), 2022
Acrylic paint, found packaging
26 x 19 x 6cm
Image: Christian Capurro
Rose Nolan
HELL0 / HELL NO (another version), 2021
Acrylic paint, cardboard
19.5 x 42 x 11cm
Image: Christian Capurro
Rose Nolan
SO / SO, 2020
Acrylic paint, cardboard
2 x panels each 34 x 29 x 12cm
Image: Christian Capurro
Rose Nolan
A CULTURAL SIGNPOST, 2020
acrylic paint, cardboard, found boxes, cardboard tube
97 x 12 x 10 cm
Rose Nolan
Big Words (Not Mine) A public space is occupied by private bodies…, 2020
Hessian, acrylic paint, haberdashery thread
dimensions variable
Rose Nolan
Barcode House, 2019
found packaging, cardboard, synthetic polymer paint
30.5 x 44.5 x 25 cm
Rose Nolan
iTunes Museum, 2019
found packaging, cardboard, synthetic polymer paint
37 x 15.5 x 8.5 cm
Rose Nolan
NGV Contemporary, 2019
found packaging, cardboard, synthetic polymer paint
37 x 28.5 x 27.5 cm
Rose Nolan
Wellness Centre, 2019
found packaging, cardboard, synthetic polymer paint
27.5 x 41 x 23 cm
Rose Nolan
Home Office, 2019
found packaging, cardboard, synthetic polymer paint
42 x 34 x 11 cm
Rose Nolan
NGV Contemporary, 2019
found packaging, cardboard, synthetic polymer paint
37 x 28.5 x 27.5 cm
Rose Nolan
Wellness Centre, 2019
found packaging, cardboard, synthetic polymer paint
27.5 x 41 x 23 cm
Photo: Christian Capurro
Rose Nolan
Home Office, 2019
found packaging, cardboard, synthetic polymer paint
42 x 34 x 11 cm
Photo: Christian Capurro
Rose Nolan
LESS IS HARDER (twice over), 2017
acrylic paint on cardboard
23 x 140 x 16 cm
Rose Nolan
A Big Word — HOPEFUL, 2014
acrylic paint directly on wall
550 cm x 2122 cm
installation view, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Carriageworks
Rose Nolan
Big Words — QUOTE/UNQUOTE, 2014
hessian, acrylic paint, embroidery thread
2 pennants: 25 cm x 45 cm; 28 cm x 65 cm
Rose Nolan
You See What I’m Saying (twice over print version), 2012
screenprint on Magnani Corona 310gsm
100 x 70 cm (unframed)
Rose Nolan
Placard Work — AWKWARD, 2009
acrylic paint, cardboard, wood
285 x 22 cm
Rose Nolan
The FAB/Marimeko House, 2008
found packaging, cardboard, synthetic polymer paint
32.5 x 25 x 21.5 cm
Rose Nolan
Twinings Tea Tower, 2008
found packaging, cardboard, synthetic polymer paint
57 x 23 x 7 cm
Rose Nolan
The Welcome Mat, 2007
acrylic wool thread
150 x 350 cm
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