Nicole Kelly wins Evelyn Chapman Art Award

Nicole Kelly has been awarded the prestigious Evelyn Chapman Art Award, which provides a $50,000 scholarship to an Australian painter under 45 every two years. This award will enable Kelly to explore Nordic painting traditions at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, with a focus on the work of celebrated Swedish painter Mamma Andersson. The dark realism, symbolism and psychological space that exists within the Nordic landscape is of particular interest to her. 

Kelly is known for her expressive and evocative landscapes, and bold, vibrant brushwork. Her works are influenced by literature and romanticism, reflecting her desire to evoke memories and emotional depth through painting. She says of her works: “my desire is to push painting beyond a surface likeness of any subject and into the realm of poetics.”

An acclaimed artist, Kelly previously won the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship (2009) and the Hurford Hardwood Portrait Prize (2018). Her work has been exhibited widely, including for the Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW (2015), as well as internationally. 

Kelly is represented by Nicholas Thompson and Arthouse Galleries.