Nolan Preece

Woodland, 2014, 20 x 16 inches, Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 Moonrise Over 2015 20 x16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Summit 2016 44 x 55 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 5 In the Grove 2014 20 x16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Valley 2016 31 x 32 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 5 Subterranean Flora 2014 20 x16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

At Forest’s Edge 2016 16 x 20 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 Winter 2015 20 x 16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Forest 2016 16 x 24 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 Sierra 2016 20 x 16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Canyon 2016 20 x 16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 Afternoon 2016 16 x 24 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

High Tide 2016 16 x 20 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 The Clearing 2015 20 x 16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Earth and Sky #2 2016 16 x 20 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 Big Oil Finds Its Place In Time 2013 40 x 32 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 5

Climate Change House of Cards 2013 20 x 16 inches Digital archival pigment print , edition 10 Big Oil Meets With The Big Fracking Deal 2013 20 x 16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Tipping Point 2014 16 x 20 inches Silver gelatin print The Sun, the Fern and the Jabberwock 2012 20 x 16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Climate Change Hummingbird Trap 2013 16 x 20 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 The Quadrats and the Pump Jacks 2013 40 x 27 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 5

Ice Age 2014 43 x 53.5 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 5 Ouranos & Kronos (NgCv #035) 2009 55 x 43 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 5

The Memoirs of Sisyphus (NgCv #036) 2010 16 x 24 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 Chemisynthesis (NgCv #037) 1979 reprinted 2014 20 x 16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Swarm (NgCv #040) 1979, reprint 2014 16 x 18 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 Alien (NgCv #010) 2001 21 x 16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Ascension (NgCv #003) 1989 reprint 2014 9.5 x 7 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 Rolling (NgCv #026) 2001 43 x 55.5 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 5

Landscape (NgCv #023) 2001 16 x 20 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 Dancer (NgCv #029) 2001 20 x 16 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Flipped (NgCv #015) 2001 16 x 20 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10 Family (NgCv #004) 1989 reprint 2014 8 x 7 inches Digital archival pigment print, edition 10

Legs (NgCv #000) 1979 9.5 x 7 inches Silver gelatin print Growth (NgCv #001) 1979 6.5 x 8.5 inches Silver Gelatin print

Indicator Species 1994 19.5 x 15.5 inches Silver Gelatin Print Portal 1982 6.5 x 8 inches Silver Gelatin Print

Chemogram in Au 1981 8 x 10 inches Silver Gelatin Print Tracks 1987 10 x 8 inches Silver Gelatin Print

Au 1981 10 x 8 inches Silver Gelatin Print Contact Zone 1987 9.5 x 6 inches Silver Gelatin Print

Au Descends on Ag 1988 15.5 x 19.5 inches Silver Gelatin Print Nolan Preece Commentary

Art presents us with a parallel reality, clear and close at hand, but simultaneously strange and new. This paradox of verisimilitude and novelty creates a mental frisson that challenges the notion that we truly know the reality that we experience every day.

In the work of Nolan Preece, images seem to arise mysteriously, visually present yet materially tenu- ous, from substances that resemble flowing liquids, swirling gases, and thickened light. They move as if of their own volition to form biomorphic entities, faceted architectures, and virtual vistas. These imaginal domains, which shift from fluid to concrete, are abstract yet enigmatically charged.

Preece has referred to his work as chemical painting, and he has adapted techniques from ’s infancy and invented his own new methods for creating images. He has adapted cliché-verre, an antique method for making handmade photographic negatives on glass plates. He covers the glass with soot and by applying mineral spirits, a kind of automatism is activated, with unpredictable images coming into being. In his chemigrams, the artist works with resists and photographic chemicals for developing and fixing the image, to achieve a wide range of complex, fascinating effects which are then digitally enhanced.

These techniques have allowed Preece to work with an open, imaginative freedom. There is a sense of perpetual becoming, of constantly discovering new visual worlds. This quality of origination, of an animating energy, runs through the dazzling variety of the artist’s work. It ranges from spatially ambiguous atmospheres, to intensely patterned grids, to visionary biologies, to impacted archeologies.

Preece’s work evokes a speculative, poetic space where phenomena are generated, stimulated, and then entered into. The essential qualities of this experience include a sense of translucency, stilled movement, vastness within the intimate, and a quietude that contains within it a spectrum of unsettled emotions. Within these surreal and dream-like mindscapes, we are reminded of the inner space of the psyche, and the outer world of nature, in both its microscopic and macroscopic scales.

Concern for the fate of the living world is made explicit in many of Preece’s works, especially those which combine abstract imagery with signs of human development within the landscape. These works express a heightened environmental consciousness, and an awareness of the toughness, fragility, and beauty of the desert, which has always been the focus of his life and work.

John Mendelsohn Nolan Preece Biography

Nolan Preece was born in 1947 in Vernal, Utah. His parents encouraged his early interest in art, and he was helping his father in the home at age five. Preece was an avid young photographer, who remembers the impact of his father making a photo collage of what is now Dinosaur National Monument to show what it would have looked like, under water, if a proposed dam were built on the Green River.

Preece’s interest in nature has been a constant, from growing up in the desert, to being a river guide in the Grand Canyon, to working as a field photographer for environmental impact statements in the 1980s, to creating an on-going series of landscape .

After serving in the army, Preece studied photography at Utah State University, receiving his BA in 1973. Four years later he began his graduate study there in photography, learning the Zone System method of exposure and development, and absorbing the tradition of Western landscape photography. Preece became interested in experimental photographic techniques, and in 1979 he was working with the cliché-verre process using smoke-on-glass as a photographic negative. He accidently spilled kerosene on the glass, and it created unexpected and fascinating forms. He discovered that mineral spirits worked best and perfected his newly invented technique, using the prepared glass in the and printing the resulting images photographically.

In 1981, Preece’s darkroom experiments led him to develop the chemogram, a technique for painting abstractly with chemical processes on silver based . The work has shifted from being nonobjective to including images that reflected his involvement with the environmental movement. Throughout, the work has, in the artist’s words, reflected his “relationship with the desert in eastern Utah where I grew up and now the Nevada desert where I currently live. The desert is my home and passion. These resonances flow through this work.”

Over the past thirty years, the artist has continued to create images of surprising complexity and beauty, exploring new methods including the use of digital technology. Preece has noted that having been trained in the Ansel Adams tradition of fine art photography, he was able to envision his physically created chemigram print as the “score” and the digitally scanned and manipulated image as the “performance” of that score. In 2013 he met Pierre Cordier, the Belgian who had originated the chemigram in 1956, and persuaded Preece to use this designation for his work. He was inspired by Cordier to use resists of acrylic floor wax and other substances, and began a new and very productive phase in his art.

Preece’s work is in the permanent collections of 34 institutions across the country, and his solo exhibitions include Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV; Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, UT; St. Mary’s Art Center, Virginia City, NV; Oates Park Art Center, Fallon, NV; Nevada State Arts Council, Carson City, NV; and California State University, Turlock, CA. Nolan Preece Artist Statement

This body of work began over thirty years ago, and encompasses prints made with the cliché-verre and chemigram processes. Included are purely abstract works and those that employ recognizable images, and all reflect a passion for discovery, invention, and the natural environment.

The cliché-verre is an antique photographic technique for making prints from handmade glass negatives. The artist discovered a way to create beautiful yet mysterious imagery by activating smoke-on-glass with chemical solvents. The works reflect a ratio of approximately half control and half serendipity, along with many attempts and digital enhancements to arrive at the final image.

The chemigram process is a mix of painting, printmaking, and photography. The process starts with gelatin silver photo paper onto which are applied resists of acrylic floor wax, tape, spray paint, and other materials. Common photographic developer and fixer are used alternately to create complex and unpredictable graphic structures. By using these chemicals effectively, gradations of tonality and color are achieved.

In this process of cameraless photography, a feeling of mystery or enigma naturally arises. For the artist, these chemigrams resemble the desert, which is his home and passion, and these resonances flow through the work. It reflects the textures, colors and shapes of the landscape in eastern Utah where he grew up and the Nevada desert where he currently lives.

The chemigrams have shifted from nonobjective works, having no recognizable imagery, to prints that reflect the artist’s involvement in the environmental movement. Signs of human intervention in the landscape are combined with abstract chemical painting. These prints challenge the viewer’s awareness by directly condemning the degradation of the air and water through hydraulic fracturing and the emission of carbon and other substances into the earth’s atmosphere. Nolan Preece Resumé (selected list)

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017 Brick City Gallery, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO (scheduled January/February) 2017 Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts, Gadsden, AL (scheduled May/June) 2014 Chemigrams: Nolan Preece, Contemporary Gallery, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV 2012 Continuative: Making Connections Between Parallel Directions, Truckee Meadows Community College, Reno, NV 2007 Simple Systems, California State University at Stanislaus, Gallery System, Turlock, CA 2000 Millenniumutations, The Digital Gallery, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA (Solo Show and Website) 1993 Two Directions: Nolan Preece, Casper College Art Gallery, Casper, WY (Faculty Solo Show and Lecture) 1988 Art Studio Faculty Exhibition Series: Nolan Preece, Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, UT

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2017 Seeing Double, The Loft at Liz’s Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (February/March, two person show) 2017 Stremmel Gallery, Reno, NV (scheduled September/November, two person show) 2016 Currents in Photography, Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York City, NY 2015 National Alternative Processes Competition, SohoPhoto Gallery, New York City, NY 2015 The Land Mark Show, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM 2015 f295 Member Salon Exhibition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 2014-15 Light Sensitive, Art Intersection Galleries, Gilbert, AZ 2014-16 Panorama, Nevada Arts Council - Nevada Touring Initiative, exhibition of 8 fellowship artists, 10 Nevada venues 2014 Electron Salon, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Los Angeles, CA (January) 2011 Preston Contemporary Art Center, Mesilla, NM, group exhibition 2008 Are You What You Eat? Stevens Gallery, Whiteman College, Walla Walla, WA 2004 Artist Member Exhibition, The Print Club of Albany, Guilderland Public Library, NY 2003 Survey of Contemporary Photographic Art, SPE Conference, Sheppard Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno 2000 12th National Computer Art Invitational Exhibition, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA, (traveled) 1995 CEPA 20th Anniversary Member’s Show, Center for Exploratory & Perceptual Art, Buffalo, NY 1993 State of the Art `93, New England Fine Arts Institute, Boston, MA 1989 Regional Contemporary Photographers, Wyoming State Museum, Cheyenne, WY 1983 Ten Utah Photographers Traveling Exhibit, 1983 84, UT

EDUCATION 1980 Utah State University, Logan, Utah, MFA. Major and minor emphasis: Photography/Printmaking

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS 2015 University of Nevada, Reno Galleries, Reno, NV, (1 silver gelatin cliché-verre print) 2014 Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV, (1 large chemigram) 2012 Nevada Arts Council, Carson City, NV, Geographical Divides (2 collaborative prints) 2011 Sierra Great Basin Collection, Oates Park Art Center, Fallon, NV (3 silver gelatin photographs) 2007 Renown Medical Center Collection, Reno, NV (12 color digital photographs) 2006 Southern Graphics Council Archives, Oxford, MS (2 etchings) 2005 Corcoran School of Art & Design, Washington, D.C. (1 intaglio print for “Tuber Manifesto”) 2005 City of Reno Art Collection, Reno, NV (3 cliché verre & 4 silver gelatin photographs) 2004 Al Weber Rendezvous Exchange Portfolio Collection, Carmel, CA (1 color digital ) 2004 Snell and Wilmer Collection, Phoenix, AZ (3 color digital photographs and 3 silver gelatin photographs) 2000 Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV (1 chemigram & 2 cliché verre photographs; 3 intaglio monoprints) 1995 Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL (1 intaglio monoprint) 1991 Print Club of Albany, Albany, NY (1 etching; 2 copper engravings - 2003, 2004) 1991 Wyoming State Museum, Cheyenne, WY (2 chemigram photographs) 1991 Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY (1 chemigram photograph) 1984 Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, UT (4 chemigram photographs) 1983 Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (2 silver gelatin photographs) (2010 – 10 silver & 12 digital)

RECENT PUBLICATIONS 2016 Huffington Post, Currents in Photography at Walter Wickiser Gallery, D. Dominick Lombardi 2016 d’art International, Currents in Photography Exhibition at Walter Wickiser Gallery in New York, Phil Tarley 2013 Silvershotz: The International Journal of Contemporary Photography, selected by panel for “Folios 2012” 2012-15 Manhattan Graphic Center, seven conversations about life’s work: nonfigurativephoto.blogspot.com/ 2010 Silvershotz: The International Journal of Contemporary Photography, “Nolangrams,” Volume 6, Edition 5 2010 Photo Technique Magazine, “Grams, Grams, and Nolangrams,” article and portfolio, Jan/Feb Exhibition Fact Sheet Nolan Preece

In the work of Nolan Preece, images seem to arise mysteriously, visually present yet materially tenuous, from substances that resemble flowing liquids, swirling gases, and thickened light. They move as if of their own volition to form biomorphic entities, faceted architectures, and virtual vistas. These imaginal domains, which shift from fluid to concrete, are abstract yet enigmatically charged. Preece has referred to his work as chemical painting, and he has adapted techniques from photography’s infancy and invented his own new methods for creating images. He has adapted cliché-verre, an antique method for making handmade photographic negatives on glass plates. He covers the glass with soot and by applying mineral spirits, a kind of automatism is activated, with unpredictable images coming into being. In his chemigrams, the artist works with resists and photographic chemicals for developing and fixing the image, to achieve a wide range of complex, fascinating effects which are then digitally enhanced.

NUMBER OF OBJECTS: 41 printed images – 33 digital archival pigment prints and 9 silver gelatin prints.

TITLES, DATES, SIZES, MEDIUM: Details provided on pdf presentation.

SPACE REQUIREMENTS: Approximately 150 running feet.

PARTICIPATION FEE: Round-trip shipping, wall-to-wall insurance (50% of retail value), and color exhibition announcement card (with a $200 credit from Katharine T. Carter & Associates.)

INSTALLATION: Standard 2D wall hanging apparatus.

TRANSPORTATION: The exhibiting institution will provide all transportation for the exhibition and cover all related costs. This will include full responsibility for delivery at the conclusion of the exhibition. Work must be fully insured during transport.

ANNOUNCEMENT CARDS: Katharine T. Carter & Associates will provide a $200 credit towards the production of a color announcement card pending the terms from the sample letter of confirmation.

PRESS KIT: All pre-written press materials, to include biographical summary, artist statement, petite essay, press releases, media releases, pitch letters and radio/television spots, to be provided by Katharine T. Carter & Associates. All publicity releases, invitations/announcements, catalog, exhibition brochure, and other printed materials concerning the exhibition shall carry the following information: “The exhibition was organized through Katharine T. Carter & Associates.” Copies of any printed matter relating to the exhibition shall be sent to Katharine T. Carter & Associates at the close of the exhibition. The critics’ essay may be quoted provided there is attribution. Exhibition Fact Sheet Nolan Preece

CONDITIONS: 1. Exhibiting institution must provide object insurance to cover replacement costs should items be damaged or stolen while on premises. Minimum insurance required: 50% retail value. Should loss, damage or deterioration be noted at the time of delivery of the exhibition, the artist shall be notified immediately. If any damage appears to have taken place during the exhibition, the artist shall be informed immediately. 2. Security: Objects must be maintained in a fireproof building under 24-hour security. 3. All packing and unpacking instructions sent by (artist) shall be followed explicitly by competent packers. Each object shall be handled with special care at all times to ensure against damage or deterioration. 4. As stated above (see space requirements), the number of works to be exhibited can be dictated by the space and needs of the exhibiting institution. 5. Exhibitors may permit photographs of the exhibition and its contents for routine publicity and educational purposes only. Exceptions may be made pending discussion with the artist.

CANCELLATION: Any cancellation of this exhibition by the hosting institution, not caused by the actions of the artist, shall entitle Katharine T. Carter and Associates to an award of liquidated damages of $3750.00. The hosting institution further agrees that any suit brought to recover said damages may only be brought in Columbia County, New York. Contact Information for Katharine T. Carter & Associates

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 518-758-8130

Fax: 518-758-8133

Mailing Address:

Post Office Box 609 Kinderhook, NY 12106-0609

Website: http://www.ktcassoc.com