Self Portrait (non-objective composition) (yellow cross)
(1990)
Medium
enamel paint on plywood
Measurements
177.6 × 165.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of Chase Manhattan Overseas Corporation, Fellow, 1991
© Courtesy of the artist
Gallery location
Gallery 10
Level 2, NGV Australia
About this work
Through his work, John Nixon – one of Australia’s most respected abstract artists – explored radical modernism, focusing on Constructivist and Minimalist principles. Nixon frequently reused the motifs of the cross, the square and the circle, giving his work a serial quality and denaturing the forms to the equivalent of a logo. The cross also references the work of Russian abstractionist Kazimir Malevich, and functions as both an artist signature and a symbol for Christ. As indicated by the title, this work can be read as a minimalist reduction to the conceptual essence of the self and of art.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
A11-1991
Department
Contemporary Art
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Subjects (general)
Nonrepresentational Art
Subjects (specific)
black (colour) crosses (motifs) flat (form attributes) geometric abstraction yellow (colour)
Movements
Contemporary (style of art)