Kim Nelson | Symbolist painter

Australian painter Kim Nelson (1958-2015) lives and works in the foothills of the Brindabella mountain range, near the Australian National Capital, Canberra.

Born in Kiama, Nelson grew up in a farming community on the New South Wales south coast.

His artistic abilities were evident very early in his childhood, both in art and music.

In 1976, on the suggestion of his uncle, Australian landscape artist Leonard Long, Nelson spent a year at the renowned Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney, studying life drawing.

He subsequently embarked on a career in graphic design and advertising concurrent with a career as a singer/songwriter in contemporary music.

He was to spend the greater part of a decade in this field.

This was followed by 10 years as manager/curator of historic house museums primarily for the National Trust of Australia (Cooma Cottage).

In 1995 he was acting senior curator of Lanyon and Calthorpes' House in Canberra.

In 1996 Nelson retired from curatorial work to embark on a full-time career in fine art.

He has staged many solo exhibitions and completed commissioned art for a diverse range of organizations and individuals from National Trust of Australia, Pan MacMillan Publishing, ACT Supreme Court through to international media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

Upon opening Nelson's first Sydney exhibition, art investor and financial guru, the late Rene Rivkin stated in his address "I like it, I think you should buy it!"

In 2004, Nelson embarked on an artistic pilgrimage to visit the home of German Renaissance artist, Albrecht Dürer and to attend a major retrospective of the late Italian artist Massimo Rao staged at the Panorama Museum in Bad Frankenhausen, Germany.

This trip to Europe inspired and informed three separate solo exhibitions in 2005 – 'Postcards', 'Icon' and 'Beyond These Shores', the last of which was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore MP.

Since 2006, Nelson has been represented by United Galleries in both Sydney and Perth.

In 2008, United Editions published 'NELSON – The Art of Kim Nelson' being the first published survey of Nelson's output over the period from 1996 to 2008 and included text by gallery director Robert Buratti and author Brian Caswell.

He has been a finalist in the Black Swan Prize, the Country Arts Energy Prize, Shirley Hannan National Portrait Prize amongst many others.

He has completed work for UNICEF, and completed major commissions for media mogul Rupert Murdoch. His work can be found gracing the walls of such headquarters as News Corp., New York and the Australia High Commission in London.

In 2013 Nelson was named Yass Valley Shire 'Citizen of the Year' in the Australia Day honours for his work in the community and specifically for the YASSarts initiative.

Though his work can be quite diverse he identifies most strongly with symbolism and the spiritual, drawing much inspiration from the great works of the past. "I seek not to emulate the styles and techniques of the past, but to reinterpret and develop them in the present and for the future".

Kim Nelson is committed to using his talent in assisting others, having gifted art and design to many major and minor organizations and charities such as UNICEF Australia, Hope for the Children (Rotary International), AMACC (Afghan Mother and Child Care), Koomarri Canberra, The Smith Family, NSW Volunteer Bushfire Brigade, CanAssist along with numerous local and amateur groups.

He also, from time to time, still curates exhibitions on behalf of others and is the creator of the regional arts website YASSarts.