Sarah Contos’ practice draws attention to relationships between personal and collective psychological agencies through imagery, form and materiality. Working across collage, sculpture, painting, textiles and installation, her work explores how layered meaning is crafted by using authentic and manipulated sourced objects, autobiographical artefacts and vestiges of popular culture. Often referencing art history, fashion and theatre/cinematic aesthetics, she explores the duality and ontological nature of things using an intuitive and process-based approach.
Installation view, Sarah Contos: The Bite Mark of a Butterfly, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney (28 November 2019 – 1 February 2020).
Sarah Contos The Long Kiss Goodbye, 2016; Screen-print on linen, canvas and lame, digital printed fabrics and various found fabrics, PVC, poly-fil, glass, ceramic and plastic beads, thread, artists' gloves; 330 x 610 x 25 cm
Sarah Contos Nikola Tesla sends Theda Bara to Mars, 2018, sculptures, installation, suspended mixed-media mobile works, dimensions variable; Installation view, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (5 May — 24 September 2018)
Exhibition view, Sarah Contos, Total Control, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery (1 October — 24 October 2009)
Exhibition view, Sarah Contos, Total Control, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery (1 October — 24 October 2009)
Exhibition view, Sarah Contos, The TV Show, Wollongong Art Gallery, New South Wales (30 November — 24 February 2019)
Sarah Contos BODYDOUBLE 24 X A SECOND
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2023
Group Show, Pliable Planes: Expanded Textiles & Fibre Practices
UNSW Galleries, 2022
Sarah Contos The Bite Mark of a Butterfly
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2019-20
Group Show, Idol Worship
Lismore Regional Gallery, NSW, 2019
Sarah Contos Nikola Tesla sends Theda Bara to Mars
National Gallery of Australia, 2018
Sarah Contos Ramsay Art Prize
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2017
Sarah Contos Daughter Universe
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2017
Sarah Contos The Revenge of Alexis Colby
Australian Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide, 2016
Sarah Contos Total Control
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2015
Group Show, Streetwise: Contemporary Print Culture
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2015
Group Show, New South Wales Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging)
Artspace, Sydney, 2014
Group Show, Never-Never Land (A Collaboration with Utopian Slumps)
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2014
SARAH CONTOS
b. 1978, Perth
Lives and works in Sydney and Perth
EDUCATION
Masters of Art (Painting), College of Fine Arts, UNSW
Bachelor of Design for Performance, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Diploma of Fine Arts, Perth Central Metropolitan TAFE of Art, Design and Multimedia
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Sarah Contos, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney (forthcoming)
Death of a New Romantic, STATION, Melbourne
My Friend, Lavender, STATION, Melbourne
The Bite Mark of a Butterfly, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Nikola Tesla Sends Theda Bara to Mars, The Balnaves Intervention Series, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Fable, STATION, Melbourne
Daughter Universe, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
The Revenge of Alexis Colby, Australian Experimental Arts Foundation, Adelaide
Total Control, Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney
Shadowboxing, Gallery 9, Sydney
Ladies and Gentlemen Sarah Contos Presents: The Muses and the Folly, Heide Museum of Modern Art Project Space (as part of Future Primitive), Melbourne
Kalamunda, Artereal Gallery (Project Space), Sydney
My Eyes Through Your Mountains, Kings Ari, Melbourne and MOP Projects, Sydney
Souvenir, Grantpirrie Window, Sydney
Bad Moon Rising, MOP Projects, Sydney
Great Expectations, Firstdraft Gallery, Sydney
COLLECTIVE/ DUAL EXHIBITIONS
Home Is Where One Starts From, (SLUSH collective) Yuill Crowley, Sydney
Slush, (SLUSH collective), Firstdraft Gallery, Sydney
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Sydney Contemporary, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Pliable Planes: Expanded Textiles & Fibre Practices, UNSW Galleries, Sydney
Death of a New Romantic, STATION, Melbourne
Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Idol Worship, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore
Mine, Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania
Femmage, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Spring 1883, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Melbourne
Conscious Process, Art Bank Gallery, Sydney
Connecting Tread, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, NSW
The TV Show, Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong
Let's Dance, curated by Charlotte Day, Arts Projects Australia, Victoria
THIS IS NOT A LOVE SONG, Gertrude Contemporary, Victoria
The Great Strike, 1917, Carriageworks, Sydney
Let’s Talk About Text, ArtBank Gallery, Sydney
The Agency of Things, Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne
First Draft Auction, First Draft, Woolloomooloo
21st Century Heide, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
Grey Matter, Artbank Gallery, Sydney
Contemporary Print Culture, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Haze, 4A Centre of Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney
Never- Never Land, Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney
Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize, National Art School, Sydney
NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging), Artspace, Sydney
Glazed and Confused, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney
Sealed Section, Artbank, Sydney
Express Yourself: Romance was Born for Kids, (collaboration with Romance Was Born), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Spring 1883 Art Fair, Windsor Hotel, Melbourne
Future Primitive, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Alaska Projects, Carriageworks, Sydney
John Fries Memorial Prize, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney
Art on Paper: Hazelhurst Art Award, Sydney
Oi, Wellington St. Projects, Sydney
The Social, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney
Janis, Alaska Projects, Sydney
Passing Parade, Alaska Projects, Sydney
Good Mourning, FELT Space, Adelaide
White As They Come, 55 Sydenham Rd, Sydney
Drawn To The Line-Peter Fay Collection, Goulburn Regional Art Gallery
Hello Dolly, Gaffa, Sydney
Lorem Ipsum, Alaska Projects, Sydney
No Room to Hide, Macquarie University, Sydney
Printed Matter, The Papermill, Sydney
Paper Planes, The Papermill, Sydney
Space Aid, Queen St Studios, Sydney
Don't Tell Nana, Horus & Deloris Gallery, Sydney
Museum of Contemporary Art Staff Show, Gaffa, Sydney
Jenny Birt Award, CoFA Space, Sydney
IKEA Home Project, Carriageworks, Sydney
Jenny Birt Award, CoFA Space, Sydney
PERFORMANCE/ COSTUME AND STAGE DESIGN
The Babel Project, Carriageworks, Sydney
Cargo, Dogtroep, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tulips From Kabul, Dogtroep, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Zastrozzi, Black Swan Theatre Company, Perth
TTS: Route 65, PVI Collective, Touring Show, Australia
Bed, Thin Ice Productions, PICA, Perth
Swan Song, UWA Perth International Arts Festival, Perth
AWARDS/ GRANTS
David Harold Tribe Sculpture Award (finalist)
Studio Scholarship, awarded by Art Gallery of New South Wales, Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France
Ramsay Art Prize, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Studio Scholarship at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Redlands Art Prize, National Art School (finalist)
John Fries Memorial Prize (finalist), Gaffa Gallery, Sydney
Art on Paper: Hazelhurst Art Award (finalist)
Maddocks Prize (finalist)
New Work Grant (Emerging), Australia Council
Winner, Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship (Sculpture)
Artstart Grant, Australia Council
RESIDENCIES
Waverley Artist Studios Residency, Sydney
4A Beijing Residency Program
Sydney Guild, Sydney
Artspace Studio Residency, Sydney
Queen St Studio Residency, Sydney
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wes Hill, 'Sarah Contos- Chthonic Fanasies', Art Monthly Australia, issue 320, November 2019, pg. 54-58
Carrie Miller, 'The Spellbinder', Art Collector, #90, Oct- Dec 2019, pg. 146 – 153
Ben Neutze, 'You can now stay in a hotel suite designed by one of Australia's leading artists', Time Out Sydney, September 9 2019
Linda Morris, 'Seductive and sexy - Artists remake rooms with a view', Sydney Morning Herald, September 4, 2019
Walter Marsh, 'Ramsay Art Prize 2019 finalists revealed', The Adelaide Review, April 30, 2019
Varia Karipoff, 'Sarah Contos Interview,' Art Guide Australia, issue 116, November and December 2018, pp. 56-59
Anne - Marie Jean and Esther Carlin, 'Constructing fantasy worlds at the NGA', Art Monthly, issue 308, pp. 35
Ron Cerabona, 'Hanging art and VR come to unexpected spaces in the National Gallery', The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 April 2018
Wes Hill, 'Sarah Contos at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery', Artforum, June 1, 2017
‘Sarah Contos wins inaugural Ramsay Art Prize,’ Arts Review, May 26, 2017
Annette Herd, ‘Sarah Contos wins $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize,’ Limelight Magazine, May 29, 2017
“Sarah Contos wins inaugural $100,000 Ramsay Art Prize with 'textile time capsule,’” Sydney Morning Herald, May 26, 2017
Michael Coggan, Ramsay Art Prize won by artist Sarah Contos for quilt 'celebrating women in all their glory' - ABC News, Friday 26 May, 2017
Nick Galvin, 'Birmingham Street Studios bring art and soul to the city for Art Month', Sydney Morning Herald, March 1, 2016
Chloe Mandryk, 'Sarah Contos', Artist Profile, Issue 34, pp.46-50.
'Interview: Sarah Contos,' Art Collector, Issue 73, July-Sept 2015, pp. 88-89.
Chloe Wolfison, 'Cool Hunter Predictions', Art Collector, Issue 71, January-March, 2015
Miriam Kelly, “Charged Material', Sturgeon, Issue 3, 2015
Jessica Prince-Montague, 'Meet the Class of 2015', Marie Claire, January 2015
Chloe Wolifson,' Manifesting Matters of Life', Vault, August 2014
Dan Rule, 'A Modern Take on Primitive', The Age, 7th December
The Social, online interview, das Platforms
Michael Fitzgerald 'Home Is Where One Starts From', Open Gallery, Sydney Morning Herald
Kelly Dolley, 'Janis', Exhibition Catalogue
Joel Mu 'Passing Parade', Exhibition Essay
Andrew Frost, 'Critic's Choice', Metro, Sydney Morning Herald, 14th December
Marian Tubbs, 'Bullfighter Goes to Xanadu', Exhibition Catalogue
Joel Mu, 'Behind Joan Sutherland', Exhibition Essay
Member Profile, 'Cult Status', NAVA Quarterly, June 2012
Dr Matthew Abbott with Slush, 'SLUSH', Exhibition Catalogue
Carrie Miller, 'Playing His Own Game-Peter Fay', Australian Art Collector, Issue 57
Peter Fay, 'No Room To Hide', Exhibition Catalogue
Bec Dean, 'Bad Moon Rising', Exhibition Essay
Marcus Brown, 'Sarah Contos', das Superpaper, Issue 9
Tania Doropoulos, 'Great Expectations', Exhibition Essay
COMMISSIONS
Sincerely Yours A tale of everlasting devotion and obsession - Las Vegas Cabaret, Commedia dell `Arte, Carnations and the art of Sarah Contos, Collaboration with Romance Was Born, Australia.
Ovolo Hotel- Wooloomooloo, INXS VIP Hotel Room, Sydney
Rehearsals for a Wakeful Dreaming, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Express Yourself, Romance Was Born, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Ladies and Gentlemen, Sarah Contos Presents: The Muses and the Folly, Heide Museum of Modern Art
Project Space, Melbourne
Plato's Venus, das Superpaper,
Spiritualized, Campbelltown Arts Centre
Centrefold: `Pageworks', Runway, Issue 21: Ripe
COLLECTIONS
Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Private collections in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth
Ararat Regional Art Gallery, Victoria
Artbank,Sydney
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