Nicholas Woods
b. 1971, Lynchburg, Virginia

Education 

1993 B.A. (cum laude), Middlebury College, Vermont, USA
1991-92 Tyler School of Art, Rome Program, Italy

 

Nicholas Woods childhood was spent in New York City until the age of 11, when he moved with his brother and parents to Madrid, Spain — drawn there by his family’s long connection to Spain. His paternal grandfather was an American archaeologist who excavated numerous Roman sites in Spain beginning in the 1950’s. Woods’ adolescent years were spent in Madrid where he taught himself to draw and paint, inspired by frequent visits to the Prado Museum. In 1993 he graduated with honors in Visual Art from Middlebury College, Vermont where he studied intaglio printmaking techniques, while experimenting with sculptural installations and painting. During his studies he spent one year at the Tyler School of Art program in Rome, Italy. 

 

After graduating Woods spent 2 years exploring remote landscapes. He bicycled around the perimeter of New Zealand’s south island for 3 months in winter, sleeping entirely outdoors, taking photographs, making sketches, and constructing small ephemeral sculptures out of found natural materials. He subsequently lived and worked for a year in Ecuador and ultimately on the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz where he had a an outdoor studio for 3 months. In 1995 Woods moved back to New York City where he worked as a painting assistant for Jeff Koons on his Celebration series. Since 2008 Woods’ has lived and worked in Mallorca, Spain— and more recently, also in Ithaca, New York. 

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In his latest presentation of paintings Woods has utilized previously worked canvasses —remnants recycled from his studio— as the foundation for a series of luminous, larger than life images in oil, oil stick, dry pastel, and urethane. The accumulation of multiple layers creates areas of intersecting, turbulent surface textures that partially reveal the processes involved in each painting, the traces of previous states become a formal documentation of their manufacture. Dense, deeply textured oil color impastos contrast with thin translucent areas of dry pastel on specially treated raw canvas giving the pictures an enigmatic depth. Pictures of mainly female figures alternate with close-ups of poppy pods and flowers. 

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Woods’ paintings have been exhibited in Europe and the United States: at CaixaForum Barcelona, Galería Pelaires - Palma de Mallorca, at Slowtrack - Madrid, Tim Sheward Projects - London, The Royal Standard - Liverpool, CAC Málaga - Málaga, Rena Bransten Gallery - San Francisco, Es Baluard Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art - Mallorca, Galería T20 - Murcia, Galería Maior - Mallorca and Vacío 9 - Madrid, among others. 

Public Collections
 

CAC Málaga, Málaga
Es Baluard Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Mallorca
Fundación La Caixa, Barcelona  
Ayuntamiento de Pamplona
Fundación Miró, Mallorca
Imago Mundi - Benetton Collection, Milan

Awards

Carpe Diem Arte e Pesquisa Residency, Lisbon, Portugal, 2015
Vermont Studio Center Full Fellowship, Johnson, VT, USA, 2014
Fundación Altadís Public Art Prize, ARCO ’02, Madrid.