Yellow-Blue 2002-03
Oil on canvas
171 x 230cm
1963 Australian
Over the past few years I’ve been interested in painting environmental scenarios that focus on unusual or alternative dwellings such as mobile homes, caravans, tents, cabins and tree houses. These kinds of informal, mobile or temporary dwellings are for me potent metaphors for many of the existential issues facing humanity in our time. They raise questions about where we live, how we live and why we chose to live in the way we do. The recreational/escape vehicles in my work symbolize a vital connection with a longed for natural paradise beyond the confines of the cities most Australians live in.
The recipient of a 2000 Anne and Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarships, Ralph traveled to England at the end of 2000 to study in the Masters program at the Chelsea College of Art & Design in London. Ralph spent four years in London and has held numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally. He is represented in several public collections in Europe and Australia and has been the recipient of many awards. He has been a finalist in the Celeste Contemporary Painting Prize, London and the Archibald Prize, Sydney. He is a Finalist in the inaugural 2011 Charlatan Ink Contemporary Art Prize exhibition in New York, and has been a finalist in the 2011 Albany Art Prize, the past 4 consecutive Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prizes, 2010 Fletcher Jones Art Prize, the 2010 Sulman Prize and the 2010 Royal Bank of Scotland prize.
2001 MA Fine Art, Painting, Digital Print Media,
Chelsea College of Art and Design, London
1997–9 Master of Fine Art (Research), Painting,
Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
1983-5 Bachelor of Fine Art , Painting,
Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011 Flow Motion, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney
2010 Threshold, Blockprojects, Melbourne
2010 Salvage, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney
2009 Extensions, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne
2009 Survey- recent Work 03-09, Level 17 Artspace, Victoria University, Melbourne
2008 In Captivity, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne
2007 City Limits, Warrnambool Regional Gallery
2006 Mobile Home, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne
2005 Arcadia, Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney
2004 Escapeland, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne
2003 Night Vision, ArcOne Gallery, Melbourne
2002 Virtually Real, Attendi Gallery, London
2001 Alternate World Syndrome, Attendi Gallery London
MA Exhibition, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London
2000 The Interior Telescope, Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne
1999 Transitional Space, Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne
1998 Stasis, West Space Gallery, Melbourne
1996 Beneath the Surface, Scope Gallery, Melbourne
1994 Low Light, Botanical Gallery, Melbourne
1993 Vanishing Point, Botanical Gallery, Melbourne
1992 Paintings from the Brewery, Botanical Gallery, Melbourne
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011 The Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria
The Albany Art Prize, Albany Art Gallery Western Australia.
2010 Fletcher Jones Art Prize, Geelong Gallery, Victoria
RBS Artists Award, Renzo Piano RBS Tower, Sydney, NSW
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2009 Frieze Projects, Open Call ,Arte Contempo, Lisbon, Portugal, Frieze Art Fair, London.
The Shilo Project, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne.
The Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria.
The Gulag, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne
The Gulag, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne
2008 McArthur Cook Contemporary Art Prize, 45 Downstairs, Melbourne
2007 The Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria
2006 Celeste Contemporary Art Prize, The Well, Old Truman Brewery, London, UK
The Conrad Jupiters Contemporary Art Prize, F.E. Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Queensland
Melbourne Rain, Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney
Alice Prize, Alice Springs Art Gallery, Northern Territory
2005 Arte Fiera Bologna, James Colman Gallery, London
This Urban World, Devonport Regional Gallery, Tasmania
Archibald Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria
2004 Gallery Artists, James Colman Gallery, London
Art 2004 London Art Fair, Blue Gallery, London
East End Academy, Whitechapel Gallery, London
2003 Australian Art In London, Australian High Commission London
1,000 Drawings, Artists Space, New York
Amplifying Silence/ Magnifying Stillness, Fondation D’Art Contemporain Daniel & Florence Guerlain, Paris
Gallery Show, curated by Fran Clark, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne
The Arthur Guy Memorial (National) Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery,
The Ida Branson Memorial Bequest
2002 UK, MA graduate exhibition, Atkinson Gallery, Somerset
Still-Narrative: Painting and Photography, Westland Place Gallery London
Painting, National Touring Exhibition. Monash University Gallery, Melbourne
2001 The Conrad Jupiters Contemporary Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Queensland
Chelsea College of Art and Design, MA Exhibition Chelsea College, London
Sebastian: Realist Painting, National Touring Exhibition, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Queensland
Painting: National Touring Exhibition, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne
Seriously...Photography II, The Collection, London
2000 We Are Australian: National & International Touring Exhibition, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Sebastian: Realist Painting, National Touring Exhibition, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Queensland
Painting: National Touring Exhibition, University of Tasmania, Plimsol Gallery
National Works on Paper Award: Finalists Exhibition, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
1999 The West Space End of Year Exhibition, West Space Gallery, Melbourne
The Hutchins School Drawing Prize, The Hutchins School Gallery, Sandy Point, Tasmania
The Conrad Jupiter’s Contemporary Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Queensland
The 1999 VCA Award Winners Exhibition, VCA Gallery, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
1998 The West Space End of Year Exhibition, West Space Gallery, Melbourne
The Conrad Jupiters Contemporary Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Queensland
National Works on Paper Award, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
The 1998 ANZ Bank Visual Arts Fellowship Exhibition, Cathedral Gallery ANZ Head Office, Melbourne
1997 The Conrad Jupiters Contemporary Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Queensland
Mornington Peninsula Drawing Prize, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
1996 Australia Felix, Contemporary Art Exposition, Scope Gallery Pavillion, Benalla, Victoria
The Geelong Contemporary Art Prize, Geelong Art Gallery, Geelong, Victoria
The Conrad Jupiters Contemporary Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Queensland
1995 Australia Felix, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Scope Gallery Pavillion, Benalla, Victoria
1992 Artworks 4 Contemporary Art Prize, 101 Gallery, Melbourne
City of Richmond Acquisitive Art Award, Richmond Town Hall, Melbourne
1989 Faber Castell Australian Drawing Awards, Rex Irwin Gallery, Sydney
1988 St Kilda City Council Acquisitive Prize, Linden Gallery, St Kilda Victoria
1985 Victorian College of the Arts Graduate Exhibition, VCA Gallery, Melbourne
Artbank
RACV, Melbourne
City of Port Philip, Melbourne
BHP Billiton, Australia
Foundation D’Art Contemporain Daniel & Florence Guerlain Paris
British Airways Collection UK
National Gallery Of Victoria, Melbourne
Gold Coast City Art Gallery
Warrnambool Regional Art Gallery
Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
St Kilda City Council, Melbourne
Richmond City Council, Melbourne
Private Collections, Australia, UK and USA
Grants, Awards & Prizes
2009-10 Commonwealth Government, Australia Council, Visual Arts and Crafts Board, New Work Grant
2003 London Arts, Visual Artists Fund Grant.
2002 Commonwealth Government, Australia Council, Visual Arts and Crafts Board, New Work Grant
2000 The Anne and Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship
1999 The Conrad Jupiter's Contemporary Art Prize
2010 May 1-2, Lissa Christopher, Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, Salvage, Boutwell Draper Gallery
2008 Sebastian Smee, Australian, Review, In Captivity, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2006 ABC Radio National, Deep End Program, Art Guru segment guest with Juliana Engberg
Sebastian Smee, Australian Review, Australia
2005 Peter Hill, Portrait of a winner, The Age Review, Melbourne, Wed April 27.
2003 Mary Nicholson, Night Vision Interview, ABC Radio National, Sunday Arts Program, Makers segment. July 6.
Roger Taylor , Night Vision Interview, High and Low, Visual Arts Program, 3RRR FM, Melbourne, June 24
Megan Backhouse, Playing on the imagination. Visual Arts Review, The Age, Melbourne, July 2.
Exhibition Catalogue, Night Vision , ARC one Gallery, Melbourne.
Roy Exley, Amplifying Silence, Magnifying Stillness Catalogue, Foundation D’Art Contemporain Daniel & Florence Guerlain, Les Mesnuls, France.
2002 Photo feature, ‘Fantasy Island’ exhibition, Time Out, London, Art, June 19
Robert Nelson, Photofit of painting, ‘Sebastian’, Bendigo Gallery, The Age, Melbourne, Saturday 26 January.
2000 Peter Timms, Light and shade as narrative devices, Visual Arts Review,
The Age, September 2000
Alison Kubler, Contemporary Realist Painting Exhibition Catalogue, Gold Coast City Art Gallery
Alison Kubler, (You make me feel) mighty real, Art Monthly Australia