ARTISTS | Christopher Pease

EXHIBITIONS CV

Christopher Pease is a Minang / Nyoongar man from South Western Australia, whose visual language is at once deeply embedded within the western history of figurative oil painting and traditional Indigenous storytelling. Western notions of home and land ownership and the consequent loss of Aboriginal culture are referenced throughout Pease’s vocabulary of visual metaphor. His paintings often comprise references to western culture superimposed over scenes of traditional Indigenous ways of living and interacting with nature. His recent works include cross-sections of native flora which have metamorphosed into repetitive motifs and regimented decorative pattern such as those used in contemporary wallpaper designs, through which he reveals the problematic relationship between contemporary notions of living and the loss of Aboriginal traditional land and culture.

Pease is represented in numerous public collections around Australia including: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane; along with other public, and corporate collections as well as significant private collections both here and in the USA.

VIEW AVAILABLE CHRISTOPHER PEASE WORKS >

Exhibitions:

Minang Boodjar | Christopher Pease

January 15, 2019

In 1834, English explorer and artist, Robert Dale, produced a series of drawings of Australia's south west coast that are widely regarded as the most ambitious attempt to document the Australian landscape in the 19th century. Produced as a series of etchings totaling 3m long, Dale's work depicts rolling hills in a vast panorama and is dotted with depictions of harmonious relations between English settlers and the Nyoongar. The six paintings which are collectively titled Minang Boodjar re-examine Dale's 19th century imagery at an epic scale in an attempt to focus our attention on the troubled notion of a romanticised account of colonisation.

Exhibition Winter Solstice 1 at Gallerysmith

Winter Solstice 1 | a group exhibition

June 11, 2015

Winter Solstice 1 was an exhibition comprising paintings and works on paper, all celebrating the astronomical transition from the shortest day of the year. The exhibition featured works by: Ian Friend, Jennifer Goodman, Ngaio Lenz, Stephen Ormandy, Christopher Pease and Lee Salomone

Christopher Pease, Welcome to Country, 2011, oil on linen, 152x220cm

Welcome to Country | Christopher Pease

April 19, 2012

These works explore the conflicts and connections between traditional indigenous culture and contemporary western ideologies. Geometric house floor plans float symbolically over carefully rendered scenes of traditional living while native and introduced flora morph into wall-paper designs featuring repetitive motifs and regimented decorative patterns. Pease’s approach is deeply embedded within Australia’s colonial history of oil painting yet provides a new interpretation of indigenous storytelling.

Christopher Pease (Minang / Nyoongar)

born 1969, Western Australia, lives Dunsborough, Western Australia

EDUCATION

1998 Graduate Diploma in Art & Design, Perth

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 Minang Boodjar, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2013 New Works, Christopher Pease, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney

2012 Welcome to Country, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2009 Christopher Pease, New Works – Goddard de Fiddes Gallery, Perth

2008 Christopher Pease – New Paintings, Goddard de Fiddes Gallery, Perth

2005 Christopher Pease, Goddard de Fiddes Gallery, Perth

2003 Christopher Pease, Goddard de Fiddes Gallery, Perth

2000 Christopher Pease, Goddard de Fiddes Gallery, Perth

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2018 Wild: Flora and Fauna in Australian Art, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, NSW
Indigenous Australia: Masterworks from the National Gallery of Australia, me Collectors Room of the Olbricht Foundation, Berlin

2017 A New World, curated by Richard Ennis, Incinerator Gallery, Melbourne

2014 Family Matters, Holmes a Court Gallery, Heytesbury, WA

2012 Australian Landscape: Present in the Now, Michael Reid Gallery Berlin
Murr-ma: Uncovering Aboriginal & Australian Contemporary Art, Berlin

2011 Noongar Country 2011, Bunbury Regional Art Gallery

2010                  17^th Biennale of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
                           Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne
                           Nyoongar Dreaming, City of Joondalup Gallery

2009 Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards, AGWA, Perth
Culture Warriors, Katzen Centre, Washington DC

2007 First Indigenous Triennial, Culture Warriors, National Gallery of Australia
Nyoongar Native Title, John Curtin Gallery, Perth

Contemporary Nyoongar Painting, Goddard de Fiddes Gallery

2006                  Melbourne Art Fair, Goddard de Fiddes Gallery
                            Right Here, Right Now, National Gallery of Australia
                            Identity and Change, AGWA, Perth

2005 22^nd National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT

2004 Melbourne Art Fair, Goddard de Fiddes Gallery
Works from the Collection, John Curtin Art Gallery

2003 Group show with Ben Pushman and Sandra Hill, Goddard de Fiddes Gallery

South West Central, Art Gallery of Western Australia

2002 19^th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Ben Pushman, Sandra Hill, Chris Pease, Goddard de Fiddes, Perth

2001 Mine Own Executioner, Mundaring Art Centre
Wide Open, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery

COMMISSIONS

2018 Barangaroo Towers, Sydney

2006 Royal Netherlands Embassy Aboriginal Project

2004 Perth Convention Centre

AWARDS

2009 Highly commended, Western Australia Indigenous Art Award, AGWA

2002 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Award, Prize for Painting

COLLECTIONS

National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, Parliament House Collection, Canberra, Wesfarmers Collection, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Holmes a Court Collection, Kerry Stokes Collection, Australian Capital Equity, Perth Convention Centre, BHP Billiton Art Collection, John Curtin University, Perth, Murdoch University, Perth, University of Queensland Art Museum, City of Perth, Perth Convention Centre, Artbank, Museum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Utrect, Netherlands, Private collections Australia, USA and Europe