While it’s neither completely outsider art nor folk art, the work of John Randall Nelson shares common ground with those styles, particularly in its rawness and nonconformity. He uses symbols and archetypes in his paintings and sculptures, having developed a distinct artistic vocabulary over the years that materializes in his work in text and graphic elements.
Nelson was born in Princeton, Illinois, but works out of Phoenix, Arizona. Early visits to the Art Institute of Chicago introduced Nelson to painters such as Jim Nutt, Roger Brown and Karl Wirsum. He decided to move to Arizona to study at Arizona State University where he earned his MFA in 1996.
Nelson’s subjects are as playful as they are peculiar — his textured paintings, which feature collages, layers of oil paint and an integration of text, feature everything from animals and flowers to imagined human-animal hybrids or everyday objects such as shoes and bicycles. Many paintings are populated with brightly colored polka dot patterns while his Pop art-inflected steel sculptures take on fantastical forms and draw on the Pattern and Decoration movement, which emerged in cities such as Los Angeles and New York during the early 1970s.
Nelson has exhibited all over the United States. His sculptures can be found at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, the Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix and the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Nelson’s work is held in a number of private, public and corporate collections including Apple Inc., Phoenix Public Art and Design, the American Folk Art Museum and many other institutions.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of original John Randall Nelson paintings and other art.
Wouldn't It Be Good
By John Randall Nelson
Located in Los Angeles, CA
John Randall Nelson’s paintings are layered with his own personal language consisting of patterns, symbols, and archetypes that may not make any literal sense but play on subconsciou...
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Panel
I Dream Of You
By John Randall Nelson
Located in Los Angeles, CA
John Randall Nelson’s paintings are layered with his own personal language consisting of patterns, symbols, and archetypes that may not make any literal sense but play on subconsciou...
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Panel
Relatively Exotic
By John Randall Nelson
Located in Los Angeles, CA
John Randall Nelson’s paintings are layered with his own personal language consisting of patterns, symbols, and archetypes that may not make any literal sense but play on subconsciou...
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Panel
It's All My Fault
By John Randall Nelson
Located in Los Angeles, CA
John Randall Nelson’s paintings are layered with his own personal language consisting of patterns, symbols, and archetypes that may not make any literal sense but play on subconscious associations. His paintings are thick with paint, poured pigment and saturated washes with layers of drawing and collage. While Nelson's work is akin to outsider, folk art, it should be noted that he received his MFA from Arizona State University in 1995 and has completed commissions for clients as diverse as the National Endowment for the Arts, the United States Postal Service...
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Panel
Keep Trying To
By John Randall Nelson
Located in Los Angeles, CA
"Keep Trying To", diptych, mixed media on panel — 94 x 94 inches. John Randall Nelson is an Arizona-based painter and sculptor. Nelson’s works are layered with his own personal lan...
Mixed Media, Panel
Physics of Discovering
By John Randall Nelson
Located in Los Angeles, CA
John Randall Nelson’s paintings are layered with his own personal language consisting of patterns, symbols, and archetypes that may not make any literal sense but play on subconsciou...
Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Panel
Summer Cool
By John Joseph Hanright
Located in New York, NY
Pop Art. Americana. Female centric. Ephemera, Oil, Acrylic, Resin on Panel. About the Artist: John Joseph Hanright is a contemporary painter and assemblage artist who brings to...
Resin, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic
Subject (abstract expressionisting pop art painting)
By Wayne Timm
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Wayne Timm (b.1937). Subject, 1966. Oil on canvas. 36 x 40 inches; 37 x 41 inches framed. Signed, titled and dated en verso. Minor surface cracking. Paint layer is stable with no fla...
Oil
The New Challenger For American Good Looks
By John Joseph Hanright
Located in New York, NY
Pop Art. Americana. Homage to James Dean. Ephemera, Oil, Acrylic, Resin on Panel. About the Artist: John Joseph Hanright is a contemporary painter and assemblage artist who bri...
Resin, Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel
Outside Choice, Pop Art Painting by Michael Knigin
By Michael Knigin
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Michael Knigin, American (1942 - 2011) Title: Outside Choice Year: 1984 Medium: Acrylic and Enamel on Canvas, signed l.l. and verso Size: 34 x 96 in. (86.36 x 243.84 cm) Fram...
Enamel
"Sworn to Fun, Loyal to None" Contemporary Colorful Abstract Painting on Canvas
By Daniel Oglander
Located in New York, NY
What inspired Daniel to produce this unique piece was the inner conflict he had inside of him to express his true thoughts and emotions. He thus wanted to create a collection of work...
Acrylic, Canvas
Contemporary Mixed Media Painting on Wood Panel, Acrylic Paint, Canvas Strips
By Ronald Johnson
Located in St. Louis, MO
Contemporary Mixed Media Painting on Wood Panel, Acrylic Paint, Canvas Strips Born in Columbus, Ohio in 1968, Ronald Johnson received an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in...
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Polyurethane, Other Medium
