Stephen Pleban
Thinking of a Place 14th April - 9th May 2022
Opening 2 - 5pm 16th April 2022
& gallery Australia
COVID safe, outdoor hospitality 163 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento, Victoria Open 7 Days 10am - 5pm Sales: Julie Collins 0417 324 795 gallery@djprojects.net andgalleryaustralia.net Free delivery and installation within Victoria
Stephen’s paintings are highly worked and aim to build an ominous, otherworldly atmosphere through layers of paint and wax. Stephen’s artwork celebrates the physicality of the painting. Drawing upon images culled from the internet, music and personal photos Stephen focuses on humans reconnecting and responding to the landscape. His paintings tangle with the landscape tradition, imagined futures, the integrity of nature, and concerns related to climate change that focus on the uncertainty. Stephen completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts (1983-86) and later completed postgraduate studies at the Academie Van Beeldende Kunsten in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (2002-03). Stephen’s artwork has been exhibited in solo and group shows in Australia and overseas, with his work being selected for a number prizes including the John Leslie Art Prize (2008), the Rick Amor Drawing Prize (2014), the Calleen Art Award (2014), the Paddington Art Prize (2016) the Kennedy Art Prize (20172019), the Kilgour Art Prize (2019) and the Glover Art Prize, Tasmania (2020). In 2018 he had a solo exhibition as part of Biennale of Australian Art, and most recently another solo exhibition at Project Gallery 90 in Sydney. in 2021. “My paintings are highly worked and aim to build an ominous, otherworldly atmosphere. My intention is to generate a poetic sense of wonderment. The images lay outside our logical experience of landscape and time, and yet,as dreamlike depictions, they relate to the intuitive, melancholy connections we have as humans with the landscape and its beauty. Through layers of paint, oil and wax the images take force through the act of painting itself. An essential element of my practice is the exploration of formal elements that celebrate a deep engagement with the physical deployment of paint. I draw upon images that nurture my practice,culled from the Internet, music, personal photos, films, and documentaries. In an approach that resembles collage, I source and juxtapose images of people in a natural environment sometimes seeking to understand, sometimes satisfied with just being there. My paintings tangle with the landscape tradition, imagined futures, the chaos of nature, and concerns related to climate change that focus on the uncertainty of our altered relationship with the natural world.”
1. Dark Star Oil and Wax on Linen 182 x 152 cm Price $7,700
2. Search Party 2 Oil and Wax on Linen 182 x 152 cm Price $7,700
3. The Collector Oil and Wax on Linen 92 x 102 cm Price $3,500
4. Lagoon Harvest Oil and Wax on Linen 92 x 102 cm Price $3,500
5. Night Swimming with Horse Oil and Wax on Linen 153 x 168 cm Price $6,600
6. Strawberry Field Oil and Wax on Linen 92 x 102 cm Price $3,500
7. Morning of the Earth 1 Oil and Wax on Linen 153 x 168 cm Price $6,600
8. The Gleaners Oil and Wax on Linen 92 x 102 cm Price $3,500
9. Entrance with Albatross Oil and Wax on Linen 153 x 168 cm Price $6,600
10. Sleepwalker 1 Oil and Wax on Linen 92 x 102 cm Price $3,500
11. After the Gold Rush Oil and Wax on Linen 92 x 102 cm Price $3,500
12. Acoustic Ecology Oil and Wax on Linen 123 x 137 cm Price $5,000
Educational Qualifications Victorian College of the Arts, Bachelor of Fine Art Academie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Rotterdam, Postgraduate University of Ballarat, Master of Fine Art Exhibitions 1987
Murdoch Travelling Fellowship, Mornington Art Gallery
1988
Ten New Artists, 70 Arden Street, North Melbourne Le Quattro Stagioni (Four Artists, Four Approaches, Four Mediums), the Warehouse, North Melbourne
1989
Three-person exhibition, Judith Pugh Gallery Second contemporary Art Fair, Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne
1994
Solo exhibition, West Space, Footscray
1995
Solo exhibition, De Kooning Academie Rotterdam, Netherlands Group exhibition, Gallerie Maurits van der Laar, Den Haag, Netherlands Contemporary Art Fair, Belgium
1996
Group exhibition, Gesprek met Vermeer, Museum Prinsenhof, Delft, Netherlands
1997
Shell Art Prize, Williamstown City of Moonee Valley Contemporary Art Prize
1998
City of Moonee Valley Contemporary Art Prize Coalesce, Diane Tanzer Gallery, Fitzroy
2002
Masters/Phd Exhibition, Post Office Gallery, Ballarat
2003
Post card exhibition, Linden Gallery, St Kilda Solo exhibition, In Vivo, Post Office Gallery, Ballarat
2004
Masters/Phd Exhibition, Post Office Gallery, Ballarat Solo Exhibition, In Vivo, Span Gallery, Melbourne
2005
Group exhibition, Art for Science, Nellie Castan Gallery, South Yarra
2008
John Leslie Art Prize, Sale Art Gallery Art Deco Postcard Exhibition, Post Office Gallery, Ballarat
2009
Williamstown Contemporary Art Prize Flanagan Contemporary Art Prize, Ballarat
2010
Williamstown Contemporary Art Prize
Group exhibition, Weather Project Space 22, Ballarat
2011
Group exhibition, Orbit, Space 22, Ballarat
2011
Flanagan Contemporary Art Prize, Ballarat
2012
Unicorn Art Space, Ballarat
2013
Flanagan Contemporary Art Prize, Ballarat
2014
Rick Amor Drawing Prize, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery
2014
Calleen Art Award, Cowra Regional Art Gallery NSW, Highly Commended
2015
Belle Arti Prize, Bailey Gallery Abbotsford
2015
Flanagan Contemporary Art Prize, Ballarat
2016
Belle Art Prize, Bailey Gallery, Abbotsford.
2016
Miniature Immensities, Kingston Art Centre
2016
Finalist, Paddington Art Prize, Sydney
2017
Finalist, Kennedy Art Prize, Adelaide
2017
BOAA Artist, What’s in the box? Melbourne, Hepburn & Ballarat
2018
Solo exhibition, Biennale of Australian Art, 2018.
2019
Finalist, Len Fox Art Award, Castlemaine Art Museum.
2019
Finalist, Kilgour Art Prize, Newcastle Art Gallery
2019
Finalist, Kennedy Art Award, Adelaide
2020
Group exhibition 1.5 Degree,s Forty Five Down Stairs, Melbourne
2020
Finalist, Glover Art Prize, Tasmania
2021
Group exhibition, The Nude Exhibition, Project Gallery 90, Sydney
2021
Solo exhibition, Project Gallery 90, Sydney
2021
Finalist Tatiara Art Prize, Walkway Gallery, South Australia
Prizes 1991
National Art Prize, The Australian newspaper
1983
Sarah Levy Painting Prize, Victorian College of the Arts: Victorian National Art Gallery
1983
VTU Art Prize, Caulfield Art Gallery
1983
City of Moonee Valley Art Prize
2014
Calleen Art Award NSW, Highly Commended