Stephen Pleban Catalogue

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