VALERIE SPARKS
Valerie Sparks is a photomedia artist whose practice is driven by her interest in the history and aesthetics of immersive environments. Her visual dialogue with frescos, glass houses, stereoscopic photographs and French scenic wallpapers from the 1800s inspire the creation of floor-ceiling dioramas where the boundary between reality, history and fantasy is often blurred. The exploration of historical collections and archives is a core element in Valerie’s practice, including those at the Vienna and La Rochelle Natural History Museums, the Musueè du Papier Peint in Rixheim, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Whitworth Gallery of Art, the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Sparks has been the recipient of a number of awards including the Australia Council London Residency, the French Embassy Cite Des Arts Studio in Paris, the City of Port Phillip Rupert Bunny Award, Australia Council New Work funding, and Arts Victoria International Program funding. She was awarded the William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize in 2016, the St Kevin’s Art Show prize for work on paper in 2019 and has been a finalist in the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, the Fremantle Print Award, Tidal, and the Hutchins Art Prize. Her work is in collections including the National Gallery of Australia, The National Gallery of Victoria and Art Bank. Valerie has a Masters of Fine Art from Monash University, a Bachelor of Arts (with a double major in Anthropology and Pacific Studies, Honours in Anthropology), and a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Drawing.
AVAILABLE WORKS
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Le Vol II, Allusion & Illusion
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White Waratah 1
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White Waratah 2
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Pink Ice Protea 1
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Pink Ice Protea 2
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Passionfruit 1
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Passionfruit 2
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King Protea 1
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King Protea 2
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Copper Chrysanthemum 1
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Copper Chrysanthemum 2
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Red Flowering Gum 1
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Red Flowering Gum 2
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Anastasia Chrysanthemum 1
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Anastasia Chrysanthemum 2
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VALERIE SPARKS
QUALIFICATIONS
2015 Masters Fine Art, Monash University
2003 Bachelor of Fine Art, Drawing: Victorian College of the Arts
2001 Diploma of Visual Arts: RMIT
1996 Honours: Anthropology/Sociology: Latrobe University
1994 Bachelor of Arts, Double Major, Pacific Studies and Anthropology, Latrobe University
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Sanctuary, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2023
Dark Garden, Bett Gallery, Hobart
2019
this is not a wallflower, Bett Gallery, Hobart
2018
Allusion and Illusion: the fantastical world of Valerie Sparks, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
2015
Le Vol, Masters Presentation, Monash Art School, Melbourne
2014
Le Vol, Turner Galleries, Perth
2012
Unnatural Migrations #1, Lowrise Projects, Melbourne
2011
Understory, Sutton Gallery Project Space, Melbourne
Little Bird, Big History, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2010
this weather, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
2008
Luminist, Alliance Franciase, Melbourne
El Dorado Springs, Turner Galleries, Perth
2007
El Dorado Springs, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
2006
Linden Project Room, Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne
2005
The Organisation of the View, 3015 Paris, France
2004
With a View to Paradise, Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Flourish, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Melbourne
XV: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2022
Water(shed), Bett Gallery, Hobart
2021
Photo 2021 – Bowness Photography Prize Celebrates 15 years, Monash Gallery of Art,
Melbourne
2020
Refracted Reality, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth
2019
Sublime Sea- Rapture and Reality, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
2018
The Art of Collecting, Centre for Contemporary Photography Fundraiser, Melbourne
2017
Speaking of History, Bett Gallery, Hobart
2016
Tempest, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
CCP 30 Years Fundraising Exhibition, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
Birds – Flight Paths in Australian Art, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
2015
Arcadia, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Victoria
2014
Outland, Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne
Semblance, this is no fantasy, Melbourne
Outland, this is no fantasy – Volta10, Basel, Switzerland
2013
10 Years – 30 Residencies, Turner Galleries, Perth
2012
Monash University Maribor 2012 European Cultural Capital Project, Venice Biennale, Venice
2011
Private Paradise, Whitworth Gallery of Art, Manchester, United Kingdom
2010
Austral-Asia – Contemporary Photomedia of the last ten years, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Visions, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Victoria
Time Travel, Tweed River Art Gallery, New South Wales
2009
20Plus, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
The View from here IV, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
2008
Treasures, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
Here and Now, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
The Perfumed Garden, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
2007
Valerie Sparks and Polixeni Papapetrou, Roger Williams Gallery Auckland, New Zealand
The View from Here II, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
2006
Proof, National Gallery of Victoria Ian Potter, Melbourne
Treasures, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
Inhabitation, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
Linden Post Card Show, Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
PRIZE AND AWARD EXHIBITIONS
2021
WINNER, Omnia Art Prize, St Kevins College Toorak, Melbourne
Finalist, Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
Finalist, Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Art Centre, Perth
2020
Finalist, Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
2019
Finalist, Banyule Works on Paper Prize, Hatch Contemporary Artspace, Melbourne
Finalist, Hadley’s Art Prize, Hadley’s
Orient, Hobart
Finalist, St Kevin’s Art Prize, St
Kevin’s College Toorak, Melbourne
Finalist, Ravenswood Australian
Women’s Art Prize, Ravenswood School, New South Wales
Finalist, Burnie Print Prize, Burnie Arts and Function Centre, Tasmania
2018
Finalist, St Kevin’s Art Prize, St Kevin’s College Toorak, Melbourne
Finalist, Tidal Acquisitive Art Award, Devonport Regional Gallery, Tasmania
2017
2nd prize, Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Art Centre, Fremantle
Highly Commended, Burnie Print
Prize, Burnie Arts and Function Centre, Tasmania
Finalist, Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, Ravenswood School, New South Wales
2016
WINNER, Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
2015
Honorary Mention, Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
Finalist, Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Art Centre, Fremantle
Finalist, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast Art Gallery, Queensland
2014
Finalist, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast Art Gallery, Queensland
2012
Australian Postgraduate Award, Monash University, Melbourne
Finalist, Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
Finalist, Little Creatures Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Art Centre, Fremantle
2011
Finalist, Hutchins Art Prize, Hobart
2010
Finalist, Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
Finalist, Little Creatures Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Art Centre, Fremantle
Finalist, Tidal Acquisitive Art Award, Devonport Regional Gallery, Tasmania
2009
People’s Choice winner, Little Creatures Female Print Award, Fremantle Art Centre, Fremantle
Finalist, Hutchins Art Prize, Long Gallery, Hobart
Finalist, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast Art Gallery, Queensland
2007
Finalist, Little Creatures Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Art Centre, Fremantle
Finalist, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast Art Gallery, Queensland
2006
The Tammy Kingsley People’s Choice Award, The Alice Prize, Araluen Art Centre, NT
Finalist, Tidal Acquisitive Art Award, Devonport Regional Gallery, Tasmania
COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Whitworth Gallery of Art Manchester, UK
Monash Gallery of Art
Artbank
Art Support, Creative Partnerships
Little Creatures Collection; City of Perth
Private Collections Australia, London, Paris, Hong
Kong