John Meade

Bio

Combining the rigours of geometry with soft organic forms, John Meade (b. 1956) works in an intuitive way to materialise his ideas, creating tightly orchestrated pieces that explore the metaphysical, the surreal and the erotic. Meade’s use of colour, material, and surface, culminate in eccentric and immaculate sculptures that claim space with a formidable presence. Born in Ballarat, the Naarm/Melbourne-based sculptor is one of Australia’s leading artists and has held regular exhibitions with galleries and museums since 1995. Selected solo exhibitions include: Sign Language, RMIT Project Space, Melbourne (2021); Something for Everyone, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne (2019); Set Pieces, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne (2016); Autumn 2014, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne (2014); Objects to Live By: The Art of John Meade, Latrobe Valley Regional Gallery and touring nationally (2010–11); Show Business, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne (2009); Incident in the Museum 2: John Meade, Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA), Melbourne (2005); Dreamer, Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne (2004); Objects and Protestations, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne (2003); Propulsion, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne and Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney, (both 2001). Selected group exhibitions include: LAZAR!, Haydens Gallery, Melbourne (2022); Who’s Afraid of Public Space?, ACCA, Melbourne (2022); Connecting the World through Sculpture: In the Air, MUMA, Melbourne (2021); …(illegible)…, MADA Gallery, Melbourne (2019); Brent Harris/John Meade, Neon Parc, Melbourne (2018); TarraWarra Biennial: From Will to Form, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville (2018); Benglis 73/74, Neon Parc in association with Sutton Project Space and TCB, Melbourne (2014); The Gathering ll: A Survey of Australian Sculpture, Wangaratta Art Gallery, Wangaratta, 2014; Sleep on the Left Side, Gallery Seven Art, New Delhi (2012); ShContemporary 08, Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, China (2008); Before The Body – Matter, MUMA, Melbourne (2006); Adventures with Form in Space, AGNSW, Sydney (2006); 21st Century Modern: Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), Adelaide (2006). Meade has completed numerous public sculptural commissions including: Asterisk Kolam (2020), ARM Architecture/MUMA, for the Monash Chancellery, Clayton; Love Flower (2019), Southern Way McClelland 2018 Commission, Melbourne; Everyday Devotional (2016), Sunland, Abian commission, Brisbane; Riverside Corolla (2011), DEXUS Southgate commission, Melbourne; Progeny (2006), Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne; Aqualung (2006), Victoria Harbour, Melbourne; and Mean Yellow (2000), Arts Centre for the Melbourne International Arts Festival. Meade received his PhD in Fine Art from Monash University, Melbourne in 2017. He was a recipient of the Samstag Scholarship (UniSA), through which he completed a Master of Studio Art at New York University in 2004. He is currently an Honorary (Fellow) in Art, Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), University of Melbourne. Artist residencies include the VCA/Art+Australia Phasmid Studio Residency in Berlin in 2019, and the India Asialink residency in 1998. Meade’s work is held in public and private collections throughout Australia. He is represented by Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.

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