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ARTISTS | Rachel Coad

EXHIBITIONS CV

Known for her figurative paintings Rachel Coad evokes a sense of nostalgia and timelessness in her works. Her subjects are deeply human, with a focus on everyday gestures, expressions and body language. Coad renders old souls that exude wisdom beyond their years, their eyes hinting of secrets only they know.

Figuration offers a vehicle for Coad to delve into existentialism, and the engagement of viewer to subject is key to the success of her work. Her monumental-scaled work is characterised by a limited palette and subtle tonal shifts.

Rachel Coad’s career has spanned over 20 years, in which time she has shown in both Australia and the UK. She was awarded the $50,000 Black Swan Prize for portraiture in 2016. In addition, she has been shortlisted for numerous awards  including the Metro 5 Award on two occasions (2006, 2007) and the Albany Art Prize. At the end of 2013, Coad was shortlisted for the BankWest Painting Prize and was voted as the winner of the People’s Choice.

VIEW AVAILABLE RACHEL COAD WORKS >

Exhibitions:

Season | Rachel Coad

More exhibition details will be available soon. Contact the gallery to be added to the advance list for Rachel Coad. marita@gallerysmith.com.au
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XV: PAST PRESENT FUTURE

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....
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I AM WOMAN | International Women’s Day 2021

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

“There can be no transforming of darkness into light, of apathy into movement without emotion.”1 Flock is an ambitious series of figurative paintings by Rachel Coad which revisit the warm, muted palette that dominated her early practice. The subjects of these works are French backpackers who passed through Margaret River on their Australian travels. In exchange for board and lodging, Coad retained them as sitters in the studio, where she sketched, photographed and painted them....
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Restoration | Rachel Coad

In a return to the themes which dominated Coad’s 2014 series, Restoration is an ambitious series of portraits which endeavours to describe an unguarded moment in human interaction. Her figures engage with a series of situations which are not apparent to the viewer in a bid to examine the role of the spectator. She says, “We all find ourselves in conversations where, in a moment, we are observing rather that participating. I seek to recreate the dynamics in the observed moment.”
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Adriane Strampp install shot for Denfair

DENFAIR 2017 | art and design fair in Melbourne

DENFAIR is a boutique art and design fair held over three days in Melbourne. The fair presents a carefully curated selection…

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Juncture | Rachel Coad

Juncture, a particular point in time, is also the term used to describe the transition from one second to the next. The paintings in Rachel Coad's current body of work examine this theme by merging the expressions observed between two thoughts. By identifying and combining many facets of one moment, Coad's muted and intense works delve deeper into subconscious thought and uncover an unhindered engagement with the inner-self.
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Frontier | Rachel Coad

Frontier responds to the fight, flight and drive of the human spirit. With reference to Umberto Boccioni’s early 20th century sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, Rachel Coad’s work alludes to the Futurist preoccupations with dynamic movement and speed. The fighter jets, with their aerodynamic forms pay homage to the Futurist’s fixation on technological advancements in speed, locomotion and warfare.
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CV:

Rachel Coad
born 1971, Western Australia
EDUCATION
1989–91 Diploma in Art and Design, WA Met. School of Art and Design
1992–93 Travel UK
1994–03 Illustrator and designer, The West Australian Newspaper
5-year Residency at Customs House, Fremantle
2009  Propel Youth Arts Mentor
2010  Studio Escalier, Paris, Winter at the Louvre drawing program
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019  Flock, Studio preview, Fremantle, WA,
Flock, Gallerysmith, VIC
2017  Restoration, Gallerysmith, VIC
2016 Retro-spective, Holmes a Court Gallery, Margaret River, WA
2015  District, Gallerysmith, VIC
2014  Juncture, Gallerysmith, VIC
2012  Rachel Coad, Perth Galleries, WA
Frontier, Gallerysmith, VIC
2011  New Work, ROA Gallery, London
2010  New Paintings, Gunyulgup Galleries, WA
Legacy, Perth Galleries, WA
2009  Pack, Gallery 27, London
2008  Gunyulgup Galleries, WA
2007  Clusters, Perth Galleries, WA
2006  Narrative, Gunyulgup Galleries, WA
2005  48 King St, Perth, WA
2004  Murray St, Perth, WA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (including ART PRIZES & AWARDS)
2016
Black Swan Prize for Portraiture – WINNER
Bankwest Art Prize – finalist
2015
Doug Moran Prize – semi-finalist
Black Swan Prize for Portraiture – finalist
Bankwest Art Prize – finalist
2013
Holmes a Court Gallery, The Art of Sound, with the National Film and Sound Archive, WA
Bankwest Art Prize – finalist and winner of People’s Choice Award
Albany Art Prize, – finalist
2012
Gallerysmith, Threehundredandthirty, VIC
Perth Galleries, WA
2011
ROA Gallery, London
Artitude open category – winner 2010
Wagner Art Gallery, NSW
Melbourne Art Fair, Perth Galleries
Holmes a Court Gallery, Ten, WA
2007
Customs House open studio, WA
Mine Own Executioner, Mundaring Arts Centre, WA
Metro 5 Art Award – finalist Vic
2006
Perth Galleries, WA
Metro 5 Art Award – finalist
2004
Cromwell Art Prize – finalist
2003
Australian Journalism Association – Print graphics prize
Katanning Art Prize – Highly commended
1997
Walkely Award – nominated for ‘artwork’
MEDIA
2015 The Age, In the Galleries, review of District by Dan Rule, 15 August, 15
2012 The West Australian, ‘Fight and Flight’ by Lyn Diceiero
2012 The Age, In the Galleries, by Dan Rule
2010 Legacy burnt into artist’s approach, The West Australian, Review by Ric Spencer, May 21
My Space, The West Weekend Magazine, March
Face to Face, Insite Magazine, Spring, p. 204
Expat Eye, Australian Art Market Report, issue one, 2010
2009 This is London Magazine
In London
The London Paper  – Meet the artist
The Australian Times, London – Coad breaking
The West Australian – Artists puts expats in big picture
2007 The West Australian– Portraits from face-to-face
Artists Chronicle– Cover image, Nov
RTR Fm radio interview
The Fremantle Gazette  – “Rachel shines again”
2006 The Fremantle Herald  – “Ms Coad cracks it”
The Fremantle Gazette – “Young artist in hunt for coveted national prize”
2005  The West Australian– “WA pair up for prize”
The Great Outdoors, channel 7 – Painting featured in The Outram Hotel
2004 PostcardsWA – Gallery interview and review – channel 9
2003 Perth Woman Magazine  – Artscape “Moving pictures”
2002 The West Australian– “Artist frames brothers”, Portrait of the Mickelberg Brothers
COLLECTIONS
Holmes a Court Collection
Cromwell Collection
Santa Maria College Collection
Private collections: Australia, Holland, Hong Kong Singapore, USA, UK and Japan

News:

RACHEL COAD SHORTLISTED FOR AUSTRALIA’S RICHEST PORTRAIT PRIZE

Rachel Coad is one of just 30 artists who has been shortlisted for Australia's richest award exhibition, the Doug Moran National Portrait…

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Inspiration:

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