Kate Ballis

1985 | Melbourne

Kate Ballis is a Melbourne-based photographic artist whose work explores the theme of seeing the unseen. Her colour-drenched images use a range of in-camera techniques technologies to isolate colours within the spectrum, or expose colours not seen in nature with the naked eye. Referencing ancient mythology, feminist icons, or ideas derived from astronomy her work explores places and spirits, making them seem more foreign than the places we know.

Ballis’ work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Miami, curated photo festivals worldwide and at art fairs across Europe. She has featured in Aesthetica, AnOther, Wallpaper, Vogue Living, VICE and Forbes among others. Ballis is represented in the Parliament House Collection in Canberra and Artbank as well as important private collections.

AVAILABLE WORKS

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CV

KATE BALLIS

born 1985, lives Melbourne

Solo Exhibitions

2023

Atlantis Revisited, Essoign Club, Melbourne, VIC

Influorescense, Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC

Before Time, Arthouse, Sydney, NSW

2022

Atlantis, Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC

Wonderworld, David Jones Gallery, Sydney, NSW

2021

Infra Realism: Lilac Lux, Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC

2020

Liminality (virtual exhibition), Gallerysmith, Melbourne, VIC

Hyperphantasia, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW

2019

Spectrums of the Galapagos, Jardan, VIC

2018

Hypercolour Fantasy: Infra Realism, Garis and Hahn, Los Angeles,
USA

2017

Glace Noir, Black Eye Gallery, NSW

Infra Realism, Jardan, VIC

Curated and Group Exhibitions

2023

Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Ballarat, Victoria (various
venues)

Lost in Palm Springs, curated by Greer Honeywill, (touring), HOTA,
Home of the Arts, QLD

XV: Past Present Future, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2022

Out of the Blue, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW

2021

Hundreds and Thousands, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW

Going Home, Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide, SA

Coming Home, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW

fresh eyes: reimagining robin boyd’s walsh street’, Melbourne
Design Week, Melbourne, VIC

Not Fair, Melbourne, curated by Ashley Crawford and Sam Leach

Summer Salon, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW

2020

Head on at 107, Head On photo Festival, curated by Sandy Edwards,
Redfern, NSW

RE(NEW)AL, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW

Summer Show, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW

2019

Illusions, Backwoods Gallery, VIC

CCP Photo Fair, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, VIC

2017

Straight Lines, Black Eye Gallery, NSW

Award Exhibitions

2023

Prompted Peculiar – International AI Prize 2023, Ballarat Photo
Biennale, Ballarat, VIC

Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Prize, Manly, NSW

IRIS Award, Perth Centre for Photography, Perth, WA

Omnia Art Award, St Kevin’s College, Melbourne

2022

Kings School Art Prize, Finalist, The King’s School, Parramatta,
NSW

Omnia Art Award, St Kevin’s College, Melbourne

2021

Bowness Photography Award, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, VIC

Art Fairs

2023

Sydney Contemporary, Arthouse Gallery, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW

2022

Sydney Contemporary, Gallerysmith, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW

2021

PAN Amsterdam, RAI Amsterdam exhibition centre, Amsterdam,
Netherlands

2020

Sydney Contemporary presents 2020 (virtual art fair)

2019

Palm Springs Art Fair, Palm Springs, USA

Affordable Art Fair, ARTITLED Contemporary, London, UK

Art Karlsruhe, Germany

KunstRAI, The Netherlands

London Art Fair, London, UK

2018

Pulse Miami Art Fair, Garis and Hahn, Miami, USA

London Art Fair, London, UK

Art The Hague, The Netherlands

AAF Brussels, Belgium

KunstRAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Affordable Art Fair, ARTITLED Contemporary, London, UK

AAF Battersea, London, UK Art House Collective

2017

Art The Hague, The Netherlands

AAF Battersea, London, UK

Commissions

2020       Shot and Edited on iPhone, Torres
del Paine National Park, Apple USA

2018       City Square Metro Tunnel,
Melbourne, VIC

Public Collections

Artbank

Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra

Bibliography

2023

Honeywilll, Greer, ‘Lost in Palm Springs’, Melbourne Books, February 2023,
cover image

2021

Lekka Angelopoulou, Sofia, ‘Architectural photographers reimagine robin
boyd’s iconic modernist house in Melbourne’, Designboom, April 3, 2021

2020

‘Hyperphantasia: a trip through the California desert – in pictures’, The
Guardian
, 15 February

2019

‘Tired of Intellectualising Everything? This Photographer Is’, The
Design Files
, 26 March

‘Spectrums of the Galapagos’ Photography Exhibition by Kate Ballis’, Yellowtrace,
8 April

2018

Ballis, Kate, Infra Realism, Manuscript Publishing

2018

Gibson, Eleanor ‘Kate Ballis’ infrared photography displays California
modernism in vivid hues’, 20 February

Pitcher, Laura, ‘Photographer Kate Ballis Makes your Palm Springs Vacation
Photos look Basic’, iD/ Vice Magazine, 20 June

Klingelfuss, Jessica, ‘Kate Ballis’ candy-coloured dreamscapes hit the sweet
spot in Los Angeles’, Wallpaper, 28 July

Carter, Felicity, ‘Kate Ballis Showcases a Hypercolor Fantasy in her Latest
Exhibition, Infra Realism’, Forbes, 4 August

Sara Tardiff, ‘You’ll Never Look at Iconic Palm Springs Architecture the
Same Way’, Architectural Digest Magazine, 21 August

Carolan, Nicholas, ‘The Pink Print’, Grazia

‘Infra Realism: deserts saturated with colour in pictures’, The Guardian,
16 October

2017

‘First look: This Melbourne-based photographer has captured one of the
world’s most beautiful natural attractions’, Vogue Australia, 27 June

Murrell, Elle, ‘Kate Ballis’, The Design Files, 19 June

Lawson, Kate, ‘In her Candy Colored Dreams’, The September Issues

Black, Holly, ‘Reimagining Californian Landscapes through Infrared’,
Another Magazine
, 26 July

‘Hyper-real Perspectives’, Aesthetica Magazine, 30 July