Richard Lewer

Biography

Education

Master of Visual Arts, Victoria College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, 2000
Bachelor of Fine Art, Elam School of Fine Art, Auckland University, 1989-1992 

Solo Exhibitions

Suite Gallery, It’s Better to Burn Out than to Fade Away, Wellington, 2018
Hugo Michell Gallery, The History of Australia, Adelaide, 2018

Sullivan & Strumpf Gallery, Life, Love & Death, Singapore, 2017
Gow Langsford Gallery, Getting to Know You, Auckland, 2017

Sullivan & Strumpf, The Best Thing About Being Away is Coming Home, Sydney, 2016

Hugo Michell Gallery, Believe It or Not, Adelaide, 2015
St Paull’s St Gallery AUT, Custom of the Sea - Wall Drawing and Live Performance, Auckland, 2015
Gow Langsford Gallery, It’s More Than a Game, Auckland, 2015
Sullivan & Strumpf, Parnngurr, Sydney, 2015

Hugo Michell Gallery, Mostly Sunny, Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, 2014

Hugo Michell Gallery, The Ten Commandments, Adelaide, 2013
Fehily Contemporary, 9 Day Swing, Melbourne, 2013

Gertrude Contemporary, Gertrude Edition - Tarot Card Series, Melbourne, 2012
Hugo Michell Gallery, Sometimes All I Look Forward to is Lunch – a collaboration with Tony Garifalakis, Adelaide, 2012
La Trobe University Museum of Art (LUMA), I Must Learn to Like Myself – Library Installation, Melbourne, 2012

Fehily Contemporary, Safe Travels, Melbourne, 2011
Hugo Michell Gallery, Painters and Dockers, Adelaide, 2011
Shepparton Art Gallery, The Drawing Wall Commission and Last Will and Testament, Shepparton, 2011

Hugo Michell Gallery, The Sound of Your Own Breathing, Adelaide, 2010
Melbourne International Art Fair Solo Exhibition, OREX Gallery, New York Stories, Melbourne, 2010
OREX Gallery Solo Exhibition, You Can’t Win ‘Em All, Auckland, 2010
Waikato Museum Survey Exhibition, I Must Learn To Like Myself, Hamilton, 2010

Hugo Michell Gallery, 10 Days in Gunbalanya, Adelaide, 2009
Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces (GCAS) Studio 12 Exhibition, Melbourne, 2009
Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) Survey Exhibition, Nobody likes a Show-Off, Melbourne, 2009

Orex Gallery Solo Exhibition, Fourteen Stations of the Cross, Auckland, 2008

Block Projects, True Stories – Australian Crime, Melbourne, 2007
Orex Gallery, As I stepped out into the bright sunlight, Auckland, 2007
National Art School (NAS) Gallery, It starts as an idle thought and grows into an obsession, Sydney, 2007

Group Exhibitions

Weapons for the Soldier, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, Sydney, 2018
State of the Union, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2018
The Lockup, JusticeNJustice, Newcastle, 2018

Carriageworks, Sorry Father for I have sinned, it’s been 8 years since my last confession, an installation at Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Sydney, 2017
Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Archibald Art Prize, Sydney, 2017
Carriageworks, The National: New Australian Art, Sydney, 2017

Art Gallery of South Australia, Sappers & Shrapnel – Contemporary Art and the Art of the Trenches, Adelaide, 2016
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial - Close to Home, Sydney, 2016

Arts Centre, Death, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, 2015
Warrnambool Art Gallery, From the Collection: Gertrude Contemporary Regional Residencies, Warrnambool, 2015

Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia, Memento Mori, Perth, 2014
Ian Potter Museum of Art, Basil Sellers Art Prize, Melbourne, 2014
Art Gallery of South Australia, Dark Heart: Adelaide Biennale of Australian Art – Worse Luck I’m Still Here, Adelaide, 2014

National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Group Exhibition Melbourne Now – Northside Boxing Gym Wall Drawing, Melbourne, 2013
Casula Powerhouse, Arts Centre Group Exhibition, Onside, Casula, 2013
Fremantle Arts Centre Group Exhibition, Inside Running – the art of sport, Fremantle, 2013

National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Group Exhibition, Negotiating This World, Contemporary Australian Art, Melbourne, 2012
Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) Group Exhibition, Yonder, Perth, 2012 

Heidi Museum of Moden Art, Drawing Project for Freehand: Recent Australian Drawing, Melbourne, 2010
Ian Potter Museum of Art, Basil Sellers Art Prize, Melbourne, 2010

Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Drawing Exhibition, I Walk the Line, Wall Drawing – 3/3/09, Sydney, 2009

Geelong Gallery, True Crime – Murder and Misdemeanour in Australian Art, Geelong, 2008
Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA), Better Places, Perth, 2008
Ian Potter Museum of Art, Basil Sellers Art Prize, Melbourne, 2008
Fremantle Arts Centre, Bon Scott Project, Fremantle, 2008

Canberra Contemporary Art Centre, Someone shows something to someone, Canberra, 2006
Ian Potter Museum of Art, Game on! Sport and contemporary art, Melbourne, 2006

Awards / Commissions / Grants

Basil Sellers Art Award, Melbourne, 2016
Albany Art Award, Albany, 2015
Blake Prize, Sydney, 2014
Black Swan Portraiture Award, Perth, 2013
National Works on Paper Drawing Award, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, 2010
Maddocks Venice Art Award, Melbourne, 2008
Wallace Art Paramount Award, Auckland, 2008

Video

“Never Shall be Forgotten – A Mother’s Story”, hand drawn animation about Jon Pat, a 16 year old indigenous boy from Roebourne, WA, who’s death in police custody in 1983 was instrumental in Australia’s Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, on DVD, 2017
“Worse Luck I’m Still Here”, hand drawn animation telling the tragic love of an elderly couple, on DVD, 2014
“The Sound of Your Own Breathing”, three hand-drawn animations about sport on BluRay Disc, 2010
The Committee”, Northside Boxing Club, Melbourne, Committee Meeting on DVD, 2007
“Wall Drawing – Don’t Look at Me….”, Wall drawing in time lapse on DVD, 2007
“Skill, Discipline, Training”, hand-drawn animation about a gymnastics coach with a secret on DVD, 2006

Residencies

Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany, WA, 2016
Parnngurr Community (Martumili Artists), Western Desert, WA, 2014
Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, Perth, 2012
ISCP, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 2010
Colin McCahon Residency, Titirangi, New Zealand, 2008
Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces (GCAS), Melbourne, Australia, 2008-2010

Collections

Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA)
Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGoNSW)
Art Gallery of South Australia
Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA)                                                                           
Melbourne University Ian Potter Museum                                                                              
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
University of Auckland
University of Waikato 
Victoria University
Waikato Museum