Christian Nicolay
CV
Christian Nicolay
Education
2000 Bachelor of Fine Arts, (Honours, with distinction), University of British Columbia, (UBC Okanagan), Kelowna BC, Canada
Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions (Selected)
2027 Margins of Error, VisualSpace Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada (forthcoming)
2023 Perpetual Navigation, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Burnaby BC, Canada
2020 In The In Between, Celtic Shipyards, Vancouver BC, Canada
2018 No Where Now Here, Kimoto Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2018 No Where Now Here, XPO, Enschede, Netherlands
2016 Somewhere in Between the Boundaries, Absolute Space for the Arts, Tainan City, Taiwan, collaboration with Ya-chu Kang
2014 Upside Down Fire, Initial Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada, collaboration with Ya-chu Kang
2013 Boom and Bust - 澎呀派, Art Experience Gallery, Hong Kong, China, collaboration with Ya-chu Kang
2013 Carry an Object with You, Capture Photography Festival, Kimoto Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada, collaboration with Ya-chu Kang
2013 Portable Walls, Maple Ridge Art Gallery, Maple Ridge BC, Canada, collaboration with Ya-chu Kang
2012 Portable Walls, Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada, collaboration with Ya-chu Kang
2010 Nomadic Recoils, Äkkigalleria, Jyväskylä, Finland, with Roy Hopiavuori
2010 Point of Reference, View Art Gallery, Victoria BC, Canada, with Yuri Arajs
2009 Collections in Faith, Winsor Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2008 Hope Floats, Alternator Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada
2008 Open Spaces, The Art Ark Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada
2007 Project Flyleaf in the Fridge, The Art Ark Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada
2006 Project Flyleaf, Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2005 ACTions of Mass Construction, Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2004 (un)common (playing)ground, Kelowna Art Gallery, curated by Linda Sawchn, Kelowna BC, Canada
2004 Life on Exchange, The Art Ark Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada, with Jenny Long
2003 Conversations with a Brick Wall, Old School House Arts Centre, Qualicum Beach BC, Canada
2002 Systematic Confusion, Ballard Lederer Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2002 Pedestrian Hitch-hiker with a Chair, Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2002 Art on the Fringes, Ballard Lederer Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada, with Davida Kidd
Group Exhibitions (Selected)
2026 Another Room, Gallery 881, Vancouver BC, Canada
2026 Lost & Found, Museum of Personal Failure, Vancouver BC, Canada
2025 Clocking In for Unpaid Labour, Deer Lake Art Gallery, Burnaby BC, Canada
2024 STIFF, Juried, SKC Gallery, Rijeka, Croatia
2024 Auf nach Woanders / Off to Elsewhere, Münchner Kammerspiele, Therese-Giehse-Halle, Munich, Germany
2023 Curateditions, 560 Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2022 We Meet Again, Lake Country Art Gallery, Lake Country BC, Canada
2022 Penn IDEA Art Award & Exhibition, Trapp Projects, Vancouver BC, Canada
2021 Beyond The Surface, Atelier 818, Vancouver BC, Canada
2021 Mnemosphere Project, International Art & Design Conference, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
2020 Foto Festival Schiedam 2020, StaamUp, Netherlands
2020 15, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada
2019 Nostalgia, Capture Photography Festival, SAD Space, Vancouver BC, Canada
2018 Beyond Words: WRO on Tour #25, ArtSpace, Tel Aviv, Israel
2018 New Poetics of Labor, Teatro Lido, Cinemateca, Municipal de Medellín, Colombia
2018 TOSH 30, Old School House Arts Centre, Qualicum Beach BC, Canada
2017 House Games Triennial, Äkkigalleria, Jyväskylä, Finland
2017 Abstract: Design Showcase, Kimoto Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2016 Summer Mix II, Kimoto Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2015 Convergence, National Art Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
2015 Yuejin Lantern Festival, Yuejingang Riverside, Yanshui District, Tainan, Taiwan
2015 The Great Scenery, Absolute Space for the Arts, Tainan City, Taiwan
2013 Origin within Nations, Air Force Heritage House, Pingtung, Taiwan
2013 Duppini LIKE: The Old Post Office and Modern Means of Communication, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
2013 The Dying Eye, Community Art Space, Hangzhou, China
2012 The Dying Eye, Museum of Medical Humanities, Taipei, Taiwan
2012 Taipei Original Festival, Songshan Culture and Creative Park, Taipei, Taiwan, collaboration with Ya-chu Kang & S.H.E.
2012 Schmiede Art Festival, Hallein, Austria
2012 SWARM, Good Luck Art Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2012 Excuse Me, How Rude?!, Gallery Fukai, Vancouver BC, Canada
2012 The Material Glitch, Quinary Art Projects, Vancouver BC, Canada
2012 Patchbox, Elsewhere Factory, Rome, Italy
2012 Valcellina Award International Contemporary Textile/Fiber, Manlago, Italy
2011 UNIT/PITT series Ill Repute Project, Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2011 Wind Heaped Up, CAMP Talganie Museum, Okinawa, Japan
2011 Drawing Connections, Siena Art Institute, Siena, Italy
2011 House Games, Äkkigalleria, Jyväskylä, Finland
2011 The Ocean in Us, United Nations Safe Planet Exhibition, The Roundhouse, Vancouver BC, Canada
2010 A.I.R. Group Show, Taipei Artists Village,TAV, Taipei, Taiwan
2010 The Group Show, Masik Studios, Vancouver BC, Canada
2010 Artwalk Vancouver 2010, 2-32 Water Street, Vancouver BC, Canada
2009 Once Upon a Pond....pond hockey and global warming, Esplanade Art Gallery, curated by Linda Sawchyn, Medicine Hat AB, Canada
2009 Stone Soup, Grace Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada, 3 person collaboration with Lisa Birke and Eben Bender
2008 Made in the West, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada
2008 Cheaper than a one night stand 8, Old Storyeum Building, Vancouver BC, Canada
2008 Unite for Art, Arthouse Gallery, with UNICEF, Vancouver BC, Canada
2006 Regeneration, Arthouse Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2005 Return to Sender, 69 Pender Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2004 Soft Emergencies, Viking Union Gallery, Bellingham WA, USA
2003 Artropolis 2003, CBC-TV Studios, Vancouver BC, Canada
2002 O2txt: Celebrating the Visual Word, Chidlaw Gallery, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati OH, USA
2001 Helen Pitt Triennial Exhibition, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada
2000 Unstable Motion, Gallerie Verticale, curated by Marcel Saint-Pierre, Laval QC, Canada
2000 Emerging, Alternator Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada, with Diana Thornycroft
1997 Land Biography: Pa(y)ssages of the Okanagan, Juried, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada
Film Festivals and Screenings (Selected)
2026 Art Summer 2026, Museum of Modern Art, Florina, Greece
2026 On Art - Poland Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland
2026 Video Art Miden, Kalamata, Greece
2026 Award Winners: Summer 2025, VisualContainerTv, Milan, Italy
2025 Pebbles Underground Film and Video Art Festival, Toronto ON, Canada
2024 Voices 2024, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA) Museum, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
2020 What is (a) Punk, VIVO Media Arts Centre, Vancouver BC, Canada
2019 MADATAC X, Post Digital Star, Cineteca Matadero, Madrid, Spain
2018 Outside/Outsiders, Cinémathèque de Grenoble, France
2017 International Short Film Festival, First Selection, Kalmthout, Belgium
2017 Kunst Film Festival #3, Berlin, Germany
2017 THE „OKIEM MŁODYCH” FESTIVAL, Świdnica, Poland
2017 17th Media Art Biennale, WRO BIENNALE 2017: DRAFT SYSTEMS, Wroclaw, Poland
2015 7th Cairo Video Festival, Cairo, Egypt
2014 VAEFF, Video Art and Experimental Film Festival, Tribeca Cinemas, New York City NY, USA
2014 Wayfinding Film Festival, Traveling festival screening at Force Field Festival, Philadelphia PA & Wassaic Project, Wassaic NY, USA
2013 SESIFF: The 5th Seoul International Extreme-Short Image and Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea
2012 ANEMIC: Independent Film and New Media Festival, Prague, Czech Republic
2012 Portland International Film Festival, Portland OR, USA
2012 Make it Short, NW Film Center, Portland OR, USA
2012 Shift, Headbones Gallery, Vernon BC, Canada
2010 Art’s Birthday: Retro Future, Video Pool Media Arts Centre, Winnipeg MB, Canada
2010 Project 5, Bloedel Conservatory, Vancouver BC, Canada
2009 VIDEOHOLICA, International Video Art Festival, 2nd Edition/ Peking Duck or Video in time of crisis, Juried, Varna, Bulgaria
2008 HI MOM FILM Festival #10, Chapel Hill, Carrboro NC, USA
2008 Soundwave>Series ((3)), ME’D1.ATE Network, San Francisco CA, USA, with Sam McKinlay
2007 International Short Film Festival, Fundacion Octaedro, Quito-Ecuador, South America
2006 NEXTFest, Next Generation Arts Festival, Edmonton AB, Canada
2006 HI MOM FILM Festival #9, Chapel Hill, Carrboro NC, USA
2006 Signal & Noise 2006, Video In Studios, Vancouver BC, Canada
2005 Temporal Transmissions, Eastern Edge Gallery, St. John’s NF, Canada
2005 Neighbourhood, Centre A Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2005 HI MOM FILM Festival #8, Chapel Hill, Carrboro NC, USA
2005 Temporal Transmissions, Alternator Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada
2005 Duotone Arts Festival 2005, Kelowna BC, Canada
2004 Bien jouer, love, Underground, Calgary AB, Canada
2001 Asleep at the Wheel, Trinity Square Video, Toronto ON, Canada, with Stephen Foster, Gary Pearson, & Brian Gotro
Performances (Selected)
2026 The Day Job, Various undisclosed locations around the world, 2003 - Ongoing Project
2026 Where I Lay My Head Is Home, Various locations around the world, 2006 - Ongoing Project
2012 Recipes for Walls, Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada, collaboration with Ya-chu Kang
2010 Clamour and Toll, Candahar Bar Project, Playwrights Theatre Centre, curated by Eli Bornowsky, Vancouver BC, Canada, with Ya-chu Kang
2008 Atlantis, Vancouver Fashion Week, the Chapel, Vancouver BC, Canada, with Pacificthorn
2008 Birdman, Old San Juan Square, Puerto Rico
2007 Dracula vs. Jesus (Vote 2008 series), Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy
2006 BLIM does FUSE, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2006 Canadiana & All Places In Between, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada, collaboration with Lisa Birke
2005 Amplify, Chief Dan George Centre, Vancouver BC, Canada
2005 AMPTANK, Klondike Route Claim #6, Dawson City YK, Canada
2005 Signal & Noise 2005, Video In Studios, Vancouver BC, Canada
2004 Raw & Cooked, The Western Front, Vancouver BC, Canada, collaboration with Eli Bornowsky & The Rita
2002 The Rita is in the Hospital, Miss T’s Cabaret, Vancouver BC, Canada, collaboration with The Rita
2001 Lucille Balls, The Last Chance Saloon, Wayne AB, Canada, collaboration with Neil Peters
2001 York Hotel: Grande Prairie, The York Hotel, Grande Prairie AB, Canada, collaboration with Neil Peters & Brian Gotro
2000 Hitch-hiker with a chair, Hitch-hiked across Canada (BC – QC) with a wooden Chair, Gallery Exchange with Alternator Gallery, Kelowna
BC, Canada, and Gallerie Verticale, Laval QC, Canada, supported by the Canada Council for the Arts
1999 Solo, Kastpo Castle, Kalymnos, Greece
1999 Question Christian, St. Stephens Cathedral, Vienna, Austria
1999 Growl, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada, with Nobuo Kubota
Residencies and Fellowships
2022 Deer Lake Artist Residency, Burnaby BC, Canada
2018 Artist Residency Enschede (ARE), Enschede, Netherlands
2015 Äkkigalleria, Jyväskylä, Finland
2010 Taipei Artist Village (TAV), Taipei, Taiwan
2010 Äkkigalleria, Jyväskylä, Finland
2006 New Adventures in Sound Art, Deep Wireless Festival, CBC Radio One, OutFront & Charles Street Video, Toronto ON, Canada
2004 Alternator Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada
Publications, Press and Reviews (Selected)
2026 Shifting Thresholds, DER GREIF, Guest Room, curated by Auronda Scalera & Alfredo Cramerotti
2023 Sell Out: 5 Questions with Christian Nicolay, SAD MAG, Vancouver BC, Canada
2023 Ceramic Cubiform, Paul de Guzman Review, Vancouver BC, Canada
2022 Quiet, Booooooom, Vancouver BC, Canada
2021 Mala 84, Evergreen Review, F/W, New York NY, USA
2021 What is the New Reality, Superpresent, Houston Texas, USA
2016 Silent Graffiti, An Artist Who Hides His Work in Public, SAD MAG, Vancouver BC, Canada
2016 Artists’ Recycle the Day to Day, China Daily News, Tainan, Taiwan
2015 Äkkigallerian Näyttely Syntyi Roskista, Keskisuomalainen, Central Finland
2015 United Daily News, Taiwan
2015 Chinatimes Newspaper, Taiwan
2014 Upside Down Fire at Initial Gallery, Vancouver Is Awesome, Vancouver BC, Canada
2014 The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver BC, Canada
2014 Upside Down Fire, Worldjournal, Vancouver BC, Canada
2013 Boom and Bust, Oriental Daily News, Hong Kong
2013 Artist Duo creates Portable Walls, Maple Ridge News, Maple Ridge BC, Canada
2012 Portable Walls: Christian Nicolay & Ya-chu Kang, Preview Magazine, Vancouver BC, Canada
2010 Christian Nicolay, DRAWN Festival and the Revival of Sketch in Vancouver, SAD MAG, Vancouver BC, Canada
2010 Hylkyjen uusi elama, Keskisuomalainen, Central Finland
2010 Creativity between Art, Ethics, and Performance, Artist Magazine, Taipei, Taiwan
2010 Learning as Gifting: the entrée to community through sharing, Lateral Learning, curated by Paul Butler, commissioned writing Dr. Jeanne
Randolph and Mark Clintberg, Vantage Art Projects, Vancouver BC, Canada
2008 The Grindermen, San Francisco Weekly, San Francisco CA, USA
2007 Previews and Profiles, Galleries West, Vancouver BC, Canada
2005 Space, Place, History in the Neighborhood, The Georgia Straight, Vancouver BC, Canada
2005 Signal & Noise Festival, Terminal City, Vancouver BC, Canada
2004 Taking the Common… Someplace Else, Event, Kelowna BC, Canada
2004 Christian Nicolay, Woo Magazine, Vancouver BC, Canada
2003 Performance, Material and the Aesthetic, COLOR Magazine, Vancouver BC, Canada
2002 Making Marks, Vancouver Lifestyles Magazine, Vancouver BC, Canada
2001 Winning Works, Showcase, Kelowna BC, Canada
2000 Mouvement Instable, Mix Magazine, Toronto ON, Canada
2000 Artist Will Sit Across the Country, The Okanagan Sunday, Okanagan Valley BC, Canada
2000 Avant-Garde Laval, The Mirror, Montréal QC, Canada
2000 Happenings, Capital News, Kelowna BC, Canada
2000 Fourth Year…, The Phoenix, Kelowna BC, Canada
1999 Beware, the Performance Artist Nurtures, The Standard Exhibit, Kelowna BC, Canada
1999 Best of College Photography Annual 1999, Photographers Forum, San Diego CA, USA
1998 Of Earth and Body, The Daily Courier, Kelowna BC, Canada
Artist Talks, Workshops and Panel Discussions (Selected)
2026 Gallery 881, Vancouver BC, Canada
2023 Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Burnaby BC, Canada
2018 XPO, Enschede, Netherlands
2016 National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin County, Taiwan
2016 UBC Okanagan, Kelowna BC, Canada
2014 Langara College, Vancouver BC, Canada
2013 Langara College, Vancouver BC, Canada
2012 Museum of Medical Humanities, Taipei, Taiwan
2012 Elliott Louis Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada
2012 Langara College, Vancouver BC, Canada
2010 Treasure Hill Artist Village, Taipei, Taiwan
2008 Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond BC, Canada
2008 UBC Okanagan, Kelowna BC, Canada
2006 Langara College, Vancouver BC, Canada
2006 Rutland Middle School, Art Starts Workshop, Kelowna BC, Canada
2006 Panel Discussion, Free 103point9 radiobroadcast, New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) Deep Wireless Festival, Toronto ON, Canada
2005 McRoberts Secondary, Richmond BC, Canada
2005 Langara College, Vancouver BC, Canada
2005 UBC Okanagan, Kelowna BC, Canada
2004 UBC Okanagan, Kelowna BC, Canada
Awards, Grants and Honours
2026 Honorable Mention, Experimental Forum, Los Angeles CA, USA
2025 Film of the Week, Short to the Point International Film Festival, (STTP+), Bucharest, Romania
2025 Jury Award & Audience Award, Pebbles Underground Film and Video Art Festival, Toronto ON, Canada
2025 Best 'Underground' Winner, Short Film Factory, Bucharest, Romania
2015 Dave Bown Projects - 11th Semiannual Competition (Curators: Katherine Pill, Ron Platt, Kelly Shindler) Honorable Mention
2012 Judges Award Winner, Make it Short, NW Film Center, Portland OR, USA
2006 Canada Council Media Arts Travel Grant
2004 Video Production Grant, Alternator Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada
2000 Canada Council Visual Arts Travel Grant
2000 Helen Pitt Award, UBC Okanagan
2000 UBC Okanagan Traveling Exhibition Award
1999 Tuition Scholarship Entrance Award, UBC Okanagan
1999 4th Place in the 19th Annual College Photographer’s Forum Contest, San Diego CA, USA
1998 Tuition Scholarship Entrance Award, UBC Okanagan
1998 Kelowna & District Arts Council Bursary
1998 UBC Okanagan Traveling Exhibition Award
1997 Turik Crawford Architects Award
Collections
Äkkigalleria
Esplanade Art Gallery
Jyväskylä Art Museum
Maple Ridge Art Gallery
New Leaf Editions
St. Paul’s Hospital
UBC Okanagan
VGH - UBC Hospital Foundation
Private Collections
Distribution
Video Out Distribution, Vancouver BC, Canada
Professional Involvement and Other Projects
2026 Freelance Gallery Technician / Preparator / Custom Framing Fine Art Services (2001-Present)
2026 Juror, The Studio Open Call, Gallery 881, Vancouver BC, Canada
2013 Co-Director, Fangliao Artist Village Residency, Fangliao, Taiwan
2009 Curator, Pacificthorn, Vancouver BC, Canada
2004-09 Instructor: Mixed Media, Arts Umbrella, Vancouver BC, Canada
2006 Juror, CRES Media Arts Committee for Artist Residency with CFRO Radio, Vancouver BC, Canada
2001 Artistic Director, Arthur Erickson’s Waterfall Building Grand Opening, Vancouver BC, Canada
1997-00 Board Member, Alternator Gallery, Kelowna BC, Canada