ARTISTS | Kate Ballis

EXHIBITIONS CV

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.

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Exhibitions:

GOLD CHIP | one-night-only exhibition

December 12, 2023

Gallerysmith closes the 2023 curtain on December 12 with the annual exhibition, GOLD CHIP. At this one-night-only event, the gallery presents…

Influorescence | Kate Ballis and Tom Blachford

November 3, 2023

Taking its name from the portmanteau of inflorescence and fluorescent, this new series is a collaboration between creative and life partners Kate Ballis and Tom Blachford.

Sydney Contemporary 2022

September 7, 2022

After a two year hiatus, Sydney Contemporary burst back onto the art fair calendar. Billed as one of the most celebrated events on Australia’s cultural calendar, Sydney Contemporary has established itself as a must-attend art event and the perfect place to discover and collect modern and contemporary art.

XV: PAST PRESENT FUTURE

February 4, 2023

Gallerysmith launches its 2023 exhibition program with a group exhibition which celebrates 15 years of gallery operations. This exhibition features works by more than 50 artists who have shown at the gallery between 2008 and 2023....

Atlantis | Kate Ballis

October 7, 2022

I started the project by researching a lot of the mythologies and explorations surrounding Atlantis and the story I wanted to tell was an amalgamation of Plato’s story of Atlantis in Timaeus and Critias (c 360BCE), the history of the Minoan Civilisation and the new age concepts of Atlantis

Sydney Contemporary 2021 | Explore

November 11, 2021

Gallerysmith Presents Kate Ballis, Dadang Christanto, Fiona Hiscock, Susanne Kerr, Waldemar Kolbusz and Catherine Nelson at Sydney Contemporary Explore 2021.

2020(REAR)VISION

June 4, 2021

In this time like no other, Gallerysmith has brought together a curated selection of artists' experiences of 2020 with this online exhibition 2020 (REAR) VISION. This exhibition draws artists from both within and beyond Gallerysmith and aims to provide a snapshot, as a social history record of a most unusual and challenging time. It contains work which is reflective, responsive, reactive and importantly, honest.

I AM WOMAN | International Women’s Day 2021

March 8, 2021

On International Women's Day 2021 we acknowledge the achievements of girls and women around the world. We celebrate those who ...

Infra Realism: Lilac Lux | Kate Ballis

March 12, 2021

Kate Ballis' exhibition Infra-Realism 2021 revisits the wild and wonderful Palm Springs. Working with a converted infrared digital camera Ballis creates a saturated space between reality and the surreal.

Sydney Contemporary presents 2020…

October 1, 2020

Gallerysmith is excited to present the works of Kate Ballis, Penny Byrne, Fiona Hiscock, Waldemar Kolbusz and Catherine Nelson in Sydney Contemporary presents 2020... Click for further details.

Liminality | Kate Ballis

June 25, 2020

Photographed on the Isle of Skye using a converted full spectrum camera and an infrared filter, Kate Ballis reinstates Scotland’s mythological fairies as a statuesque powerful goddesses. The series considers the myth of Cailleach who created the mountains with fire and carved them with ice, and depicts this with blood like feminine forms.

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

News:

KATE BALLIS ARTIST PROFILE + Q&A

April 14, 2020

Kate Ballis is a Melbourne-based photographic artist whose work explores the theme of seeing the unseen. Her colour-drenched artworks employ infra-red technology…

ARTISTS | Kate Ballis

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