Nicholas Norris

Nicholas Norris (b.1991 Phoenix, Arizona USA) lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Norris’ paintings create new spaces of connection and joy. Partially observed and partially imagined, the works are based on drawings made in and around the homes of friends and family. Although devoid of people, the contents of these spaces behave like people. Exuberant and at times off-kilter, they channel the eagerness and anxiety we feel in coming together. This sense of connectedness is paired with a charming imbalance and spatial ambiguity, as if to say that connection is not possible without being in motion.

Certain patterns repeat in Norris’ paintings like a secret visual code. Looped and scalloped lines, daubs, dashes and swirls, then freeform areas resembling the fluid lines of water or wood grain. This is the tool box of glyphic language from which the drawings and paintings are constructed. When inside a room, the glyphs look like patterns adorning the space, but outside, they resemble minerals or atmospheric particles.

Norris adds layers of saturated color to his compositions, exploring color combinations that are deeply subjective. Bright hues vibrate against one another, imbuing each work with a frenetic energy. Everything in Norris’ world seems to be under the same spell, exciting and uncontrollable, hinting to a latent pulsation under all things.

Born 1991 in Arizona, USA, currently living and working in Berlin, Germany.

Education 

  • 2021    MFA in Painting at Hunter College, New York, NY
  • 2014    BFA in Painting, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
  • 2012    Yale Summer Studies, Auvillar, FRANCE (Summer Session)

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2023    blooms, EKELY, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Turf Paradise, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY
  • 2022    look at that water, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY
  • 2015    Jumpin’ Off, Platform-Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • 2013    Light Smack Paintings: Nicholas Norris, Peloton Labs, Portland, ME USA

Group Exhibitions

2023    Winter Salo(o)n, Haverkampf Leistenschneider, Berlin, Germany

            Friends & Family, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY

2022    ART021 Shanghai, Thierry Goldberg Gallery New York, NY (fair)

when i consider everything that grows, Quorum Quorum, Los Angeles, CA

2021    MFA Thesis Show, Hunter College, New York, NY

2019    #11 curated by Brent Birnbaum, Shows in Spaces, Rockaway Beach, NY USA

Tal R, Anna Bjerger and Nicholas Norris, EKELY, Copenhagen, Denmark

2017    Daydreamers curated by Elisa Rusca & Stephen Kent, Ferienpark Templin, Germany

YUCCA MOTEL, Haus am Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin, Germany

2016    Dansinit, Hasenheide 9, Berlin, Germany

Spring Exhibition, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark

2015    Turbo Pascal, 145 Karl Marx, Berlin, Germany

2014    in habit Thesis Exhibition, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME USA

Free For All, SPACE Gallery, Portland, ME USA

2013    New Work: Nicholas Norris, Friedman Gallery, Portland, ME USA

2012    New Work: Nicholas Norris, Friedman Gallery, Portland, ME USA

YSS @ ISS Auvillar Work, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT. USA

Residencies

  • 2018    Atlantic Center for the Arts Masters Artist Residency with
  • Jules De Balincourt. New Smyrna, Florida USA
  • 2014    Kunstnarhuset Messen Residency, Alvik, NORWAY

Awards

  • 2014    Professional Development Grant Recipient, Portland, ME
  • 2013    Yale Norfolk Nominee by Maine College of Art
  • 2012    Fellow at Yale Summer Sessions, Auvillar, FRANCE