RON ROBERTSON-SWANN, OAM EDUCATION: TEACHING APPOINTMENTS
1963 St Martins School of Art, London
1965 East Ham Technical College & West Ham Technical College, UK
1967 Goldsmith College, University of London
1969 Sculpture Department, National Art School, Sydney
1978-89 Head, Sculpture Workshop, Canberra School of Art
1984 Executive Administrator/ Participant Sculpture Workshop & Seminar, Canberra School of Art
in association with the ANU & NGA, Canberra)
1991-96 Lecturer, National Art School, Sydney
1997-99 Lecturer, National Art School
2004 Acting Head of Sculpture Department, National Art School, Sydney
2004-05 Lecturer, National Art School, Sydney
2005 Lecturer, National Art School, Sydney
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITES, RESIDENCIES & CONSULTANCIES
1963-65 Assistant to Henry Moore OM
1968 Return to Australia
1973 A Founding Member, Visual Arts Board, Australia Council
1974 Acting Director/Administrator, Visual Arts Board, Australia Council
1977 Contributor, 'Art in Architecture Conference', Adelaide
Sculpture Workshop, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
1978 Attended 10th International Sculpture Conference, Toronto Canada
Co-curator, British Council Travelling Exhibition; Anthony Caro: Table Sculptures 1966-77, Australia and New Zealand
1978-80 Visiting Fellow, Burgmann College, Australian National University, Canberra
1979-81 Member of the Governing Council, Canberra School of Art. Chaired by Sir Richard Kingsland Ktcr. AO CBE DFC
1980-89 Adviser, Australian National University Art Collection
1982 Artist-in-Residence, Devon Community College, Deveonport, Tasmania
1986 Creative Arts Fellow, Australian National University, Canberra
1995 A Founding Member of Friends of the National Art CSchool (F.O.N.A.S)
Member of Ministerial Tast Force to establish the New National Art School. Chaird by Professor Peter Karmel AC, CBE
1997-2002 Consultant, Sculpture by the Sea and the National Series of exhibitions produced for the Olympic Arts Festival
"A Sea Change".
2002 Awarded Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for services tot he arts as a sculptor, teacher, mentor and advocate for sculpture,
and to art education in Australia.
2003-04 Board Member, Sculpture by the Sea Incorporated (on Register of Cultural Organisations.) Charied by the Honorable
Mr Justice Roderick Meagher QC
2004 Curator, ‘Invitational Spectrum 2004’, Friends of the National Art School, Fountain Court, Parliament House, NSW
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1968 Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
1969 Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
Crossley Gallery, Melbourne
1970 Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York, USA
1972-74 Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
1974 Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne
1975 Survey Exhibition 1965-75, Newcastle City Art Gallery, NSW
Solander Gallery, Canberra
1976 Gallery A, Sydney
1977 Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne
1978 Gallery A, Sydney
1985 Form as Narrative, Orange Festival of the Arts & Wollongong City Gallery, NSW
Michael Milburn Gallery, Brisbane
1987 Painters Gallery, Sydney
Survey 1965-87, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
1988 Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne
Irving Sculpture Gallery, Sydney
1989 Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
1991 Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
1994 Mixing Memory & Desire, Meridian Gallery, Melbourne
1997 Interplay, Olsen Carr, Sydney
1999 Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney
Olsen Carr Gallery, Sydney
Sculpture on Site, Sydney Festival, Royal Botanical Gardens & Opera House, Sydney (including commission of Paradise)
2000 Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
Two Modern Masters, Colin Lanceley (Painting) Ron Robertson-Swann (Sculpture) Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1963 Young Contemporaries, Federation of British Artists Galleries, London
London Group, Federation of British Artists Galleries, London
Contemporary Australian Sculpture and Painting, Stadel’sches Kunstinstitute, Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany
1966 Three Sculptors, Kasmin Gallery, London
British Sculpture, Heiner Friedrich Gallery, Munich
1966-67 British Painting and Sculpture from Leicestershire Education Authority Collection, Whitechapel Gallery, London
1968 New British Sculpture, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, UK
The Field, National Gallery of Victoria Inaugural Exhibition, Melbourne
1970 4th Mildura Sculpture Triennial, Mildura Arts Centre
1973 5th Mildura Sculpture Triennial, Mildura Arts Centre
1976 6th Mildura Sculpture Triennial, Mildura Arts Centre
1981 1st Australian Sculpture Triennial, La Trobe University, Melbourne
1982 Inaugural Exhibition, Irving Sculpture Gallery, Sydney
Abstract Australian Sculpture from 1970, A Continuing Tradition,. Irving Sculpture Gallery, Sydney
Australian Art of the Last Ten Years, (Phillip Morris Art Grant) Australian National University, Canberra
The Seventies, Australian Painting & Tapesties (National Australian Bank Collection) National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
8th Mildura Sculpture Triennial, Mildura Arts Centre, Mildura
1984 Australian Sculpture, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
The Field Now, Heide Park & Gallery, Melbourne
2nd Australian Sculpture Triennial, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1987 Painters & Sculptors: Diversity in Contemporary Australian Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Contemporary Australian Art, Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan
1988 Sculpture Park 88, Gallery 460, Gosford, NSW
Drawing in Australia, Drawings, Watercolours & Pastels 1770s-1980s, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
The Great Australian Exhibition 1788-1988, National Australian Tour
1992 A Group Sculpture Show, Meridian Gallery in association with Australian Galleries, Melbourne
Sculpture Park, Macquarie University, Sydney
Cultural Fertiliser, works by Australian National University Arts Fellows from the University Collection, ANU, Canberra
1994 Contemporary Australian Painting & Sculpture, Song He Tang, Beijing, China
On & Off the Wall, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney
1995 Sculptors who Paint, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney
Flagging the Republic, Sherman Galleries /Goodhope, Sydney & New England Regional Art Museum, NSW, National Tour
Asia & Oceanic Influence, Avan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Past It's Shelf Life, Meridian Gallery, Melbourne
Modern Australian Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
1996 A Box by any Other Name, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Size is not Important, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
1997 Box II, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
The Biggest Little Sculpute Show in Town, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Devoured by Paint, Emerging and Established Artists, Olsen Carr Gallery, Sydney
I Had a Dream: Australian Art of the 1960s, National Gallery of Victoria
Geometric Painting in Australia 1940-97, University of Queensland, Brisbane
1998 Figure In the Landscape, Defiance Gallery & King St Gallery, Sydney
1998 The Defiant Six, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
1999 Still Life, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Big Thoughts, Small Works, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Volume & Form, Singapore
1999/2000 Sculpture 2000, Access Gallery, Sydney
2000 Tribal Echo, Oceanic Arts Australia, Sydney
Tribal Echo, Campbelltown Regional Gallery, NSW
6 x 6 x 6, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Half Metre Square, Staff of National Art School - Cell Block, Sydney
2001 Sculpture 2001, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
The Importance of Being Small, 6 x 6 x 6, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
2002 Sculpture 2002, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Towards Colour, McClelland Gallery (curated by Robert Lindsay)
2003 Annual Miniature Show, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Sculpture 2003, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Sculpture in the Vines', 8th Hunter Vallery Harvest Festival, Lower Hunter Vally, NSW
Australian Masters, Solander Gallery, Stephanie Burns Fine Art, Sydney
Annual Miniature Show, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Duration and Beneath the Surface, Staff of National Art School, Sydney
This was the future... Australian Sculpture of the 1950s, 60s, 70s and TODAY!, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Bulleen, VIC
Great Works for the Great Outdoors, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Abstraction II, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
Modern Australian Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2003-04 McClelland Survey & Award, McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin, VIC
2004 Sculpture 2004, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Invitational Spectrum 2004, curated by Ron Robertson-Swann OAM, Friends of the National Art School, Fountain Court,
Parliament House, NSW
Converstion Pieces, an exhibition by Ron Robertson-Swann OAM in collaboration with fellow sculptors, Michael Carr Art
Dealers, Sydney
Spring, Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney
Sculpture in the MLC, Foyer MLC Centre, Sydney
The March of Miniatures, 9th Annual 6 x 6 x6 Minature Sculpture Show, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Drawcard: The National Art School Postcard Show, The National Art School, Sydney
What's the Matter, Charles Nosrum Gallery, Melbourne 2004
2005 Sculpture 2005, Defiance Gallery and Defiance at Seymour Theatre, Sydney
Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe Surf Lifesaving Club, Perth
Sculpture Inside, Cottesloe Surt Lifesaving Club, Perth
COMMISSIONS MAJOR AWARDS
1965 Painting Prize, John Moore Exhibition, Liverpool, UK
1969 Transfield Prize, Sydney
Comalco Invitation Sculpture Award, Melbourne
1970 Mildura Acquisitive Prize, Victoria
1976 Townsville Pacific Arts Festival, Queensland
Grant – Visual Arts Board, Australia Council
Alice Prize, Alice Springs, Northern Territory
1977 Bathurst Prize, Bathurst
1991 Stanthorpe Purchase Prize, Queensland
2000 JB Were Invitational Prize, Sculpture by the Sea, Sydney
COLLECTIONS Amstar Corporation, USA Anthony Caro Collection Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth Artbank, Sydney Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne Australian National University, Canberra Canberra School of Art, Canberra Colac City Council, Victoria Deakin University Devonport Regional Art Gallery Gold Coast City Council, Centre Gallery, Surfers Paradise Leicester Education Authority, Leicestershire, UK Macquarie University, Sydney McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin Mildura Arts Centre Monash University, Melbourne National Australia Bank National Gallery of Australia, Canberra National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Newcastle Regional Art Gallery Parliament House, Canberra Performing Arts Centre, Geelong, Victoria Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane Queensland Cultural Centre, Brisbane Riverina College of Advanced Education Stanhope Art Gallery, Queensland Transfield Collection, National Australia Bank, Sydney University of New South Wales, Sydney BIBLIOGRAPHY: Allen, C. “From Colonisation to Postmodernism”, Art in Australia, Thames & Hudson, 1997 Attwood, A. Yellow Peril, public art that made a city see red (book review), The Age, 19 June 2004 Baro, G. “British Sculpture”, Studio International, October 1966 Beck, C. Vault, The Sunday Age, 4 March 2004 Bonython, K. Modern Australian Painting 1970-75, Rigby, SA, 1975 Bonython, K. Modern Australian Painting 1975-1980, Rigby, SA, 1980 Burchall, G. Art & About, Melbourne, Issue 007, May 2003 Carew, A. Ron Robertson-Swann: 1959-1969, The University of Melbourne, 1996 Carson, G. “Heavy Metal”, Art Write, no 18, 1999 Catalano, G. The Years of Hope, Oxford University Press, 1981 Coslovich, G. Yellow Peril Prepares to Move, The Age, 15 Februrary, 2002 Dover, Darby & Zunde, Sculpture, Victorian Dept of Education, 1983 Edwards & Shaw, The First Gallery in Paddington, 1981 Germaine, M. Artists & Galleries of Australia & New Zealand, Lansdowne, Melbourne, 1979 Germaine, M. Artists and Galleries in Australia, Boolarong, 1984 Guno, G. “The Sculpture of Ron Robertson-Swann”, Architecture in Australia, December 1974 Gunn, G. The Sculpture of Ron Robertson-Swann, Arhitecture in Australia, December 1974 Harris, P. “Inge King & Ron Robertson-Swann at the Sydney Festival”, World Sculpture News, vol 5 no 4, Autumn 1999 Harris, P. “The Power of The Miniature”, World Sculpture News, vol 6, no 2, Spring 2000 Harris, P. “Wealth of Talent”, World Sculpture News, vol 6, no 2, Spring 2000 Harris, P.J. Ron Robertson-Swann: Mixing Memory & Desire, Meridian Gallery, 1994 Haynes, P. Ron Robertson-Swann: Form as Narrative, Orange Festival of the Arts, 1985 Heath, T. “Ron Robertson-Swann”, Architecture in Australia, August 1972 Hutchinson, N. Aspects of Geonmetrically Non-Figurative Sculpture in Australia, Art & Australia, January 1973 Hutchinson, N. “Reaching Inside Metal Sculpture”, Asia-Pacific Sculpture News, Winter 1995 Hynes, V. “Tribal Echo”, World Sculpture News, vol 6, no 2, Spring 2000 Israel, G. “Art World”, Jacaranda, 1977 Krausmann, R. “Ron Robertson-Swann”, Aspect, vol 3, no 2, July 1978 Lynn, E. “The Sculpture of Ron Robertson-Swann”, Art & Australia, vol 10, no 2, Oct 1972 Lynton, N. “London Letter”, Art International, vol IX, no 4, April 1966 Mackie, A. “Modernism & the Language of Art”, Art International, vol XXIV, Aug-Nov 1981 MacKenzie, A. Public Liability, Architectural Review, Issu 083, Autumn, 2003 Marsden, J. (ed), This I Believe, Random House, 1996 McCulloch, A. “Letter From Australia”, Art International, April 1969 McCulloch, A. Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Hutchinson, 1984; 1994 McCulloch, S. No Longer a Bridesmaid, The Weekend Australian, Susan McCulloch, 27-28 December 2003 McCullough, T. The First Australian Sculpture Triennial, La Trobe University, 1981 McDonald, J. Peril in the Square, The Australian Financial Review, Thursday 24 June 2004 McGregor, Beal, Moore & Williamson, In the Making, Nelson Australia, 1969 Miganeca, E. “Notes on Post-War Sydney Sculpture”, Aspect, vol 3, no 3, July 1978 Mollinson, J. (ed), Philip Morris Arts Grant: Australian Art of the Last 10 Years, NGA, 1982 Mollison, J., Murray, L. (eds), Australian National Gallery, ANG, 1982 Monash Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Australia, Reed Publishing, 1994 Newcastle Gallery Society, “Survey Exhibition of Ron Robertson-Swann”, Artemis, Mar 1975 Nicholson, H. “Ron Robertson-Swann”, Art International, vol XV, no 2, February 1970 Nicholson, H. “The New Direction in Aust. Sculpture”, Architecture in Australia, Aug-Sep 1975 Parker, R. Sculpture 1966, a film, London, 1966 Penguin Australian Encyclopedia, Viking, 1990 Pestorius, D. Geometric Painting in Australia 1941-1997, University of Queensland, 1997 Pick the Primatives: Tribal Echo, Oceanic Arts Australia & Campbelltown City Gallery, Sydney Morning Herald 22 April 2000 Reed-Dunns, J. “A New Tribe”, Domain, Sydney Morning Herald, April, 200 Robertson-Swann & Mackie, “Four Sculptors”, Art & Australia, Spring 1982 Robertson-Swann, R. “Jacques Lipschitz: Musical Insurments 1925”, Art & Australia, vol 25, no 2, 1987 Robertson-Swann, R. “Sydney Summer”, Art International, vol XIV, no 2, January 1970 Robertson-Swann, R. “Unity in Diversity”, Bruce Radke, Canberra School of Art, 1996 Robertson-Swann, R. et al, “Sculpture in the Open at Bristol”, Studio International, May, 1968 Robertson-Swann, R. OAM. Sculpture and the Health Hazards, Sculpture by the Sea 2004 Catalogue, 2004 Saunders, W. Making Art Making Artists, Art in America, 1993 Scarlett, K. Australian Sculptors, Nelson, 1980 Scarlett, K., Walker, R. Contemporary Sculpture in Australian Gardens, Cordon Breach, 1993 Scarlett, K. Elgee Park: Sculpture in the Landscape, MacMillan Art Publishing, 2004 Simpson, S. “What’s Left of Artists Right”, Australian Art Review, vol 1, 1982 Simpson, S. The Visual Art & The Law, Law Book Company, 1982 Smee, S. “Pick the Primitives”, Sydney Morning Herald, 22.04.2000 Smith, B. Australian Painting 1788-1970, OUP, 1973 Sturgeon, G. “Sculpture”, Australian Art Review, vol 1, 1982 Sturgeon, G. Contemporary Australian Sculpture, Craftsman House, 1991 Sturgeon, G. Ron Robertson-Swann: Recent Works, Painters Gallery, 1987 Sturgeon, G. Sculpture Now: 2nd Australian Sculpture Triennial, NGV, 1984 Sturgeon, G. The Development of Australian Sculpture, Thames & Hudson, 1978 Ten Australians, ABC TV documentary series, 1976 The Punguin Australian Encycolpaedia, Viking 1990 This Lirmig Century, The Australian, 1999 Wallis, G. J. Peril in the Square: The Sculpture that Challenged a City, Indre Publishing, 2004 Waterlow, N. ”Larrikins in London: 35 Years On”, Art Link, Vol 18, No 4, 1999 Webb, P. Peril in the Square: The Sculpture that Challenged a City (book review), The Age, 21 May 2004 Weston, N. In the Public Eye – Public Art in Australia, Visual Arts Board, 1983 Whelan, T. Past It's Shelf Life, Asian Arts News, Vol 5, No 5, 1995 Williams, Linda, “Reshaping Melbourne”, Art & Australia, vol 38, no 2, Summer 2000; p. 327 Who’s Who in the World – 8th edition 1987-88, McMillan, USA, 1988 Who’s’ Who in Australia, Information Australia, 1991-96 |