Ken Nahan

Ken Nahan

B. 1960, New Orleans, LA, USA

My work unfolds as visual music—improvised, layered, and structured by intuition rather than plan. I do not begin with a fixed image. I begin with listening.

Many drawings are created on sanded nautical charts, topographical maps, or collaged fields of postage stamps—surfaces already carrying histories of navigation, memory, and exchange. By abrading the maps, I soften their authority. Borders blur. Coordinates dissolve. What remains is a palimpsest: a terrain of time, erosion, and accumulated human intention. The surface becomes both stage and collaborator.

Working primarily in ink and acrylic, I improvise line as one might shape a melody. Circles, spirals, vectors, grids, and floating geometries enter into dialogue. Repetition suggests cadence. Interruptions introduce dissonance. Color functions orchestrally—less as decoration than as harmonic structure. I do not ever confuse symmetry with balance. Symmetry duplicates; balance resolves. The equilibrium in these works arises through tension, placement, and counterpoint.

Music has long informed my practice. I think of line as phrasing, space as silence, density as tempo. Some works move con rubato—elastic, breathing. Others settle into q...

The son of an art dealer, Ken Nahan, has been immersed in modern and contemporary art from an early age -- attending exhibitions, traveling to international art fairs, and encountering acclaimed artists throughout his lifetime. He studied at Tulane University, where he graduated with honors and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1983. He traveled to Europe where he worked under the guidance of artists Theo Tobiasse, James Coignard, and his mentor and friend, Max Papart. Nahan has studied various printmaking techniques, creating lithographs in France with Pierre Chave and at Atelier Grapholith, etchings at Atelier Morsang, and silkscreens in the U.S. with master screenprinter, Gary Lichtenstein.

Nahan has exhibited throughout the U.S. and in Europe. His most recent works include ink drawings on sanded topographical maps and nautical charts, and on handmade paper. He enjoys playing classical piano and creates art in his studio in Uptown New Orleans, LA.

2026
Centro de Artes e Espectáculos, Solo Exhibition, Figueira da Foz, Portugal

2025
Jillian Mac Fine Art, Solo Exhibition, New Orleans
Shoals Art Invitational, University of North Alabama, Florence, AL
Isidore Newman School, Creative Legacies, New Orleans, LA

2024
A.L. Lowe, Solo Exhibition, New Orleans, LA
Core Art Space, Architecture of Form, Group Exhibition, Lakewood, CO
Elliott Gallery, New Orleans, LA

2017
Octavia Art Gallery, "Celebration," Group Exhibition, New Orleans, LA

2016
Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Centers Permanent Collection, Commack Expansion, Long Island, NY

2014
TEN Gallery, TEN Gallery Collective Exhibition, Group Exhibition, New Orleans, LA
Du Mois, "Voyages," Solo Exhibition, New Orleans, LA,
TEN Gallery, "Pen and Paper," Solo Exhibition, New Orleans, LA

2013
TEN Gallery, "The Artist and His Collection," curator, New Orleans, LA
New Orleans Healing Center, "Masquerade," New Orleans, LA
TEN Gallery, "Ten for Ten's Sake," New Orleans, LA
Ridgefield Playhouse, Reception with Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Ridgefield, CT
TEN Gallery, "Wisdom is Fleeting: New Collaborative Works by Rex Dingler and Ken Nahan," New Orleans, LA
New Orleans Healing Center, "Sacred Music," New Orleans, LA
Boyd Satellite Galler...