Nick McPhail
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Nick McPhail (B. 1982, Laingsburg, Michigan) is a painter and ceramist who lives and works in Los Angeles.
In his architectural landscape paintings, Nick captures the hazy glow and saturated hues of different regions of the world, including California. Depicting modernist buildings, power lines and cars against a backdrop of green hills and trees, his paintings focus on the relationship between nature and the built environment. Painted from snapshots, McPhail's works offer somewhat voyeuristic views of anonymous buildings that emerge from behind fences and shrubs or from the tops of isolated hills.
Light is central in his paintings, it comes from the background. He often starts by applying strong paints - pink, orange or fluorescent violet - all over the canvas and building up his compositions in translucent layers, a method inspired by traditional Renaissance techniques. The vibrant, contrasting colour of this underpainting becomes an essential element of McPhail's work and builds the composition.
Education
BFA. Michigan State University. East Lansing (MI)
2004 University of Melbourne (AU)
Solo shows
2022 Solo show. Amelie, Maison d'Art. Paris (FR)
2020 Windows. Ochi Projects. Los Angeles (CA)
2019 Lights. Galerie Mighela Shama. Geneva (CH)
2018 Pictures. Holiday. Los Angeles (CA)
2009 Street and Sky. Mina Dresden. San Francisco (CA)
2006 Fragments. Kresge Art Center. East Lansing. MI SELECTED (MI)
Group shows (selected)
2021 Room Service. NBB Gallery & Litz. Stockholm. Sweden (SE)
2021 Day Trip. Reynolds Gallery. Richmond (VA)
2021 Match. Galerie Mighela Shama. Geneva (CH)
2020 Inside/Outside. Circle Contemporary. Chicago (IL)
2019 Chains. Central Park Gallery. Los Angeles (CA)
2019 Absolute Space. Ochi Gallery. Ketchum (ID)
2019 Wholly Coast. Monte Vista Projects. Los Angeles (CA)
2018 Full House. Half Gallery LA. Los Angeles (CA)
2017 Soft Serve. Holiday. Los Angeles (CA)
2017 Self Reliance 2017. Nowspace. Los Angeles (CA)
2014 Recurrence. Fridman Gallery. New York City (NY)
2013 Funny Haha. Norton Space. Los Angeles (CA)
2013 Hot Boxes. Velvet Noir. Los Angeles (CA)
2011 What is River of Love?. 1646 Temple Space. Los Angeles (CA)
2011 New Work. 1646 Temple Space. Los Angeles (CA)
2010 Anachronous Mind Tree. Bliecher Golighty Gallery. Los Angeles (CA)
2010 Let's Get Loud. DIY Gallery. Los Angeles (CA)
2009 Conceptual Mining. DIY Gallery. Los Angeles (CA)
2009 Home. Phyllis Stein Art. Los Angeles (CA)
2009 SFTS Group Show. Silver Echo Gallery. Los Angeles (CA)
2009 Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Los Angeles (CA)
2008 Spring Arts Collective Gallery. Los Angeles (CA)
2008 A Taste of LA. Downtown Gallery Row. Los Angeles (CA)
2008 Free Arts NYC Annual Benefit Art Auction, New York City (NY)
2008 Spring Arts Collective Gallery. Los Angeles (CA)
2007 Views of Pico.16:1 Gallery. Santa Monica (CA)
2007 Art a la Mode. HouseSpace. Encinitas (CA)
2006 Undergrad Exhibition. Kresge Art Center. East Lansing (MI)
2006 Art Expo. Collective Space. Lansing (MI)
2006 Reaction to the 60's. Kresge Art Center. East Lansing (MI)
2006 Pewabic Influence. Lansing Capital Library. Lansing (MI)
Publications
2019 Art Maze Magazine “Landscapes that glow. Nick McPhail's LA Paintings” by
Layla Leiman
2019 It's Nice That "Painter Nick McPhail uses..." by Rebecca Irvin
2019 Full Blede - Issue 9: The Cleave
2019 Art Maze Magazine - Spring Issue 12 - Editorial Feature
2019 Angeleno Magazine April - Society & Culture 'LA State of Mind' by Abigail Stone
2018 Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles, 'Nick McPhail at Holiday' Review by
Aaron Horst
2017 Art and Cake, "'Self Reliance 2017' at Nowspace," Review by Sydney Walters
2014 Carets and Sticks, "One Work with Nick McPhail" Interview by Anna Breninger
2014 'Recurrence' Exhibition catalog with essays by Georgia Horn and Luisa Aguilar
Solis
2014 Two Coats of Paint, "Inspired by fiction: Recurrence at Fridman" Review by
Sharon Butler
2009 San Francisco Chronicle, "Don't Miss: 'Street and Sky'" Review by Mary
Eisenhart
2009 Art Business, 'Street and Sky' review by Laura Chenault
2009 Downtown Arts Beat, Spring Arts Collective Review
2008 I Make Picture, "Featured Artist: Nick McPhail"
Residencies
2022 Amelie, Maison d'Art. Paris (FR)
2019 Galerie Mighela Shama. Geneva (CH)
2019 Ochi Gallery. Ketchum (ID)
2018 100 West Corsicana. Corsicana (TX)
2017 Vermont Studio Center. Johnson (VT)
Curatorial
2018 Student Exhibition. Navarro College. Corsicana (TX)
2018 Full House. Half Gallery LA. Los Angeles (CA)
2014 Domestic Edge. Half Gallery LA, Los Angeles (CA)
2014 Swim Lapse. Half Gallery LA. Los Angeles (CA)
Permanent collection
Center of Ethics. Michigan State University. East Lansing (MI)
Awards
2017 Artist’s Grant. Vermont Studio Center
2006 Jens Plum Award. Michigan State University
Permanent installations
Sunset Blvd in Echo Park. Los Angeles (CA)