IMPULSE
"I have an impulse to make art, I cultivate instinct and nurture the relationship between the conscious and subconscious mind and employ them to invent and transcend the mundane."
ARTISTIC PRACTICE
I have an impulse to make art, I cultivate the interplay between the conscious and unconscious mind and employ them to invent and transcend the mundane. For me the practice of art is a rebellion against apathy, I use it to subvert the predictive nature of my thoughts and explore the relationship between instinct and ideas of purity.
I invent worlds and individuals that find themselves in diverse situations among themes of individuality, resilience and marginal relationships and the friction between ideals and feelings of incompatibility with the status quo.
As a multidisciplinary artist I employ a range of mediums including, painting, moving image and poetry.
Writing is an integral part of my work and is a very visual experience resulting in vivid imagery which easily translates to my visual art and moving image work, giving my writing life beyond the page.
BIO
Mark Niehus is an Australian multi-disciplinary artist based in Port Adelaide, working across painting, moving image, and poetry. With a background in photography and interface design, including professional roles overseas, his practice merges technical precision with intuitive experimentation.
Known for his intersecting line language that achieves harmony by containing light and colour into interrelating shapes compressed into the geometry of the human form, bringing to the surface the complex nature of thought and emotion. Creating intimate, layered, and emotionally charged compositions that resonant and move between abstraction and subtle narratives.
He has exhibited extensively in Adelaide since 2007 and most recently presented a solo show in Melbourne, with another scheduled for August 2026. His moving image works have been screened at international film festivals, including the Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin. He has published a book of poems, featured in literary journals, and been a finalist for numerous art and film festival prizes.
CV
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Artefacts of an Unconscious Mind, Ladder Art Space, Melbourne
2021 Backbone, Newmarch Gallery, Adelaide
2017 Street Poetry, La Lorientaise, Adelaide
2015 Object Words, Entropy, SALA, Adelaide
2012 The Individual, Au Matin Calme, SALA, Adelaide
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Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Beauties & Beasts, The Main Gallery, Adelaide
2023 12th Prospect Portrait Prize Finalist Exhibition Newmarch Gallery, Adelaide
2022 Art Works, Adelaide Town Hall, Adelaide
2021 11th Prospect Portrait Prize Finalist Exhibition Newmarch Gallery, Adelaide
2020 Submerge, PraxisARTSPACE, Adelaide
2018 Square Eyes, Gallery M, Adelaide
2014 Subtext, SA Writers Centre, Adelaide
2009 Format+2%=Big!, Format, Adelaide
2009 Moment Versus Momentum Rotterdam, Rotterdam
2007 INTENT, Queens Theatre, Adelaide
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Public Art
2024 Shiver, Adelaide Festival Centre, Moving Image Program, Adelaide
2020 Outside Light, Mixed Creative, Adelaide
2019 Outside Light, Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
2018 Outside Light, Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
2018 Shiver, City of Adelaide Street Projection, Adelaide
2017 Street Poetry Illuminations, City of Adelaide Street, Adelaide
2016 Street Art and Poetry, Holden Street Theatre, Adelaide
2016 Quietude, Soldiers Memorial Gardens, Adelaide
2015 Street Art Poetry Project, City of Adelaide, Adelaide
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Awards
2023 Finalist, 12th Prospect Portrait Prize, Adelaide
2021 Finalist, 11th Prospect Portrait Prize, Adelaide
2020 Finalist Hombres Videopoetry Award, Italy
2020 Finalist, Newlyn PZ International Film Festival UK
2019 Finalist, Ó Bhéal Poetry-Film competition, UK
Presented Workshops & Artist Talks
2021 Dictation of thought - Writing for the surreal, AGSA, Adelaide
2021 Backbone - In conversation, Newmarch Gallery, Adelaide
Commissions/Residencies
2018 Rattle, ANAT - Luminosity Commission, Adelaide
2014 Poet-in-Residence, SWSA, Adelaide
Media Articles
Art Edit Magazine, ‘Ones To Watch’ Link Here
The Adelaide Review, ‘The art of submersion’ Link Here
Your Prospect, ‘An Antidote to the Mundane’ Link Here
Rochford Street Review, ‘Quietude’ Link Here
The Advertiser, ‘Ode to spring onions!’ Link Here
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Film Festivals
2021 The Wrong with InAbsentia, Italy
2021 Festival Fotogenia Vol:3, Mexico
2021 10th International Video Poetry Festival, Athens
2021 REELpoetry/Houston TX, U.S.A.
2020 Midwest Video Poetry Fest, USA
2020 ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival, Germany
2020 Hombres Videopoetry Award 2020, Italy
2020 Newlyn PZ Film Festival, UK
2020 International Short Film Festival Music & Fashion VII Edition, France
2020 The Reel Poetry/Houston TX, USA
2019 Festival Fotogenia Vol:2, Mexico
2019 The Wrong, Italy
2019 The Lift-Off Sessions, UK
2019 All Together Now: A Celebration of Art, Film & Music!, USA
2019 Poetry + Video, Australia
2019 Newlyn PZ International Film Festival, UK
Books
2008 How Do You Want The Fire To Leave You?
Publications
2017 Red Fez
2017 Rochford Street Review
2016 The Mind[less] Muse
2016 UniLife Magazine
2013 Rabbit Journal
2010 Australian Reader