Darren Wardle’s hyper-real paintings of abandoned buildings and structures appear to be drawn from a post-apocalyptic, sci-fi dystopia. Awash in an intense synthetic palette, they seem to radiate with nuclear fallout. The works adopt the visual language of ruin aesthetics to speculate upon the philosophical implications of ruination in the twenty-first century. His regular use – and abuse – of Modernist architecture, furniture and artwork hints at the failure of the movement’s aesthetic and it’s associated belief in a rational orderly world. Wardle lives and works in Melbourne, Australia.
Education
2013 – 2014 Masters of Fine Art by Research, Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne
1997 Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art, Honours (Painting), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University
1989 – 1991 Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art (Painting), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2016 “Sleepwalker”, Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne
Drawing Wall Project #24, Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, VIC.
2015 “Ruin Gazing”, Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne
2014 “Darren Wardle: Head Case”, Curated by Dr Vincent Alessi, Latrobe University Visual Art Centre,Bendigo, Victoria
2012 “Future Proof”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2011 “Lost Weekend”, Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2010 “Ghost Resort”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
“Wet-Look Capital Style”, Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2009 “Design Anxiety”, Stephan Stoyanov Gallery, New York, USA
“Collateral”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2008 “Modular Liberties”, Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
“Soft Target”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2006 “Space Junk”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
“Silent Majority”, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York, USA
2005 “Fever”, Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney
2004 “Random LAnd”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2003 “lo-cal”, Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney
2002 “Meltdown”, Nellie Castan Gallery at Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
2001 “Urbane Profane”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015 “It Takes More Than 140 Characters to Write a Novel”, Curated By Dr Vince Alessi, Arts Project Australia, Melbourne
Geelong Acquisitive Print Awards, Geelong Gallery, Geelong, VIC.
Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, Bayside Arts and Cultural Centre, Melbourne
2014 “START”, Fehily Contemporary, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
“Cracker”, Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong
“Head”, Incidents Above a Bar (part 4), The Alderman, Melbourne
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
“Ochre, Bones & Urine: A Painting Show”, Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne
2013 Gold Coast Art Prize, Gold Coast City Gallery, Surfers Paradise, QLD
“Smartesque Scene”, General Store for Contemporary Art, Sydney
Auckland Art Fair, Nellie Castan Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
“New Horizons”, Curated by Simon Gregg, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, Victoria
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2012 Art Platform, “Darren Wardle & Chris Bond”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
The Substation Contemporary Art Prize, The Substation, Melbourne
“2012”, Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2011 “2112 Imagining the Future”, Curated by Linda Williams, RMIT Gallery, RMIT University,Melbourne
“KIAF”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Seoul, Korea
“New Psychedelia”, Curated by Sebastian Moody, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
“So Contemporary, Jackson Lee Collection: A Snapshot”, Praxis Art Space, Singapore
Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Victoria
2010 “Sites of Memory: Architecture and Remembering” Curated by William Stover, Stephan Stoyanov Gallery, New York, USA
“Vision”, Curated by Diane Soumilas, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Melbourne
“The Possibility of a Painting”, Chelsea Hotel Gallery Suite, New York, USA
“2010” Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2009 “Nothing Out of the Ordinary”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Victoria
“Chromophobia”, Ryan Renshaw Gallery, Brisbane
Auckland Art Fair, Nellie Castan Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
“2009”, Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2008 CIGE Fair, Luxe Gallery, Beijing, China
Melbourne International Art Fair, Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
“Singular”, Luxe Gallery, New York, USA
“Chaos & Revelry”, Curated by Edwina Bartlem, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne
“2008”, Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2007 “U-Turn”, Curated by Larissa Hjorth & Kate Shaw, Glendale College Art Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
“Living Elvis”, Curated by Suzanne Davies, RMIT Gallery, Storey Hall, Melbourne
Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Victoria
“Places” Luxe Gallery, New York, USA
2006 “Lexicon”, Curated by Martina Copley, Gallery @ City Library, Melbourne
“Melbourne Reign”, Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney
2005 Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast Arts Centre, Surfers Paradise, Queensland
LAX art : presented by Lauri Firstenberg, MC Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
City of Whyalla Art Prize, Whyalla, South Australia
“Selektor” , West Space, Melbourne
Melbourne Savage Club Invitation Art Prize for Painting, Melbourne Savage Club, Melbourne
“Empire Style”: Curated by Peter Zellner, Art2102, Los Angeles, USA
Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Victoria
2004 Recent Acquisitions, National Gallery of Victoria, Ian Potter Centre, Federation Square, Melbourne
Stux Summer Review, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York, USA
“Stay Inside”: Curated by Jay Davis, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
“Surface Tension”, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, USA
The Armory Show 2004, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York, USA
“Flora Nova”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
“Stop & Stor”, Luxe Gallery, New York, USA
2003 “Three Painters”, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York, USA
Arthur Guy Memorial Art Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Victoria
“Home Loan”: Curated by Larissa Hjorth & Kate Shaw, Caroline Springs, Melbourne
“Glacier”, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, New South Wales
“Glacier”, Benalla Art Gallery, Benalla, Victoria
“Compendium”: Curated by Martina Copley, Platform 1 , Melbourne
2002 “Painting as Paradox” Curated by Lauri Firstenberg, Artists Space, New York, USA
“Suburban Echo” Curated by Robert Lindsay, Mc Clelland Regional Gallery, Langwarrin , Victoria
“The Homefront” : Curated by Lisa Byrne, Canberra Contemporary Art Space , Canberra, ACT
“White & Black”, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2001 “Glacier” Curated by Suzanne Davies & Darren Wardle, RMIT Gallery, Storey Hall, Melbourne
Darebin-La Trobe Acquisitive Art Prize , Bundoora Park Homestead, Melbourne
“Eat My Art” : Curated by Nicholas McHugh & Michelle Ussher , TCB INC. ART , Melbourne
“Here, There, Elsewhere : Suburban Themes”, Curated by Marisia Lukaszewski, Maroondah Art Gallery, Melbourne
“Touching at the Parabolica”, LaTrobe Street Gallery, Melbourne
Selected Bibliography
2015 Dr Vincent Alessi, “It Takes More Than 140 Characters to Write a Novel”, Catalogue Essay: “It Takes More Than 140 Characters to Write a Novel”, 17 Oct – 21 Nov, Arts Project Australia,Melbourne
Dylan Rainforth, “Darren Wardle’s Ruin Gazing at Fehily Contemporary Charts Collapse of Modernism”, The Age, May 4, 2015
2014 Kurt Beers, “100 Painters of Tomorrow”, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 2014
Dylan Rainforth, “Artist Darren Wardle Makes New Start in London”, The Age, June 25, 2014
Dr Vincent Alessi, “Darren Wardle: Head Case”, Catalogue Essay: Darren Wardle: Head Case,
18 Jun – 10 Aug, La Trobe University VAC, Bendigo, Victoria
2013 Simon Gregg, “New Horizons”, Catalogue Essay: New Horizons, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale,Victoria
2012 Gillian Serisier, “Toxic Shock”, (inside) Interior Design Review # 74, Nov 2012 – Feb 2013, pp. 32 – 33
Dan Rule, “Darren Wardle: Future Proof”, The Saturday Age, Jul 14, 2012, Life & Style p. 5
Gllian Serisier, “Darren Wardle”, Artist Profile issue 19, pp. 140 – 141
2011 Linda Williams, “Contemporary Art as Futuristic Fiction – All that is Solid Melts into Air”, Catalogue Essay: 2112 Imagining the Future, 2 Dec 2011 – 28 Jan 2012, RMIT Gallery, RMIT University, Melbourne
Edward Colless, “Psy-Fi: Psychedelia as psychic fiction and psychic fidelity”, Catalogue Essay: New Psychedelia, 7 May – 3 July, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
2010 Barbara MacAdam, “Darren Wardle @ Stephan Stoyanov”, ARTnews Volume 109 #1 Jan 2010, p.117
2009 Darren Wardle, “ABC Sunday Arts”, 26/07/09, Episode 22, Dir: Tony Wyzenbeek, Pro: Jaya Balendra
Ella Mudie, “Dream it, Build it”, The Age, Apr 10-11, 2009, A2 pp. 20-21
2008 Ashley Crawford, “Darren Wardle”, Australian Art Review, issue 17, Nov-Jan 2008/2009, p.75
Dr Stephen Haley, “Flow Slow”, Catalogue Essay: Modular Liberties, 2 – 21 Dec, Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
Jeff Makin, “Darren Wardle: Soft Target”, Herald Sun, Nov 24, 2008, p.65
Ashley Crawford, Around the Galleries: Darren Wardle: Soft Target, The Age, Nov 8, 2008, A2 p.11
Tracey Clement, “The Dystopian Prism”, Australian Art Collector # 46, Oct-Dec 2008, pp.178 – 183
2007 Ashley Crawford, Catalogue Essay: U-Turn, Sep1-Oct5, Glendale College Art Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, p.40
Robert Bevan, “House Painters”, Vogue Living Jan/Feb 2007, pp.69 – 72
2006 Ashley Crawford, “Darren Wardle at Nellie Castan Gallery Melbourne & Stux Gallery New York” Australian Art Collector # 38, Oct-Dec 2006, p.302
Jeff Makin, “Back in the Toxic Box”, Herald Sun , Dec. 11 2006, pp. 106-107
Manon Slome, “Endgames? The Urban Landscapes of Darren Wardle”, Catalogue Essay : Silent Majority, Sept 14 – Oct 14, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York, USA
Betsy Brennan & Virginia Wilson, “Young at Art”, Vogue Living March/April 2006, pp.66 – 67
2005 Dr Chris McAuliffe, “Darren Wardle, Strata 2001”, Catalogue, RACV Art Collection Catalogue, p. 5
Juan Ford, “Selekta: The Real and the Unreal”, Catalogue, Jul 29 – Aug 13, West Space, Melbourne
2004 Edward Colless, “Darren Wardle at Nellie Castan Gallery” Australian Art Collector # 30, Oct-Dec 2004, p.188
Chris Beck, “From Dead Ends to LA Dreaming”, The Age , Nov.27 2004, Review p.7
Davina Jackson, “California Dreaming” Melbourne Magazine #23, Oct 2004, pp.66 – 67
Manon Slome, “Surface Tension” Catalogue Essay, Apr 21- Jun 19, Chelsea Art Museum, New York
Betsy Brennan, “Generation X-Port” Vogue Living May/June 2004, pp.79 – 80
2003 Ashley Crawford, “Afterglow of Success” The Age , Holiday Edition Dec. 19-20 2003, Review p.7
Stephen Haley, “Lo-Cal Locale” Catalogue Essay : lo-cal, Oct. 15 – Nov. 8, Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney
Tim Benzie, “In the Frame” The Sun-Herald Oct.19 2003, S p.27
Ashley Crawford, “In the Art of Suburbia” The Sunday Age, Sep. 21 2003, Agenda p.7
Megan Backhouse, “Conversion to Suburban” The Age , Sep. 10 2003, A3 p.11
Kate Shaw, “Preaching to the Converted” Catalogue Essay : Homeloan, Sep.6 – Oct.5, Caroline Springs, Melbourne
2002 “Painting as Paradox” Tema Celeste No.94, Nov/Dec. 2002, p. 111
David Perez, “Focus Painting Part One” Flash Art Vol. XXXIV no. 226, Oct. 2002, pp. 78 – 85
Rachel Baum, “Material Support: Painting On and On” Catalogue Essay : Painting as Paradox, Nov.7 – Dec.21, Artists Space, New York
Sonia Barron, “Alternative Views of Domesticity” Canberra Times , Aug. 26 2002, p. 9
M. Houston & R.Lancashire, “Home is Where the Art is” The Age , Jul. 31 2002 , Domain pp. 10 – 11
Melinda Houston, “Arthouse Living” The Age , Apr. 24 2002 , Domain pp. 10 – 11
Roger Taylor, “Darren Wardle @ Nellie Castan Gallery” Asian Art News Vol.12 No.1, Jan/Feb, pp.86– 87
2001 Roger Taylor, Interview: “Darren Wardle – Urbane Profane” 102.7 3RRR FM , Melbourne , Hi & Lo, Dec. 4
Jeff Makin, “Suburban Dreamtime” Herald Sun , Nov. 12 2001, p. 91
Roger Taylor, Interview: “Darren Wardle – Glacier” 102.7 3RRR FM , Melbourne , Hi & Lo , Oct. 10
Linda Williams, “Reflections and Reconstruction : New Directions in Australian Painting” Catalogue Essay : Glacier , Sep 13 – Oct 20 , RMIT Gallery
1997 L. Porcari & P. Zellner, “The Lucky Country: Myth, Image and the Australian Suburb” Suburban Discipline ed: Peter Lang, Princeton Architectural Press, New York , 1997
1996 Dr Chris Mc Auliffe, Art and Suburbia, Craftsman House, Sydney , 1996
Collections
Artbank
BHP Billiton
City of Banyule Collection
Geelong Art Gallery
Gold Coast City Gallery Collection
Heide Museum of Modern Art
Hotel Tolarno, Melbourne
Latrobe University Museum Collection
Lyon House Museum, Melbourne
Michael and Janet Buxton Contemporary Art Collection, Melbourne
National Australia Bank
National Gallery of Victoria
RACV Collection
RMIT University Collection
Smorgan Family Collection, Melbourne
Private Collections Australia & overseas
Grants / Awards
2016 Australia Council for the Arts: Development Grants Individuals and Groups – 6 month studio residency at the Leipzig International Art Program, Germany.
2014 Winner: Lionel Gell Foundation Award, Faculty of VCA & MCM, The University of Melbourne
2013 Winner: Gold Coast Art Prize, Gold Coast City Gallery, Surfers Paradise, QLD
2010 Australia Council for the Arts: New Work Grant – Established
2009 Arts Victoria: International Program – Export and Touring – Solo show at Stephan Stoyanov Gallery,New York, USA
2007 Australia Council for the Arts: Self Organized New York Studio Residency – Skills and Arts Development General
2006 Arts Victoria: International Program – Export and Touring – “Silent Majority”, Stux Gallery, New York, USA
2006 NSW Ministry for the Arts, Gunnery Studio Residency Program, Artspace, Sydney
2004 Australia Council for the Arts: Los Angeles Studio Residency – Skills and Arts Development
2002 Arts Victoria: International Program-Export and Touring-“Painting as Paradox”, Artist’s Space, New York, USA
Curatorial Projects
2001 “Glacier” : Curated by Darren Wardle & Suzanne Davies, RMIT Gallery , Storey Hall , Melbourne (Touring)
(Bib.) Vanessa Bates, “Glacier @ RMIT” Flash Art Vol. XXXIV No. 221, Nov/Dec 2001, pp.47
Robert Nelson, “The ‘Death of Painting’ a Little Premature” The Age , Sep. 22 2001, Saturday Arts, p. 20
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