Description
Gavin Nolan is known for his ongoing series of portraits and self-portraits. Nolan draws on religious cults including Judaism and Catholicism; political cults such as Nazism; and the modern cult of celebrity. Expressed through his selection of subjects such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, Jesus Christ, or artists from his inner circle, or through signifiers that are worked into the paintings, Nolan traverses the histories of art, culture, politics and religion. His use of emblems and visual codes are sometimes overt but often concealed, and serve to create a complex tableau of personal and universal symbolism.
