About the work

Tyson is primarily known as a painter but has also worked with photography, film, performance and the written word. Her work has continued to gain recognition for its reimagining of the female figure in relation to concepts of identity and the social gaze. She sets out to describe the female body as experienced rather than merely observed. Moving beyond a mimetic, objectifying approach, she explores the body as a constantly shifting set of felt coordinates. Through this process, her distinctive images often blur the distinction between representation and abstraction. 

Date and country of birth

1960, GB

About the artist

Born 1960 London, Nicola Tyson lives and works in London. Graduated from Chelsea School of Art, London (1980); St. Martins School of Art, London (1981); and Central St. Martins School of Art, London (1989).

Primarily known as a painter, Tyson has also worked with photography, film, performance and the written word.

Her work is held in public and private collections including Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Whitney Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C; and Tate, London.

Selected solo exhibitions include Sense of Self, Petzel Gallery, New York (2020); Works on Paper (online), Petzel Gallery, New York (2020); Beyond the Trace, Drawing Room, London (2017); A Tendency to Flock, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2017); Nicola Tyson, The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2017); Works on Paper, Petzel Gallery, New York (2016); Living Dangerously, Cleveland Institute of Art (2016); “Goodbye/Hello”, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris (2015); Trouble in Happiness, Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles Projects, Culver City (2014); and Nicola Tyson: Bowie Nights, at Billy’s Club, London, 1978, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2013). Selected group exhibitions include Closer to Life: Drawings and Works on Paper in the Marieluise Hessel Collection, CCS Bard, Husdon (2021); 100 Drawings from Now, Drawing Center, New York (2020); Flora + Fauna, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2020); Inaugural Exhibition, Susanne Vielmetter Gallery, Los Angeles (2019); Close: Drawn Portraits, Drawing Room, London (2018); Cast of Characters, Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, New York (2018); Nudes, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2018); ISelf Collection: Bumped Bodies, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2018); Simon Denny, Sarah Morris, Joyce Pensato, Seth Price, Dirk Skreber, Hiroki Tsukuda, Nicola Tyson, Petzel at Nanzuka, Tokyo (2017); Artistic Differences, ICA, London (2016); and The Nakeds, Drawing Room, London and De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill On Sea (2014).