Artist Statement
Art is language. Art is neither spiritual vocation nor avocation. In my practice I explore quality of life, the environment, and economy of materials.
Art is play, play is a primal need. Primal needs denied create pathologies, primal needs enhanced create cultures.
Gilbert Grace C.V.
Studies
2016 Master of Fine Art, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Lilyfield.
1990 Bachelor of Arts Honours (Painting) R M I T, Melbourne.
1981 Diploma of Art (Applied) R C A E, Wagga Wagga.
Solo Exhibitions
2020 “Great White Bird Trail” – Hazelhurst Art Centre, Gymea.
2019 “Against Hollywood” – Art Est, Leichhardt.
2018 Open Studio – The Nest Creative Space, Waterloo.
2016 “current see” – Culture At Work, Accelerator Gallery, Pyrmont.
2015 “Deep Green and Bright Blue” – Downing Centre, Sydney.
“Deep Green and Bright Blue” – Big FAG Press, Glebe.
“Site Lines” – Hazelhurst Art Centre, Gymea.
2014 “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying…” – Forty Seven, Rylstone.
2013 “The Common Wheel” – Accelerator Gallery, Pyrmont.
“Documenting the Sydney Green Ring” – (Cementa13), 47, Rylstone.
2012 “Luminous” – Sheffer Gallery, Darlington.
2011 “Visions” – Art Est, Leichhardt.
2009 “Trauma Porn” – At The Vanishing Point Contemporary Art, Newtown.
2008 “Road:Works” – Regard Gallery, Darlington.
2007 “Art From The Bicycle Seat” – Cheeky Transport, Newtown.
2003 Window Room – pclExhibitionists, Strawberry Hills.
2002 Window Room – pclExhibitionists, Strawberry Hills.
2000 “Shooting Gallery” – State of Grace Café, Newtown.
1997 “Pushpolling” – TAP Gallery, Darlinghurst.
1996 “Subtext” – TAP Gallery, Darlinghurst.
1993 “Multiplex” – Sergio Gallery, Middle Park.
“BIT” – (Fifth Australian Sculpture Triennial) ArtRoundTown, Melbourne.
1992 “EN:TRAPMEN” – ArtRoundTown, Melbourne.
Fringe Studio, Fitzroy.
1991 Fringe Studio, Fitzroy.
1983 Nicholson Street Gallery, Balmain.
Group Exhibitions
2024 “Art Salon” – Newsagency Gallery, Petersham.
Group Show – Home@735, Redfern.
2023 “Cut ‘N’ Polish” Artist Car Boot Sale – Carriageworks, Eveleigh.
“Life in Working Art III” – Hazelhurst Art Centre, Gymea.
2022 “Cut ‘N’ Polish” Artist Car Boot Sale – Carriageworks, Eveleigh.
2021 “Life in Working Art II” – Hazelhurst Art Centre, Gymea.
2020 “20 Years of Hazelhurst” – Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea.
“20 Artworks In The Garden” – Hazelhurst Art Centre grounds, Gymea.
2018 “Life in Working Art” – Hazelhurst Art Centre, Gymea.
“GreenWay Art Prize” – Art Est, Leichhardt. [Winner, Open Section]
“Fishers Ghost Art Award” – Campbelltown Art Centre, Campbelltown.
2017 “The Hemp Initiative” – Cementa 17, Kandos.
“KSCA Road Tour” – Northern Tablelands, NSW.
2016 “Transitional” – Off Broadway Pop Up Space, Camperdown.
“Hemp Initiative” KSCA – Futurelands 2 / Kandos Projects, Kandos.
“Plonk” – Off Broadway Pop Up Space, Camperdown.
2015 “Street Stories” – Delmar Gallery, Summer Hill.
“Deep Green and Bright Blue” – SCA Graduate Show, SCA Gallery, Lilyfield.
“Art on Paper Award” – Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea.
2014 “Cognoscenti” – Home at 735, Redfern.
“On The Ground” – The Fire Station Arts Centre, Dubbo.
2013 “Super Six” – DNA Projects, Chippendale.
“The Common Wheel” – Accelerator Gallery/Culture At Work, Pyrmont.
“Art On Paper Award” – Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea.
“ARTcycle Sketch Tours” – Cementa13, Kandos.
“A Retrospective: Celebrating Five Years” – Art Est, Leichhardt.
2012 “Shelf Life” – Delmar Gallery, Summer Hill.
“ARTcycle Residency Action Committee Vehicle” – INDEX space, St Peters.
“Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize” – Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown.
“Studio Artists” – INDEX space, St Peters.
2011 “Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize” – Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown.
“RAG Time” – Global Gallery, Paddington.
“In The Night Garden” – Sydney Fringe Festival, INDEX studio, St Peters.
“Ex Voto” – INDEX studio, St Peters.
“Crude” – INDEX studio, St Peters.
“Art on Paper Award” – Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea.
“Awareness Muscle” – The Academy of Emergency Art, ATVP, Newtown.
“Collisions” – Art Month Sydney, INDEX studio, St Peters.
“Small Works for a Large Universe” – INDEX studio, St Peters.
2010 “INDEX #01” – INDEX studio, St Peters.
“GreenWay Art Prize” – Art Est, Leichhardt. [Winner, Open Section]
“Rockin’ the Boat” – At The Vanishing Point, Newtown.
“BIOdiverseCITY” – At The Vanishing Point, Newtown.
2009 “Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize” – Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown.
“Multiple Personalities” – Wards 17-18, Callan Park, Rozelle.
“Breathing Space”- Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor.
“It’s Hotter Than July” – ATVP at The Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.
“Reality Cheque” – At The Vanishing Point, Newtown.
2008 “Salon de Refusés” – S. H. Ervin Gallery, Observatory Hill.
“The Humble Spud – Art In The Park”, Maundrel Park, Petersham.
2007 “Bespoke” – Mori Gallery, Sydney.
“Wallspace Group Show” – Wallspace, Surry Hills.
2006 “Xmas Show” – pclExhibitionists, pcl@Rozelle.
2005 “Xmas Show” – pclExhibitionists, pcl@Rozelle.
“ArtSydney05” – Moore Park.
2004 “Xmas Show” – pclExhibitionists, Strawberry Hills.
“show 1” – pcl @ incubator, Redfern.
Silk Cut Award – Finalist, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Glen Eira.
2003 “Xmas Show” – pclExhibitionists, Strawberry Hills.
“Affordable Art Fair” – pclExhibitionists, Moore Park.
2002 “Xmas Show” – pclExhibitionists, Strawberry Hills.
2001 “Xmas Show” – pclExhibitionists, Strawberry Hills.
“Palimpsest 4” – Mildura.
2000 “Walking the Street” – Oxford Hotel, Newtown.
“Salon de Refusés” – S. H. Ervin Gallery, Observatory Hill.
1998 “Aware” – TAP Gallery, Darlinghurst.
“Amnesty International Show” – TAP Gallery, Darlinghurst.
“Sydney Fringe Festival” – Darlinghurst.
1997 “Publo Picasso” – Darlo Bar, Darlinghurst.
1995 “Portrait Show” – TAP Gallery, Darlinghurst.
1993 “St Kilda Postcard Show” – Linden Gallery, St Kilda.
1992 “Christmas Show” – Roar II, Fitzroy.
“Anniversary Show” – Roar II, Fitzroy.
1990 “Honours Show” – RMIT, Melbourne.
Workshops
2019 “Papermaking from hemp fabric” – White Creek Studio, Lilyfield.
2015 “Bright Sparks: Blue Carbon” – Culture At Work, St Matthews, Mudgee.
“Bright Sparks: Blue Carbon” – Culture At Work, Penrith Regional Gallery.
“Bright Sparks: Blue Carbon” – Culture At Work, Ultimo Public School.
Residencies
2019-2021 Culture At Work, Pyrmont.
2018-19 White Creek Cottage, Lilyfield.
2016 Kandos Projects, Kandos.
Frontyard Projects, Marrickville.
2013 Culture At Work, Accelerator Gallery, Pyrmont.
2012 INDEX space, St Peters
Commissions
2014 Light Rail Platform Shelters, Transport for New South Wales. [Hawthorne, Taverners Hill, Arlington]
2000 “New Citizens Fine Art Print”, South Sydney City Council.
Grants
2013 Country Arts Support Program Grant, Regional Arts NSW.
2011 NSW Marketing Grant, NAVA, (For ARTcycle Inc).
2003 NSW Marketing Grant, NAVA.
Curatorial
2013 Curator “Super Six” – DNA Projects, Chippendale.
Curator “Common Wheel” – Accelerator Gallery, Culture at Work, Pyrmont.
2012 Curator “ARTcycle Residency Action Committee Vehicle” – INDEX space, St Peters.
2011 Co-Curator “Sketching The Gamut” – INDEX space, St Peters.
2010 Co-curator “The Gauntlet” – CARES facility, Sydney Park, St Peters.
2009 Co-director – At The Vanishing Point Contemporary Gallery, Newtown.
2008 Co-curator “Road” – various galleries, ‘2008 Bicycle Film Festival’, Sydney.
2007 Co-curator “Bespoke” – Mori Gallery, ‘2007 Bicycle Film Festival’, Sydney.
Artworker
2009 to present Preparator (Art Installer).
Membership
2000 to present National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) Premium Plus membership.
2011 to present ARTcycle Inc. (founding member).
2016 to 2019 KSCA /KISS (founding member).
Travel
2004 Tokyo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Paris, London, (five week self-funded study tour).
2024 Italy Netherlands France England USA (working holiday/study tour).
Bibliography
‘KISS the Earth Lightly’, Chapter in David Curtis, Ed. Using the Visual and Performing Arts to Encourage Pro-Environmental Behaviour, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020. Using the Visual and Performing Arts to Encourage Pro-Environmental Behaviour – Cambridge Scholars Publishing
‘KISS the Earth Lightly’ (draft), Academia, 2019 https://www.academia.edu/39363264/KISS_the_Earth_Lightly
Chloe Wolifson, “Highlights from the Cementa 17 Contemporary Arts Festival” Art Asia Pacific Magazine, 14 April 2017, http://artasiapacific.com/Blog/HighlightsfromCementa17ContemporaryArtsFestival
KSCA, Futurelands 2 Newspaper, 25 May 2017, Futurelands2 newspaper download website medium by Lucazoid – issuu
Adrian Clement, “Super Six”, Das Platforms Emerging and Contemporary Art, 19 January 2014,
http://www.dasplatforms.com/writing/super-six
G Grace – Report on The Common Wheel, Culture At Work Residency and Exhibition, Academia 2013, https://www.academia.edu/106123891/G_Grace_Report_on_The_Common_Wheel_residency
Adrian Clement, “New Eyes”, Das Platforms Emerging and Contemporary Art, 1 December 2012,
http://www.dasplatforms.com/das_five_cent/new-eyes/