DEREK O’CONNOR

 

 

 

 

Born 28th March 1957 Warwickshire, England

Adelaide, Australia from 1969 

Currently lives in Canberra, A.C.T

 

Education 

Varied, with one or two high points.

 

Solo Exhibitions

1992       Paintings Legge Gallery

1993       Paintings Legge Gallery

1994       Paintings Dick Bett Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania

1995       Paintings Legge Gallery

1996       Paintings, Dick Bett Gallery

1997       Cold Stripp Gallery, Melbourne

                New Works Legge Gallery

                First Love: Paintings by Derek O'Connor and Robert Cleworth Legge Gallery

1998       Cabin Fever Lovers Gallery, Melbourne

1999       Pairs Legge Gallery

                Duo Dick Bett Gallery

2000       Paintings Legge Gallery

2001       Paintings Legge Gallery

                Reciprocal Translocations First Floor Gallery, Melbourne

2002       Paintings Legge Gallery

2004       Paintings Legge Gallery

                Derek O'Connor: Recent Work Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne

2005       Collapsible Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra

2006       Paintings Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne

2007       Derek O’Connor: 10 Year selection curated by Mark Van Veen, Canberra Museum and Gallery

Reciprocal Translocations 2 Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra

2009       Lost in a Kiss Commissioned Installation, 2009 & 2010 Allens Arthur Robinson, Deutsche Bank Building, Sydney

While you were art, new prints Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra

                Paintings Karen Woodbury Gallery Melbourne

2010          A New Body of Work and Lesser Known Appendages Watters Gallery 

Sydney

Group Exhibitions                    

1988       Persistent Memories EMR Gallery, Sydney

1989       Eastern States, Western States Beach Gallery, Perth

1990       Works from the Studios Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra

                Sue Andrews, Derek O'Connor, Glenn Murray Legge Gallery

1991       When Love Blooms Legge Gallery

                Works On Paper Legge Gallery

                Group of Five Legge Gallery

1992       Thickness Legge Gallery

1993       Moet & Chandon Touring Exhibition

                A Show of Strength Dick Bett Gallery, Tasmania

Canberra Contemporary Art Fair Australian National University Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra

                The Allen Allen and Hemsley Collection Westpac Gallery, Melbourne

                Tempest Legge Gallery

1994       Zac Patafta 108 Gertrude Street, Melbourne

                Fourth Australian Contemporary Art Fair Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

                Artists Don’t Believe in Sanity Clause Legge Gallery

1995       Drawings Part B Legge Gallery

                Carlos Raz Studio 12, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne

                Chameleon: A Decade Contemporary Art Services Tasmania, Long Gallery, Hobart

 The Derwent Collection: Australian Art of the 1980s and 1990s Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart

Summer Exhibition Legge Gallery

1996       Dirty Surface Stripp Gallery, Melbourne

                Snow Stripp Gallery, Melbourne

                Restless and Messy curated by Bala Starr, Contemporary Arts Centre South Australia

                 Acquisitions of Contemporary Australian Art National Gallery of Victoria

                First Love: Paintings by Robert Cleworth and Derek O’Connor Legge Gallery

                Fifth Australian Contemporary Art Fair Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

Abstraction Now curated by Simeon Kronenberg, touring exhibition

                Fuss, Gallery Constantinople, Queanbeyan

1997       Living with Art Spiral Arm Gallery, Canberra

                Recent Acquisitions National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

                Alumni Painting Show Photospace, Canberra School of Art

                Sanguine Valediction Legge Gallery

                Wer Schutzt un Fuor HANSI?  Kunstwerk Kard, Cologne Art Fair 1997, Germany

1998       Tennants Show Spiral Arm Gallery, Canberra

                Go Home, There’s Nothing to See Spiral Arm Gallery, Canberra

       Sixth Australian Contemporary Art Fair Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

       Christmas Show Legge Gallery

1999       Tennants Show Artspace 71, Kingston, Canberra

Contemporary Australian Paintings from the Allen Allen & Hemsley Collection UTS Sydney 

Group Show Legge Gallery

       Show (with Peter Vandermark)  Artspace 71, Canberra

       10th Summer Exhibition Legge Gallery

2000       On the brink: abstraction of the 90s curated by Kelly Gellatly, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne

       Seventh Australian Contemporary Art Fair Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

       Ten Years Legge Gallery

       Summer Exhibition Legge Gallery

2001       Coincidence: an exhibition of abstract painting:  curated by Geoff Newton, Spiral Arm Gallery,  Canberra

                Legge Gallery Artists Use Atelier Artists' Acrylics Legge Gallery

2002       It's a beautiful day: New Painting in Australia 2 The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne; AGNSW

                Melbourne Art Fair 2002 Royal exhibition Building, Melbourne

                The Redlands Westpac Art Prize Mosman Art Gallery

                Summer Show Legge Gallery

2003       Collage Legge Gallery

                Scratch the Surface-Recent Portraiture Canberra Contemporary Art Space

                Summer Show Legge Gallery

                SHIT:Vivienne Binns in collaboration with Derek O’Connor & Geoff Newtown, Canberra Contemporary Art Space

2004       Del Kathryn Barton, Cathy Blanchflower, Derek O’Connor, Monika Tichacek , Karen                Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne

                Melbourne Art Fair 2004 Royal exhibition Building, Melbourne

2005       Muswellbrook Open Art Prize Muswellbrook Regional Arts centre

                Legge Gallery at Big Star Gallery Adelaide

                Deep Purple, curated by Rosalind Drummond, Manning Clark House

                Summer Show Legge Gallery

2006       Who cares? Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney

                Landscape Show Legge Gallery

2007       Them curated by Steven Zagala, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Canberra

Myself  by Myself  Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra

                The Mosman Art Prize Mosman Art Gallery, NSW

                Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria

Prometheus Visual Arts Award All Saints Anglican School, Merrimac, Queensland

2008       The Fall of the Night Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra

               Retroactive Curated by julian Laffan Canberra.

2009       Derek O’Connor and Richard Larter Works on Paper, Legge Gallery Sydney

To whom it may concern the written word in contemporary art, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne

Blake Prize National Art School, Sydney

John Bartley, Vivienne Ferguson, Derek O'Connor Legge Gallery, Sydney

2010      The Navigators Lionel Bawden Penny Byrne Nicholas Folland Locust Jones Rhys Lee Rob Mchaffie Derek O’Connor Alex Spremberg Madonna Staunton Karen Woodbury Gallery Melbourne

M16 Audiable Surface GW Bot Greg Hodge Kensuke Todo Derek OConnor  Ria Vavianos Savanhdary Vongoothorn.

              Canberra ACT

              Art Month Sydney Watters Gallery, Sydney

                Melbourne Artfair 2010  Royal Exhiition Building, Melbourne

                Something in the Air - collage and assemblage in Canberra Region Art Canberra Museum       

               And art Gallery Canberra

 

Grants and Awards

1988       Lend Lease Painting Award

1990       Capital Arts Patrons Organisation Individual Arts Grant

1992       Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board Individual Arts Grant

1995       Pat Corrigan award for exhibition development

1998       Department of Arts and Culture A.C.T Individual Artist Grant,

                Studio Residency, Cologne, Germany

2003       Canberra Contemporary Art Space Inaugural Art Prize

2007       Capital Arts Patrons Organisation (CAPO) Fellowship, Canberra

 

Collections

ABN AMRO, Renzo Piano Building, Sydney

Allens Arthur Robinson Sydney

Art and Australia

Artbank

Austcorp

Canberra Museum and Art Gallery

Derwent Collection, Hobart

Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne

National Gallery of Australia

National Gallery of Victoria

Pan Pacific Collection

RACV Collection, Melbourne

Renzo Piano Building, Sydney

USB, Sydney

Wollongong University Gallery of Art, Sydney

Tamworth Regional Gallery

 

Bibliography

 

1990       Haynes, Peter: The Land Sited, Unreal City, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, no.1

Haynes, Peter: Reviews, Art Monthly, September 1990

1993       Heathcote, Christopher: Moet & Chandon, review, The Age

                Heathcote, Christopher: Contemporary Australian Paintings, The Age

                Annear, Judy: Moet & Chandon Touring Exhibition, catalogue, Melbourne

                Mendelssohn, Joanna: Popping the Cork, The Bulletin, March

1994       Cato, N. (Ed): Fourth Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Australian Commercial Galleries Association, Melbourne

1995       Hammond, V: Chameleon: A Decade, exhibition catalogue, Contemporary Art Services, Tasmania, Hobart

Hammond, V.:The Derwent Collection: Australian Art of the 1980s and 1990s Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart

1996       Butterfield, B: Messy and Restless, Contemporary Art Centre of SA, db Magazine issue #131, South Australia

O’Donall, S: Restless and Messy, exhibition catalogue, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia

                Malone, Gavin: Restless and Messy, Artlink, vol. 17, no. 1

                King, N. and Kronenberg, S.: Abstraction Now, exhibition catalogue, Geelong Art Gallery

2001       ABC: Coast to Coast, television arts program, August

2002       McAuliff,C and Starr, B: It’s a Beautiful Day: New Painting in Australia 2, exhibition catalogue, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne touring the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

                Loxley, Anne: A Day in the Domain, The Sydney Morning Herald 27/11/2002

2003       Foster, Ernest: A Public of Individuals No.4 Feb-Apr 2003

                Fern, L.: People at Play, the Sydney Morning Herald, 23 March

Chapman, Chris: Bette Davis eyes, Art Monthly, no.162 August

Ashcroft, Michael: Ugly Paintings Are Always Framed, Muse, Dec/Jan 03/04 Issue

Byrne, Lisa: Catalogue essay, SHIT, Vivienne Binns, Nov-Dec

                Gates, Merryn: Catalogue essay, SHIT, Vivienne Binns, Nov-Dec

                Lamark, Richard:                A Public of Individuals No.4 Feb-Apr 2003  

2004       Backhouse, M: Abstract Landscapes, Around the Galleries, A2, The Age, 27 Nov

                Nichols, Jonathon: Derek O’Connor, Catalogue essay

2005       Grishin, Sasha: Inner strength on display, The Canberra Times 29/9/2005

2006       Hansen, D: Ominous Modernists, Sightlines, The Age, 24 Nov

Bossy, J: Derek O’Connor Paintings 2006, exhibition catalogue, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne

2007       Grishin, S: Unbridled, hedonistic joy of paint, The Canberra Times 20/11/2007

Lakin, S: Them, Exhibition Review, Photofile #79

Van Veen, M: Derek O’Connor 10 Year Selection, Art World, Issue 7 February/March, pp.122-125

2008       Holt, M: Marie Hagerty and Derek O’Connor in Canberra, Art Monthly Australia, Dec 2007-Feb 2008, pp 15-18

                Clarke. D: 25th CAPO Auction, Canberra, p61

                Clarke, D: Reflections: Canberra Museum and Gallery Collection p 57

2009       Derek O’Connor, Galleries, Box Office The Age Magazine, Issue #53 March  p 8

                Hetherington, S: Derek O’Connor, Art World, Issue 7 Feb/Mar, pp 122-125

Broker, D and Norris, Y: Artnotes, Art Monthly Australia, March # 217, p 55

Nelson, R: Aesthetic appetite for eating their art out, The Age, 11 March

                Grishin, S: Bold Interventions, The Canberra Times, May 2009

                Ulhman, P: Derek O’Connor, catalogue essay, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne

Gates, M:  Lost in a Kiss, exhibition catalogue essay for commissioned installation at Allens, Arthur Robinson, Deutsche Bank Building, Sydney

2010      Deborah Clark exhibition catalogue Something in the Air - collage and assemblage  

Canberra region. 

 

 

 

 

Professional Activities

Currently employed Part Time National Gallery of Australia, Installations Department

Part-time lecturer at the Canberra School of Art, Core/Complimentary Studies, 1998-9

Artist in residence ANU School of Art 2007