Hello, my name is Nolan Flynn and here’s a little about myself
I live in three worlds, one a conceptual world where in a diary fashion I respond to life ever-changing on the canvas. Exploring situations, materials and compositions within the personal conversation that unfolds honestly upon the surface.
A second one where I create fractal reproductions of times, memories, or moments that are clinically more laborious and accessible. This lends the style to more of a personal or commission friendly approach helping pay the bills and become more widely known. As a living, and working artist I’m not shy to say you have to…
And my third approach, which I say is essentially for myself. It involves the pure joy of urgency and movement within each brushstroke. A zest for the ambiguous non confrontational compositional calisthenics; they are fun and I don’t care.
Biography:
My passion for art began early, nurtured by a creative upbringing with parents who were educators; one a high school art teacher and practicing artist, the other a history teacher. This supportive environment fostered my artistic curiosity and exploration from a young age, shaping my journey as an artist.
After earning my undergraduate degree in painting, I established a studio at the Park Trades Center, a thriving community of over 200 local artists. Immersed in this vibrant environment, I moved beyond traditional figurative work to delve into abstraction, exploring structural elements and developing a distinct artistic voice. Inspired by influential artists such as Cy Twombly, Joseph Beuys, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Christo, I began integrating a codified visual language into my work, using sketches and notes to construct narratives and engage deeply with the canvas.
Graduate studies at the University of Utah further evolved my practice, allowing me to examine the interplay between internal and external influences while documenting the subconscious through a meta-critical lens. My current work investigates the dynamic rhythms of optical information, transitioning from intuitive initial marks to fully realized compositions that reflect a dialogue between spontaneity and structure. This continual documentation of decisions within the work create a greater dialogue surrounding the creative narrative.
Either way you got here welcome to my site, and thank you for taking the time to look.
CV
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Painter | Researcher nolanflynn3@gmail.com
Education
2019 MFA University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
2012 BFA Painting Emphasis, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Upcoming Shows
2027 “Beyond the Scope of Singular Imagery,” Finch Lane Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
(Solo August 30th - October 8th)
2027 “Assemblages in Space”, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, Utah
(Solo January 22- April 9th)
2026 International Open Call, MIXI Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
(October 17- November 7th)
2026- Currently on Display at Inart Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Experience
2019- 26 Art Teacher, Stansbury High School, Tooele, Utah
2024-25 Column Writer, 15Bytes Artist of Utah
2019-20 Adjunct Professor Lecturer, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
(Painting 1/ Advanced drawing)
2018-19 Teaching Assistant, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
(Non- Major/ Advanced Non-Major Drawing [Instructor of Record] )
2017-18 Teacher’s Assistant, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah ( Advanced Drawing )
Exhibitions (Group)
2026 Into the Meridian, Weems Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2026 11th Annual Color Juried Competition, Teravarna Art Gallery, Los Angelas, California
2026 Juried into the Santa Fe Gallery Association's 2026 Artist Catalog, https://www.santafegalleryassociation.org online (12 months )
2026 Winter Salon/Spring Salon Group Shows, Meyer Gallery, Park City, Utah
2026 Mixed Media, Part Crowd Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2026 UMOCA Gala, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, Utah
2026 Experiments. in Dimensional Drift, One Modern, Salt Lake City, Utah
2026 Contemporary Landscape, CICA Museum, 196-30 Samdo-ro, Yangchon-eup, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
2025 Group Show, The Front Rail Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
2025 Something from Everything, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, Utah
2025 UMOCA Gala, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, Utah
2025 Exhibizone: Happiness, Online April 12- June 1st, https://www.exhibizone.com/p/happiness2025.html?name=nolan-flynn
2025 Spring Salon, Harrington Art Studio, Midvale, Utah
2024 La Dolce Vita, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, Utah
2024 Reflections, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, Maryland
2024 Disparate Realities, Erosion SLC, Salt Lake City, Utah
2023 Gala Auction, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, Utah
2022 Modes of Thought and Vision, One Modern, Salt Lake City, Utah
2022 Statewide Annual Competition, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, Utah
2022 Dear Diary, Catalyst Contemporary, Baltimore, Maryland
2021 Presidents Show, SLCC Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
2020 March Group Show, Jones Gallery, Kansas City, Kansas
2020 Statewide Annual Competition, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, Utah
2019 8th International Triennial of Graphic Arts Sofia, Sofia Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria
2019 Abstraction is just a word, but I use it, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, Utah
2019 Statewide Annual Competition, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, Utah
2019 Call and Response, Studio Elevn, Salt lake City, Utah
2018 Postmodernposh, Rio Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
2018 Overlay, Studio Elevn, Salt Lake City, Utah
2018 Shades of Pale, Salt Lake City, Utah
2017 MFA Interim Show, Salt Lake City, Utah
2017 August Salon Show, Royal Sage Gallery, Kalamazoo, Michigan
2016 September Showcase, Pickkzoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan
2012 Artprize, Wood TV 8, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2012 Spring Open, Albertine-Monroe Brown Gallery, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Exhibitions (Solo)
2023 Natural Decisions, Al Filo Del Agua, La Cruz De Huanacaxtle, Nayarit, Mexico
2020 Logical Elasticity, Catalyst Contemporary, Baltimore, Maryland
2019 Launch Points, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, Utah
2019 Conversations with Myself, Alvin Gitten’s Gallery, Salt Lake City, Utah
2016 Anthrochromatic, Briteeyes Brewing, Kalamazoo, Michigan
2013 About Face, Albertine-Monroe Brown Gallery, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Publications as Author
2025 “ Carlos Rosales-Silva’s ‘Mariposa’ Bridges Ecological and Human Migration” 15Bytes Artists of Utah, August 7th https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/carlos-rosales-silvas-mariposa-bridges-ecological-and-human-migration/
2025 “ Rice and Manley Construct a Library of Memory and Collapse at Finch Lane” 15Bytes Artists of Utah, August 5th https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/rice-and-manley-construct-a-library-of-memory-and-collapse-at-finch-lane/
2025 “Weightless and Woven: The Poetic Ceramics of Dara Hartman” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, March 31st https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/weightless-and-woven-the-poetic-ceramics-of-dara-hartman/
2025 “Altar/Alter Balances Balances Ritual and Irreverence” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, March 26th https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/altar-alter-balances-ritual-and-irreverence/
2025 “Artifact or Apparatus? The Strange Allure of Stephen Wolochowicz’s Sculptures” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, March 25th https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/artifact-or-apparatus-the-strange-allure-of-stephen-wolochowiczs/
2025 “At Phillips, Utah State University Artists Explore Clay’s Transformative Nature” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, March 19 https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/at-phillips-utah-state-university-artists-explore-clays-transformative-nature/
2025 “ Breaking, Mending, Remembering: The language of Clay in the Kimball’s Traces” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, March 13th https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/breaking-mending-remembering-the-language-of-clay-in-the-kimballs-traces/
2025 “Where Figures Meet Flow: Joe Brubaker and Heather Zusman in Conversation” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, March 10th https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/where-figures-meet-flow-joe-brubaker-and-heather-zusman-in-conversation/
2025 “Between Realism and Reverence: The Wild Worlds of Carel Brest van Kempen” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, February 15th http://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/between-realism-and-reverence-the-wild-worlds-of-carel-brest-van-kempen/
2025 “The Weight of Extraction: Christopher Lynn’s Industrial Elegy at Finch Lane” 15 Bytes Artist of Utah, February 12th http://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/the-weight-of-extraction-christopher-lynns-industrial-elegy-at-finch-lane/
2025 “American Mythology: Blurring Reality. and Imagination in Jerrin Wagstaff’s Art” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, January 16th https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/american-mythology-blurring-reality-and-imagination-in-jerrin-wagstaffs-art/
2024 “Memory and Landscape: Reflections from Utah State University East Gallery,” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, December 10th https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/memory-and-landscape-reflections-from-the-utah-state-university-east-gallery/
2024. “Whispers in Stillness: The Emotional Resonance of James Talbot’s Work",”15 Bytes Artists of Utah, October 3rd http://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/whispers-in-stillness-the-emotional-resonance-of-james-talbots-work/
2024 “Jennifer Rasmusson’s Delicate Balance of Form and Emotion at “A” Gallery,” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, September 25th
2018 “Caught in Jonathan Frioux’s Net,” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, November 22nd
http://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/caught-in-jonathan-frioxs-net/
Publications
2026 “Artist Profile” Artistcloseup Magazine, August 25th, https://www.artistcloseup.com/blog/artist-profile-nolan-flynn
2025 “What We have to Prove: Nolan Flynn’s. Practice and Play at HAS'“, 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, April 21st, https://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/index.php/what-we-have-to-prove-nolan-flynns-practice-and-play-at-has/
2025 “ Supercontemporary”, Meta Space Gallery, pages 36-37 https://metaspacegallery.co.uk/supercontemporary/
2022 “Dictionary of Utah Fine Artists”, Swansen Vern, Published by Gibbs Smith, ISBN 1423644328
2020 “Nolan Flynn’s Momentary State of Being,” 15 Bytes Artists of Utah, January 15th http://artistsofutah.org/15Bytes/?s=nolan+flynn
Awards
2021 Honorable Mention, 46th Annual Statewide Exhibition, Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, Utah
2019 Utahs Permanent Collection, “A corrected Landscape,” Salt Lake City, UT
2019 Honorable Mention, Playground Detroit, Juror Ellen Rutt, Detroit, Michigan
2018-19 Alvin Gitten’s Teaching Fellow, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
2011-12 College of Fine Arts Dean’s Award (Painting), Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
2011-12 Robert and Elenor DeVries Exhibitions Award, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
2011-12 Art Star Award, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Design Collaborations
2023 Art House Consulting, Salt Lake City, Utah
2021 Avia Apartments, Salt Lake City, Utah
2021 The Shop, Salt Lake City, Utah
Permanent Collections
2026 CICA Museum, 196-30 Samdo-ro, Yangchon-eup, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
2019 Sofia 8th Print International Triennial, Sofia, Bulgaria
2019 Utah State Permanent Collections, “Corrected Landscape,” Salt Lake City, Utah
Visiting Artist Lectures
2019-20 Ab- Ex Painting workshops, The Painting Collective, Park City, UT
2018 Presentation, Undergraduate Painting II, University of Utah, Salt lake City, Utah October 17.
Artist Residencies
2019 Taft-Nicholson Artist-in Residence Program, Lima, Montana ( July 3 - 10)
nolanflynn3@gmail.com