Working within geometric abstraction across painting, drawing and installation, Jan Handel's practice seeks to give physical form to circumstances and situations inherent in the human experience.

This is the conceptual starting point which underpins each series of work.

Painting primarily on Perspex and wood panel, and always working in series, Handel uses limited hues to achieve a broad range of colour through layering and translucency.

The formal aspects of painting, particularly colour, pictorial space, the geometry of the horizontal and vertical grid and surface texture respond to the sensory and emotional concepts which form the genesis of the work.

Handel constructs 'rules of engagement' in her work, permitting, for example, only certain colours or shapes. The idea that known boundaries allow for the possibility of greater freedom is a theme to which she continually returns.

Handel's works ‘represent’ an idea or experience, but they are non-figurative, and offer no image of the real world. They are independent objects, each containing an intended meaning that transcends its formal qualities. They could be metaphors or talismans.

The seduction of paint, the interaction of colour, illusory space, and the ambiguity of a painting as an ‘object’ that represents something else continue to form the basis of her practice.


CV

Born Armidale, N.S.W, on Kamilaroi / Anaiwan country
Lives and works in Sydney, Australia, on Darramurra-gal country

Education (selected)

2013 Bachelor of Fine Arts (distinction), National Art School, Sydney
2008 Diploma of Fine Arts (distinction), Sydney Gallery School, Meadowbank TAFE
1997 Diploma of Visual Art, SCDA, Sydney

Exhibitions (selected)

2024 Finalist, Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
2024 Be Water, AIRspace, Marrickville, Sydney
2024 Factory49 Tribute Show, Articulate Project Space, Leichhardt, Sydney
2024 Finalist, Glover Prize for Landscape Painting, Evandale, Tasmania
2023 Articulate Turns Thirteen. Articulate Project Space, Leichhardt, Sydney
2023 7th Biennale Internationale of Non Objective Art, Athens, Greece
2023 Finalist, Glover Prize for Landscape Painting, Evandale, Tasmania
2022 Articulate Turns Twelve. Articulate Project Space, Leichhardt, Sydney
2022 Le Salon Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, France
2022 'Borders' - a group exhibition, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Wahroonga, Sydney
2022 In The Flesh_02, Artoure Gallery, Circular Quay, The Rocks, Sydney
2021 Articulate Turns Eleven, Articulate Project Space, Leichhardt, Sydney
2021 Que des Femmes, Biennale Internationale d'Arte Non Objectif. Pont de Claix, Grenoble, France
Sydney satellite exhibition at Factory 49, Marrickville and online
2021 Annual Group Show, Factory 49, Marrickville
2021 Forested, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Wahroonga, Sydney
2021 Covimetry, Ely Centre of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT, USA
2021 Articulate turns Ten Articulate project space, Leichhardt, Sydney
2020 In Conversation, in collaboration with S. Fitzgerald, Articulate Project Space, Leichhardt, Sydney
2020 Covimetry, curator M. Starel, BWA Gallery, Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, Poland
2020 Annual Group Show, Factory 49, Marrickville, Sydney
2019 Production @ The Factory, Factory 49, Marrickville, Sydney
2019 Solo Show Inside a Painting, Gently, Factory49Paris, Paris, France
2019 Connexions Silencieuses, Eglise St Laurent, Eygalières, France
2019 The Other Art Fair, Australian Technology Park, Sydney
2018 Le Salon Réalités Nouvelles, Parc de Floral de Paris, Paris, France
2018 PINK, 220 Creative Space, Darlinghurst, Sydney
2018 Revisiting the Corpse: A Year in Drawing, STACKS Projects, Potts Point, Sydney
2018 AbstractTwentyEighteen, Langford 120, Melbourne
2018 The Abstract Project, Factory 49, Marrickville, Sydney (curator)
2018 Geometrize, Art Est, Leichhardt, Sydney
2018 Print Show, Factory 49, Marrickville, Sydney
2018 Annual Group Show, Factory 49, Marrickville, Sydney
2017 Developing Structures, Abstract Project, Paris, France
2017 Factory 49 Annual Group Show, Factory 49, Marrickville, Sydney
2017 Postcards to Alaska, International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage, Alaska
2017 Educator's Show, Art Est, Leichhardt, Sydney
2016 STACKS Projects group show, STACKS Projects, Potts Point, Sydney
2016 White, Barometer Gallery, Paddington, Sydney
2016 Solo Show: 'WRAP ME UP (calm me down)', Factory 49, Marrickville, Sydney
2015 2D or not 2D?, Gallery Klei, Sydney
2015 Crossing Borders, National Art School
2015 Heaven and Earth, GAFFA Gallery, Sydney
2015 Group Show, M Contemporary, Woollahra, Sydney
2015 BANG, Spectrum Now Arts Festival, Pier 2 / 3, Walsh Bay, Sydney
2014 Drawn Out, Art Est Gallery, Leichhardt
2013 Selected Graduate Drawing Exhibition, National Art School
2013 Saatchi and Saatchi Graduate Exhibition, National Art School
2013 From Field to Folio, Xavier Art Space, St Vincent’s Hospital, Darlinghurst
2013 The Vagina Dialogues, Library Stairwell Gallery, National Art School
2013 Hell is Others, Library Stairwell Gallery, National Art School
2012 Finalist, NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize, NSW Parliament, Sydney
2012 Plus One, Art Est, Leichhardt
2011 Public Pictures, selected first year photographs, National Art School
2010 Finalist, St George Art Awards, Hurstville City Gallery
2010 A Picture Show, Breathing Colours, Balmain
2010 Finalist, Hunter's Hill Art Prize, Hunter's Hill
2009 Finalist, Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Regional Gallery
2009 Finalist, Hunter's Hill Art Prize, Hunter's Hill
2009 For Art's Sake, FRANS, Addison Road Gallery, Marrickville
2008 N x NW, Washhouse Gallery, Roselle
2008 Selected Online Exhibition, National Portrait Gallery
2008 Finalist, Portia Geach Memorial Award, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2008 Finalist, Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Regional Gallery

Residencies

2019 Factory 49 Paris, Paris, France
2018 NG Art Creative Residency, Provence, France
2017 Abstract Project, Paris, France

Curatorial

2018 The Abstract Project: Works from Paris, Factory 49, Marrickville, Sydney

Prizes

2013 The John McCaughey Prize (painting), National Art School, Sydney
2006 Highly Commended, ‘One Up’ Exhibition, Sydney Gallery School, Meadowbank
2005 First Year Drawing Prize, Sydney Gallery School, Meadowbank

Work (selected)

2021 Installation assistant, Pamela Leung Knots of Eden, Unearthed, Eden
Gardens, Macquarie Park
2019 - 22 Volunteer, Factory 49, Marrickville, Sydney
2016 - 20 Volunteer, STACKS Projects, Potts Point, Sydney
2015-18 Educator, Art Est, Leichhardt, Sydney
2014 Installation assistant, Naomi Troski AboveandBelow, Lyric Theatre, Sydney
2007 - Educator, Sydney Design School, Crow’s Nest, Sydney
1999-07 Educator, International School of Colour and Design, Sydney

Media

2023 Art/Edit Magazine. 2023 #37. Best of Patterns section.
2021 Art/Edit Magazine. 2021 #27. In Series section.

Work is held in educational institutions in Sydney, and private collections in Australia, the United Kingdom, the U.S.A and France.