Dena Kahan
born 1960, lives in Melbourne
Education
2015 Masters of Arts by research, Federation University, Victoria
1992 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Victorian College of the Arts
1982 Bachelor of Arts, Honours Degree in Art History, University of Melbourne
Solo Exhibitions
2025
Collecting, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2022
Wunderkammer, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2020
Hothouse 2, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
Hothouse, M Contemporary, Sydney
2018
Lure, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2017
Herbarium, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2015
Dena Kahan: The Glass Garden, Art Gallery Ballarat, Ballarat
2014
An Un-Natural History, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2012
The Provisional Sublime, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2011
Glass Garden, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2009
Strange Garden, Red Gallery, Melbourne
2008
Recent Paintings, Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne
On Glass, Woodbine Art, Malmsbury
2007
The Idea of Perfection, Alluvial Gallery, Bendigo
2006
Looking Through Glass, Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne
2002
New Paintings, Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne
1997
Some things to do with string, WestSpace, Melbourne
1993
Looking Up, Linden Gallery, Melbourne
Selected Curated and Prize Exhibitions
2025
Sydney Contemporary 2025, presented by Gallerysmith, Carriageworks, Sydney
2024
Our Place: 20 Years of Town Hall Gallery, Town Hall Gallery, Melbourne
The Len Fox Painting Prize (finalist), Castlemaine Art Gallery
2023
Face Me, Trinity College, Melbourne University, Melbourne
Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, Bayside City Council Gallery, Melbourne
The Len Fox Painting Prize (finalist), Castlemaine Art Gallery
Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize (finalist), Bayside Gallery, Brighton
OMNIA Art Prize, St Kevin’s College, Melbourne
2021
Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize (finalist), Bendigo Art Gallery
Bayside Art Prize (finalist), Bayside Gallery, Brighton
2019
The Sublime Sea: Rapture and Reality (curated exhibition), Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
Arthur Guy Painting Prize, (finalist), Bendigo Art Gallery
Georges River Art Prize, (finalist), Hurstville Museum and Gallery, Sydney
2018
Recent Acquisitions, Town Hall Gallery, Victoria
Wyndham Art Prize, (finalist)
2017
Hyperbotanica, Gallerysmith, Victoria
2016
Rick Amor Drawing Prize, (shortlisted), Ballarat Art Gallery, Victoria
2015
Unintended (Refrains:), George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne
2014
Stanthorpe Festival Art Show, WINNER, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, QLD
Geelong Art Prize, (shortlisted), Geelong Art Gallery
Gold Coast Art Prize, (shortlisted) Gold Coast Art Gallery, Queensland
2012
Tidal: City of Devonport Art Award, (shortlisted), Devonport, Tasmania
McGivern Prize, (shortlisted), Maroondah Art Gallery, Victoria
2010
Fletcher Jones art prize, (shortlisted), Geelong Art Gallery
Strange Nature, Red Gallery, Melbourne
2009
R&M McGivern Prize, (shortlisted)
In Modern Memory, Latrobe University Visual Arts Centre, Bendigo
2007
Darebin Art Prize, (shortlisted), City of Darebin, Melbourne
An intimate look, UPstairs Gallery, Bundanon Homestead, NSW
2006
Fletcher Jones Art Prize, (shortlisted), Geelong Art Gallery
Robert Jacks Drawing Prize, (shortlisted), Bendigo Art Gallery
In Modern Memory, Blindside Gallery, Melbourne
2004
Phyllis Palmer Gallery, La Trobe University, Bendigo
2003
Reunion, George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne
2001-03
We Are Australian, Travelling Exhibition, Australia and abroad, Victorian Arts Centre
1999
Minim-art, Talk Artist’s Initiative, Melbourne
1998
Carolyn Dew, Dena Kahan & Susan Hewitt, Talk Artist’s Initiative, Melbourne
1997
Latrobe Street Gallery, Melbourne
1996
Love at the Carlisle Lodge Motel, Carlisle Lodge Motel, Melbourne
Everyone Goes to Dimmeys, Dimmeys shop window, Melbourne
1995
Artworkz 7, Gallery 101, Melbourne
Shifting Ground, Linden Gallery, Melbourne
Murdoch Prize Exhibition, Melbourne
1994
6 Easy Pieces, Elizabeth Boustead & Dena Kahan, Temple Studios, Melbourne
1993
Parcel Post Show, RM 4, Linden Gallery, Melbourne
1992
Platform, Melbourne
Awards / Residencies
2023 Commissioned portrait of Dr Alison Ingles for Trinity College, University of
Melbourne
2015 Foundation Obras art residency, Evoramonte, Portugal
2014 Winner – Stanthorpe Art Prize, Qld
2008 Awarded a New Work Grant by the Australia Council for the Arts
2008 Studio Residency, Barbican Arts Trust, London
2005 Bundanon Artist’s Residency
1995 Awarded Pat Corrigan exhibition grant
1989 Sponsored by the Ian Potter Foundation to study in Florence
1984 Awarded the Harold Wright and Sarah and William Holmes
Scholarships to study in the Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum
Media / Essays
Cabinet of Wonders – and Concern, Dr Saskia Beudel, October, 2022
Wondrous but strange: botanical collections and the contemporary artist, Alison Inglis, November 2012
After the Weather, Win News, Channel 9, 23, May 2007
Terri-Anne Kingsley, ABC Website, 14 May 2007
Jo Printz, Breakfast with Jonathan Ridnell, ABC Local Radio, Central Victoria, 14 May 2007
James Taylor, The Bendigo Advertiser, 17 May 2007
Amanda Smith, The Deep End, Radio National, 6 September, 2006
Penny Webb, The Age, 15 September, 2006
Megan Backhouse, The Age, 16 September, 2006
Stephen Haley, A reflection, on glass, Catalogue Essay, 2006
Megan Backhouse, The Age, 25 February, 2006
Amanda Johnson, New Paintings, Sky Pieces, Catalogue Essay, 2002
Megan Backhouse, The Age, July 2002
Sandra Bridie, Conversations between Carolyn Dew, Susan Hewitt, Dena
Kahan
Rebecca Lancashire, The Age, 19 December, 1997
Anna Clabburn, The Age, 17 December, 1997
Collections
Bundanon Trust
Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne
Museum of Victoria
Town Hall Gallery, City of Boroondara, Melbourne
Trinity College, University of Melbourne
Lyceum Club, Melbourne
Private collections in Australia and abroad
