CV
PENNY BYRNE
Born 1965, Mildura, Australia
Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia
EDUCATION
2020 Candidate, Master of Fine Arts (Research), RMIT University, Melbourne
1997 Bachelor of Laws (LLB), La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
1990 Graduate Diploma (Ceramics and Glass Conservation and Restoration), West Dean College, West Sussex, United Kingdom
1987 Bachelor of Arts (BA Fine Arts Ceramics), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
AWARDS, PRIZES AND GRANTS
2020 Finalist - FUSE Glass Prize, Jam Factory, Adelaide, SA
2019 Australia Council for the Arts Residency, Canberra Glass Works, ACT
2017 First Prize - Linden Postcard Show, Linden New Art, Melbourne
2017 Woollarha Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney, finalist
2016 Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University, Melbourne, finalist
2015 Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramics Award, Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, finalist
2015 Australia Council for the Arts, Venice Biennale Artist Assistance Grant
2014 The Young Masters Ceramics Award, London, UK, finalist
2014 Australia Council for the Arts, Publicity and Promotion Grant
2012 The Fisher's Ghost Art Award, Cambelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, finalist
2012 Adelaide Fringe Festival Visual Arts Award, finalist
2012 Sidney Myer Ceramics Award, Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Victoria, finalist
2012 Albury Art Prize, Albury, finalist
2011 Woolarah Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney, finalist
2011 National Association of Visual Arts (NAVA) Grant: Janet Holmes a Court Artist Grant
2010 City of Hobart Art Prize, Hobart, finalist
2009 Stan + Maureen Duke Award, finalist
2009 Woolarah Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney, finalist
2008 Woolarah Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney, finalist
2008 Stan + Maureen Duke Award, finalist
2008 Fishers Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, finalist
2007 Ripe, Art and Australia and ANZ Emerging Artists, finalist
2006 Warrnambool Regional Art Gallery New Social Commentaries 06, Warrnambool, finalist
2005 Linden Postcard Show, Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne, Post Card Winner
2002 Pat Emery Award for Emerging Ceramicists, Victorian Ceramic Group, Honourable Mention
2001 Pat Emery Award for Emerging Ceramicists, Victorian Ceramic Group, Honourable Mention
COLLECTIONS
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia
Artbank, National Collection, Australia
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat, Victoria
Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Victoria
City of Darebin Art Collection, Melbourne, Victoria
City of Yarra Art Collection, Melbourne, Victoria
Deakin University Collection, Melbourne, Victoria
Henning V. Claassen Collection, Germany
Holmesglen TAFE Collection, Melbourne, Victoria
Lyon House Museum, Melbourne, Victoria
Mildura Art Gallery, Mildura, Victoria
Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria
Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Newcastle, New South Wales
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, New South Wales
RMIT University Art Collection, Melbourne, Victoria
Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Victoria
Warrnambool Art Gallery, Warrnambool, Victoria
Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo, New South Wales
Private Collections in Australia, United Kingdom, Turkey, USA, New Zealand, Hong Kong, France, Belgium, Singapore, Germany, The Netherlands
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 HIGH VIS: Protest, People annd Power in a time of Fake News, St Helier St Gallery, Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne
2019 HIGH VIS: Protest, People and Power in a time of Fake News, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Vic
2017 Penny Byrne #EuropaEuropa, Michael Reid Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2017 Penny Byrne - Brutal, Linden New Art, Melbourne
2014 Ettonez Moi, Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne
2013 Penny Byrne - iPROTEST, Art Basel Hong Kong, Sullivan+Strumpf, Hong Kong
2012 Life is a Riot, Albury Library Museum, Albury, New South Wales
2012 The Art of the Possible, The Jam Factory Gallery, Adelaide, South Australia
2011-12 Penny Byrne: Commentariate, Deakin University Art Gallery, Melbourne; Geelong Art Gallery, Geelong; Warrnambool Gallery, Warrnambool; Mildura Art Gallery, Mildura
2011-12 Political Porcelain, Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House, Canberra
2011 Plausible Deniability, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2011 Penny Byrne, Gear Box Gallery, The Motor Works, Melbourne Grammar School, Melbourne
2010 Ill gotten Gains, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2009 Interesting Times, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2008 Collateral Damage, Melbourne Art Fair, Sullivan+Strumpf, Royal Exhibition Centre
2007 Blood, Sweat and Fears, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2006 Penny Byrne: Mantlepiece, Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
GLASSTRESS: Window to the Future, The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia
Welcome to my World: Ceramics with Narrative, The Burton at Bideford, Devon, England
Flesh After Fifty: Changing images of older women in art, The Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne, Victoria
2020
UNBREAKABLE: Women in Glass, Fondazione Berengo Art Space, Murano, Venice, Italy
Linden Postcard Show 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Linden New Art, Melbourne, Victoria
FUSE Glass Prize Finalist's Exhibition, Jam Factory, Adelaide, South Australia
Guns to Roses, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, NSW
2019
Pleasure, (2019 - 2020), RMIT University Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
Craftivism: Dissident Objects and Subversive Forms, 2018 to 2020, Shepparton Art Museum, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Museum of Australian Democracy, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, Warwick Art Gallery, University of the Sunshine coast Art Gallery
Between the Moon and the Stars, Museum Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, NT
SODEISHA: connected to Australia, Newcastle Art Gallery, NSW
Enucleo - Subversive Clay, Australian Ceramics Triennale, Hobart, Tasmania
2018
Gothic Beauty: Victorian Notions of Love, Loss and Spirituality, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Victoria
Chaos & Order: 120 Years of Collecting, RMIT University Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
Unbreakable – Ceramics Redefined, Jankossen Gallery, New York, USA
Hearts and Minds, Canberra Glassworks, Canberra, ACT
2017
Linden Postcard Show, Linden New Art, Melbourne, Victoria
Woollarah Small Sculpture Prize finalists exhibition, Woollahra Council Gallery, Sydney, NSW
BLOOD: Attract & Repel, Science Gallery Melbourne, Victoria
Survival Bias, La Trobe Art Institute, Bendigo, Victoria
VOLTA13, with Coates and Scarry, Basel, Switzerland
Time and Tide, ClimArte Festival, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
The Extractive Frontier: Mining for Art, Castlemaine Art Gallery, Victoria
Selected works - Coates and Scarry, Gallery8, London, UK
2016
Birds: Flight Paths in Australian Art, Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery, Victoria
Wildthing: Animals in Contemporary Art, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW
10+3, James Makin Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
80/80. Eighty Years of SAM. The Collection, Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Victoria
Art16 London, Grand Hall Olympia, with Fehily Contemporary, London, UK
GlassFever Contemporary Art in Glass, Huis van Gijn, Dordrecht, The Netherlands
Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University, Melbourne
Wait, weep and be worthy, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW
New16, Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne, Victoria
Antipodean Inquiry, Yuvaz Gallery, Singapore
2015
GLASSTRESS Gotika, Venice Biennale, Palazzo Franchetti, Venice, Italy
Sidney Myer Australian Ceramics Award, Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Victoria
Storm in a Teacup, Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery, Mornington, Victoria
Vestige, Gallery8, Coates and Scarry, Duke Street, London, UK
First Landing to Last Post, Australian Parliament House, Canberra, ACT
Guarding the Homefront, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney, NSW
2014
The Object Divine, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne, Victoria
Young Masters Ceramics Award, Lloyds Club, London, UK
START Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, with Fehily Contemporary, London, UK
Paradise Again, Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Victoria
Animal Ark, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
Art14 London, Grand Hall Olympia, with Fehily Contemporary, London, UK
Made to Last, NETS (Victoria) Touring Show, CDU Art Gallery, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT
Private assembly: a contemporary collection, Tweed Regional Gallery, NSW
2013
Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria
Made to Last, NETS (Victoria Touring Show), McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, Victoria
Australia – Contemporary Voices, The Fine Art Society, London, UK
Censored, Fehily Contemporary, Collingwood, Victoria
In the Public Interest, Counihan Gallery, Brunswick, Victoria
Enucleo – Contemporary Clay, Sawtooth ARI, Launceston and 146 Artspace, Hobart, Tasmania
Auckland Art Fair, Fehily Contemporary, The Cloud Convention Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
Made to Last, NETS (Victoria Touring Show), QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, Queensland
(What’s so funny ‘bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?, Bayside Arts and Cultural Centre, Brighton, Victoria
Diorama, Wollongong City Gallery, Wollongong, NSW
Made to Last, NETS (Victoria) Touring Show, Manningham Gallery, Doncaster, Victoria
2012
Fishers Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, NSW
Subvert, Australian Ceramics Triennale Group Show, Light Square Gallery, AC Arts, Adelaide, South Australia
Made to Last, NETS (Victoria) Touring Show, La Trobe Regional Gallery, Ballarat Art Gallery, Victoria
iPROTEST - installation in Haunts and Follies, Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
Like, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, NSW
Hello Dolly, Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith, NSW
Albury Art Prize, Albury Art Gallery, Albury, NSW
SSFA12, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney, NSW
Art by Wendouree, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, Victoria
2011
Capriccio, Red Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
SSFA11, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney, NSW
2010
Power Chicks and Men Who Sew, Deloitte, Sydney, NSW
New Acquisitions, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, Victoria
Recent Acquisitions, Shepparton Art Gallery, Shepparton, Victoria
Ceramics Now! Whitehorse Art Space, Melbourne, Victoria
The Navigators, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
Recent Acquisitions, Shepparton Art Gallery, Shepparton, Victoria
ARTHK10, Hong Kong Art Fair with Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Hong Kong
Clash: Contemporary Sculptural Ceramics, Newcastle Region Gallery, Newcastle, NSW
SSFA10, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney, NSW
Time Travel, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, NSW
2009
Copenhagen Art Fair, ADCO:VENUE, Copenhagen, Denmark
Horror – Come Darkness, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Thing: Beware of the Material World, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
White Heat, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney, NSW
Facing the Future, Australian Ceramics Triennial, National Art School, Sydney, NSW
The Climate Show, Copenhagen, Denmark
Salon des Refuses, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW
SSFA09, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney, NSW
2008
Fishers Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, NSW
Stan and Maureen Duke Award, Gold Coast City Gallery, Gold Coast, QLD
Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney, NSW
SSFA08, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney, NSW
2007
Arc Biennial, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD
SSFA07, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney, NSW
Exquisite Palette, St Luke The Colourmen, Melbourne, Victoria
2006
New Social Commentaries 06, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Warrnambool, Victoria
The (Royal) Melbourne Show, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney, NSW
SSFA06, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney, NSW
Linden Postcard Show, Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne , Victoria
2005
Sydney Affordable Art Fair, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney , NSW
Linden Postcard Show, Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Victoria
2004
It's Murder on Easey Street, Easey Street Studios Gallery, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne, Victoria
2003
Castlemaine State Festival Ceramics Award, Castlemaine, Victoria
2002
Pat Emery Award for Emerging Ceramicists, Victorian Ceramic Group, Montsalvat, Victoria
2001
Pat Emery Award for Emerging Ceramicists, Victorian Ceramic Group, Northcote Pottery Kiln Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
2000
The White Cube Project, Dante's Gallery, Melbourne , Victoria
1988
RMIT Graduate Show, Arts Centre, Melbourne, Victoria
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Warrnambool Art Gallery, Exhibition Catalogue, 2019
http://www.thewag.com.au/exhibition/high-vis-protest-people-and-power-time-fake-news
“All We Can’t See: Australian Artists Illustrate the Nauru files”, Sydney Morning Herald, August 4th, 2018, Jewel Topsfield
https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/all-we-can-t-see-australian-artists-illustrate-the-nauru-files-20180804-p4zvjz.html
“Penny Byrne: Armed and vulnerable”, Art Monthly Australia, Issue 305 (Mar 2018), Arjmand Aziz
https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=423389763935541;res=IELLCC
“Penny Byrne, ceramicist: Four Horsemen of the 21st Century Apocalypse”, The Australian, October 7th, 2017, Bronwyn Watson
“Penny Byrne on Europe’s Refugee Crisis and the Power of Porcelain”, October 5th, 2017
“Penny Byrne – Brutal”, Arts Review, February 7th, 2017
http://artsreview.com.au/penny-byrne-brutal/
Exhibition:Brutal at Linden New Art, The ArtMUSEum, Paul Costigan, 5 March 2017
http://www.theartmuseum.com.au/2017/03/05/penny-byrne/
"Wings of Desire, Demise and Adaptation: Birds in Australian Art", Grainne Cleary and Hannah Tribe, The Conversation online, 5 December, 2016
https://theconversation.com/wings-of-desire-demise-and-adaptation-birds-in-australian-art-69884
"Harrowing Photojournalism inspires a tragic Greek Sculpture" by Catherine Chapman, The Creators Project, VICE, 16 June 2016
http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/penny-byrne-homemade-gas-masks-sculpture
NewGlass Review 37, page 8, Penny Byrne "Hurt Locker" one of 100 cutting edge glass artworks selected in 2016, Corning Museum of Glass, New York, 2016
"Melbourne artist Penny Byrne creates suit of armour out of hand-blown glass for prestigious Venice Biennale show', Kylie Northover, Fairfax media, 15th April, 2015
Penny Byrne changes medium and scale in riotous new exhibition, Dylan Rainforth, 11th November, 2014
“Feisty figurine fitted with baton and grenade”, The Art Newspaper Online, 23rd November, 2013
‘Penny Byrne featured artist’, Australian Art Collector, Issue 64, 2013
‘Figuring out sincerity without irony’, Robert Nelson, The Age, August 15, 2012
‘Artist’s delicate figurines have plenty to say’, Sun Herald, August 28 2011
Pryor, Sally. ‘Porcelain conservator goes to pieces over politics’, The Canberra Times 30 June 2011
ABC Radio- Canberra, Porcelain with a political message, Afternoons with Genevieve Jacobs, June 2011
artingeelong, Commentariat by Penny Byrne at Geelong Gallery (blog), 1st June 2011
http://artingeelong.com/2011/06/01/commentariat-by-penny-byrne-at-geelong-gallery/
Nelson, Robert. ‘Of gentility and heebie-jeebies’ The Age, 9 March 2011, p 19
ABC Radio – Ballarat, and www.abc.net.au/ballarat: Radio interview about New Acquisitions Exhibition, 2 September, 2010
Mendelssohn, Joanna. ‘Critic’s Choice’, Australian Art Collector, Issue 56 April – June 2011, p. 191
Reid, Michael. ‘Penny Byrne’ Michael Reid: Australian Art, 2011 http://www.michaelreid.com.au/Resources/CY54_Byrne.pdf
‘Opening Gallery: Ill Gotten Gains’, Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 – 19 September 2010
‘Look what we’ve bought’, The Courier, Ballarat, 31 August 2010, p 14
Flynn, Paul. ‘Profile: Penny Byrne’ Artist Profile, Issue 12, 2010, p 77 - 81
Ray, Una. ‘Dynamic Ceramics’ The Herald, Saturday 20 February, 2010
Gibson, P. ‘Exceptional Acquisitions’ Australian Art Collector, Issue 51, January – March 2010, p 148 - 151
Cook, Robert. ‘Thing: Beware the Material World’, exhibition catalogue, Art Gallery of Western Australia, p 42 – 43
Reid, Michael. ‘Plenty of talent to boost collections’, The Weekend Australian, 2 -3 January 2010
‘Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize 2008’, Antiques and Art in Queensland, Nov 08 – March 09, p 11
‘Oh Brother’, The Age 19 September 2008 p 22
Israel, Glenis. ‘Art Wise Contemporary 2’, John Wiley and Sons Australia Ltd, 2009, p 66 - 72
O’Riordan, Maurice. ‘Editorial’ and cover image, Art Monthly, August 2008 Issue #212 p 3
‘New Work: Penny Byrne’ Art World, August – September 2008, p 152 - 155
Walton, Inga. ‘Vicious Figurines. Penny Byrne’s Ceramic Advocacy’, Ceramics Art and Perception International, Issue 72, 2008, p 15
‘Feats of clay’, Careers section, City Weekly, Melbourne, 19 June 2008, p 21
Mendelssohn, Joanna. ‘Smart Art: Penny Byrne’ Australian Art Collector, Issue 41, July – September 2007, p 150
Clement, Tracey. ‘Blood, Sweat and Fears’, Artlink, Vol 27 # 2, 2007, p 93
Carol Rosenberg. ‘Guantanamo in pop culture’, The Miami Herald, 9 September 2007, p 1
Galacho, Olga. ‘Suffer for art but not financially’, Herald Sun, 24 May 2007, p 67
Organ, Joyce. ‘Beware, these pretty things bite’, Sydney Morning Herald, 6 March 2007, p 14
‘2007’s top 100 tips - Art investing’, The Weekend Australian, 30-31 December 2006, p 29
Sheedy, Chris. ‘Q&A: Love your work’, Sunday Life magazine,18 June 2006, p 10
Lobley, Katrina. ‘Events – The Royal Melbourne Show’, Domain, Sydney Morning Herald 13 April 2006, p 4
Clement, Tracey. ‘Victoria Bitter’, Metro, Sydney Morning Herald April 21-27 2006, p 23
