FRED NELSON Straddling the Line
Straddling the Line
My paintings have always been about landscape. Over the years the work has changed, both in content and imagery. One series of paintings leads to another. A gradual refinement from vast panoramas to the specific. For the past six years my paintings have been based on gardens. Gardens are the “tended to” aspects of landscape. The space, the color, shape, texture and space are key elements in landscape and in my work.
The primary influence of my work comes from a philosophy, which suggests the primacy of a personal response and the interpretation rather than the copy of nature. The paintings straddle the line between abstraction and realism, what is seen and what is imagined. This sensibility, both aesthetically and philosophically, expressed in this duality of approaches is an interpretive, personal response to the visual world.
-Fred
Nelson, 2021
Fred Nelson’s paintings are human scale, intimate, contemplative, and poetic. He builds them through multiple layers of paint that resonate with the layers one finds in nature. Close examination reveals color subtly shining under or beside other unexpected color shapes, creating atmosphere, space and light. In addition, the visual movement of the paintings echoes the way one physically moves through the landscape. Nelson’s paintings occupy that territory between recognizable imagery and abstraction, hovering back and forth, each quality strengthening the other.
Fred Nelson lives and maintains his studio in St. Louis. He is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Painting and Drawing and a residency at the Cite International des Arts in Paris. Nelson has exhibited nationally and internationally. His work is included in over 170 private collections and in the permanent collection of over 50 corporate and public institutions including the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Washington University School of Medicine, Bank of America, US Bank, Champion International, Cincinnati Bell, The Fort Smith Art Museum, the Four Seasons Hotel, Abu Dhabi and R.R. Donnelly International.
Le Jardins de Chine 22, 2021, oil on canvas, 52” x 44”
Le Jardins de Chine 20, 2020, oil on canvas, 54” x 42”
Le Jardins de Chine 11, 2018, oil on canvas, 56” x 46.75”
Summer Blues, 2020, oil on canvas, 26” x 38”
Le Jardins de Chine 17, 2020, oil on canvas, 50” x 42”
Le Jardins de Chine 18, 2020, oil on canvas, 50” x 42”
Le Jardins de Chine 13, 2019, oil on canvas, 36” x 32”
Fleur du Mal Lust, 2019, oil on canvas, 42” x 32”
Le Jardins de Chine 21, 2020, oil on canvas, 44” x 38”
Fleur du Mal Pride, 2019, oil on canvas, 42” x 32”
Le Jardins de Chine 15, 2019, oil on canvas, 50” x 38”
Le Jardins de Chine 16, 2020, oil on canvas, 50” x 38”
Le Jardins de Chine 12, 2019, oil on canvas, 48” x 36”
Garden of Babylon, 2020, oil on canvas, 36” x 22”
Envy’s Garden Revisited, 2020, oil on canvas, 32” x 50”
Le Jardins de Chine Chinois Rouge, 2021, oil on canvas, 44” x 38”
Museum Exhibitions
2019 Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, Fort Smith AR.,”RAM Annual Invitational” Quincy Art Center, Quincy, IL. “Biennial Quad State Exhibition”
2016 Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, Fort Smith Ar., “Selections From The Permanent Collection”
2013 Fredericksburg Museum, Fredericksburg, VA., “Abstraction and Reality”
2012 Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia,MO., “10! The First Decade”
2011 The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts, Fredericksburg, VA., “Abstraction”
2009 The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts, Fredericksburg, VA., “A Fine Line”
2008 The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO “Recent Acquisitions”
2007 The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO “St. Louis Painters Invitational”
2006 The Springfield Museum, Springfield, MO, “MOAK 4 State Regional Exhibition”
2004 The Springfield Museum, Springfield, MO, “Watercolor USA 2004”
2002 The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
2001 Mitchell Museum at Cedarhurst, Mt. Vernon, IL
Burlington Art Center, Burlington IA, “6th Annual Juried Exhibition”
One Person Exhibition
2021 Sherry LeedyContemporary Art, Kansas City, MO. “Fred Nelson: Straddling the Line”
2019 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “Random Occurrences”
2018 Fontbonne University, Clayton MO. “The Apsara Series”
2015 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO., “The Gardens at Abbeville” Messing Gallery, Ladue Mo., Fredrick Nelson: “Works on Paper”
2012 Atrium Gallery, St.Louis, MO. “Songs Without Words”
2010 Atrium Gallery, St.Louis, MO. “Intuitive Theories”
2008 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “Random Occurrences”
2006 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “Flowers, Love and Lies”
2005 Forest Park Community College, St. Louis, MO. “In Black and White”
2004 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “Love, Lust, Salvation and Other Pursuits”
2003 Monarch Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “Works on Paper”
2002 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “Urban Blues”
Group Exhibitions
2020 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO “These New Walls” Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO “20 for 2020
2019 Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City Mo., “Late Summer Showcase”
2018 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “Scale It” Chambersburg Art Center, Chambersburg, PA. “34th Annual Miniature Art Exhibition’
Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “Winter Selections – In the Abstract”
2017 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO, “Abstraction
Hartnett Hall Gallery, Minot State University, Minot ND, “Americas 2017: Paperworks”
Atrium Gallery, St, Louis, MO. “All The Blues”
2016 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO., “From the Racks”
2015 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO., “Summer Rotation”
St. Louis Artist’ Guild, Clayton, MO., “Collectors Choice XIV”
Webster University, Webster Groves, MO., “40 for 100”
Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO., “Wintry Mix”
Sidney Larson Gallery, Columbia, MO., “36th Annual Paper In Particular”
2014
Atrium Gallery, St.Louis, MO., “Summer Rotation Works on Paper
Priebe Art Gallery, Univ. Wisconsin, Oshkosh, WI., “De-Composition”
2013 Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO., “Dealer’s Choice”
2012 Union Street Gallery, Chicago, IL., “Blur”
Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “RED”
Columbia College, Columbia, MO. “33rd Annual Paper In Particular National Exhibition”
Public Collections
The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, Fort Smith, AR
Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris, France
Mary Institute St. Louis Country Day School, Ladue, MO.
Minot State University, Minot ND
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
Forsyth School, Clayton, MO.
Chennel Gallery, London, England
L.Y.C. Museum, Brampton, England
Fontbonne College, Clayton, MO.
Webster University, Webster Groves, MO
Corporate Collections
A.G. Edwards, St. Louis, MO.
Alsowah Square Properties, Four Seasons Hotel, Abu Dhabi
Anheuser Bush, St. Louis, MO.
Armstrong, Teasdale, Schafly and Davis, St. Louis, MO.
Bank of America, St. Louis, MO.
Bryan, Cave, St. Louis, MO.
Centel Corporation, Chicago, IL.
Champion International, St. Louis, MO.
Cincinnati Bell Information Systems, Cincinnati, OH.
Computer Systems International, St. Louis, MO
Draper and Kramer, Chicago, IL.
First National Bank, Columbia, MO.
Fogelman Byrnes, Memphis, TN.
Harper & Row, Medical Publishing Division, St. Louis, MO.
HBE Corporation, Adams Mark, Buffalo, NY.
HBE Corporation, Adams Mark, Dallas, TX.
Holiday Inn Regional Headquarters, Shawnee Mission, KS.
Husch, Eppenberger, Dohohue, Cornfeld & Jenkins, St. Louis, MO.
Hussain & Bendersky, LLC. Chicago, IL
Johnson & Higgins, St. Louis, MO.
Krey Distributing Company, St. Louis, MO.
LaSalle Partners, Chicago, IL.
Meceli Holding Company, St. Louis, MO.
Morris Holdings Inc., St. Louis, MO.
Mosaic, St. Louis, MO
Northwestern Bottle Company, St. Louis, MO.
Parkcrest Surgical Association, St. Louis, MO.
Paul Stuart, Chicago, IL.
