Mia Boe is a painter from Brisbane with Butchulla and Burmese ancestry. The inheritance and disinheritance of both cultures is the focus of her practice. Boe's strikingly recognisable paintings are incredibly intriguing, populated with long-limbed figures, eerily present in flat, richly coloured landscapes: distended black bodies with elongated legs reside within vibrant stylised worlds. Personal narratives are embedded deeply within the brushstrokes, drawing on a hybrid of histories and an amalgamation of heritage in an alluring and timeless aesthetic that is difficult to define.
Mia Boe, Toe Knee Arm Strong, 2024, synthetic polymer paint and oil on linen, 198 x 137.2 cm, Courtesy the artist and the Art Gallery of New South Wales
Mia Boe, Dinner Tomorrow, 2024, oil on linen, 46 x 31 cm
Installation view, Mia Boe, For the angels in paradise, 2023, in Melbourne Now at the Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria (24 March – 20 August 2023), Courtesy the artist and the National Gallery of Victoria Photo: Sean Fennessy
Installation view, Mia Boe, in From the other side, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne (9 December 2023 - Sun 3 Mar 2024) Courtesy the artist and ACCA.
Installation view, Mia Boe, in Platform, Group Exhibition, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (20 April – 16 June 2024). Photo: Joe Ruckli
The Ashes Were Buried Under the Tree, 2021, acrylic on linen, Courtesy the artist and the Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA).
MIA BOE
Born 1997, Brisbane
Live and works in Naarm / Melbourne
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts (Double Major in Art History and French), University of Queensland
Certificate of Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities, Sciences Po, Paris
Northern Territory Indigenous Art & Culture Field School, University of Queensland
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Guwinganj, Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, Hervey Bay, QLD (forthcoming)
The Aboriginal Robot, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Imagined realistic minds, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
Going Insein, Gertrude Glasshouse, Melbourne
Suspicion is proof enough, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
The Trial, Black Art Projects, Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney
Futures Lost, Penny Contemporary, Hobart
Murri in a Hurry for a Curry, Black Art Projects, Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne
K’gari means paradise in Butchulla, CARPARK Gallery, Brisbane
Black Devil, Open House Collective with Blaklash Projects, Brisbane
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Figure Holding Ground, Conyemporary Art Tasmania, Hobart
Archibald Prize 2024, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Platform, Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane
The End of History, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia, Perth
From the other side, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne
15 Artists, Redcliffe Art Gallery, Redcliffe Gertrude Studios 2023, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
Thin Skin, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne
Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney
Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Portrait 23: Identity, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Dingo Project, Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, Queensland
A Fragile Beauty, Bundoora Homestead Centre, Melbourne
Gertrude Studios 2022, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
While You Were Sleeping Volume 2, Ambush Gallery, Canberra
The Women’s Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne
And Shuffling, Conners Conners, Melbourne
Making Place: 100 Views of Brisbane, Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane
Trust the Process, curated by Frame of Mind, MILK, Melbourne
Exposure Site, Gertrude Glasshouse, Melbourne
on the bank on the brink, Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA), New South Wales
The Show Must Go On!, Sunday Salon, Spring 1883 Art Fair, Melbourne
Elemental, curated by Jenna Lee, Craft Victoria, Melbourne
All My Friends Are Leaving/Returning to Brisbane, Outerspace Contemporary Art, Brisbane
Small Acts, Innerspace Contemporary Art, Brisbane
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Orlando, Roslyn, 'Mia Boe' Artist Profile, issue 68
Bard, Ariela, 'Mia Boe on AI, still feeling like a “baby artist” and her new ‘The Aboriginal Robot’ exhibition', RUSSH, August 20.
Millen Brown-Ewens, '6 Emerging Indigenous Artists You Should Know', Artsy, Aug 10.
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-6-emerging-indigenous-artists
'Where Are They (The Bright Young Things) Now?', Monster Children, 27 June.
Bennett, Lucina. ‘Lucinda Bennett on horror and annihilation in From the other side at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA)’ art news aotearoa, 20 December
Fiske, Eden. ‘Gordon Bennett “This World Is Not My Home” and Mia Boe “Suspicion is proof enough,” Memo Review, 22 July
https://www.memoreview.net/reviews/gordon-bennett-this-world-is-not-my-home-and-mia-boe-suspicion-is-proof-enough-by-eden-fiske
Hepi, Amrita. ‘In conversation with our ‘RUSSH Home’ Issue 02 cover artist, Mia Boe,’ RUSSH Magazine, 6 July
Mayo, Thomas. ‘Opinion | Australia Must Give Its Indigenous People a Voice’, The New York Times, October 9
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/opinion/australiareferendum-indigenous-voice.html
Royal, Autumn. ‘Mia Boe on painting with meaning,’ Art Guide Australia, 16 June
Riley Walsh, Tim. The Future of Nostalgia: Gordon Bennett and Mia Boe, (exh cat.) Sonntag Press
Dias Pires, Karina. Artists at Home, Melbourne, Thames and Hudson.
Gen, Virginia. ‘VL50: Australia’s top 50 interior designers, architects, product designers and artists’, Vogue Living, Autumn issue.
Stapleton, Dan F. ‘5 young Australian artists challenging our worldview’, Vogue Living, Summer issue.
Pirovic, Jasmine. ‘From Allie Webb to Mia Boe, Food For Everyone’s new poster collection taps your favourite artists for a good cause’ RUSSH, issue 98, December.
Gattermayr, Sasha. ‘Connecting With The Past + Grappling With History, With Painter Mia Boe’, The Design Files.
https://thedesignfiles.net/2021/07/creativepeople-mia-boe/
Bear, Micheala. ‘Forecast - Mia Boe’ Vault, issue 34 May.
Borich, Chloe. 2021, ‘6 Indigenous Artists Shaping the Next Generation of Australian Art’, Monster Children, January 26.
https://www.monsterchildren.com/6-indigenous-artistsshaping-the-next-generation-of-australian-art/
Hatch, Rachel and Ashleigh Ralph. ‘In the studio with Mia Boe’, Innerspace Contemporary Art, January 27,
https://www.innerspacecontemporaryart.net.au/journal/2020/4/24/miaboe
AWARDS / RESIDENCIES
Finalist, Archibald prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney
Residency, Casa Lü, Mexico City
Ace Hotel Residency, Ace Hotel, Sydney
Gertrude Contemporary Studio Artist, Melbourne
Winner, Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, AGNSW, Sydney
Finalist, Koorie Mail Indigenous Art Awards, Lismore
Finalist, National Capital Art Prize, Canberra
Finalist, Darebin Art Prize, Melbourne
At-home Residency, Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane
Making Art Work, residency/commission, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
COLLECTIONS
Artbank
Kadist Collection
Melbourne University
Monash University
University of Queensland
University of Western Australia
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