Education
2013 MFA, National Art School, Sydney
2009/11 Lecturer, Painting/Drawing, National Art School. Sydney
2006 1st Class Honours (Painting), National Art School, Sydney
2005 BFA (Painting), National Art School, Sydney
1999 Diploma in Mixed Media, St Martins School of Art, U.K.
1998 Diploma in Graphic Design, Kentish Town College, U.K.
1995 First year BFA, 3D Design & Photography, Coventry University, U.K.
1994 Diploma Art Foundation, Epping Forest College, U.K.
Solo Exhibitions
2024 An Invisible Piper, MARS Gallery, Melbourne
2023 Creation Myths and other Tall Tales, Olsen Gallery, Sydney
2022 Tall Tales and other Creation Myths, Olsen Gallery, Sydney
2022 Mote of Dust, Peter Walker Fine Art, Adelaide
2021 The Still Vague Vault, MARS gallery, Melbourne
“It’s almost as though Alexander has attempted a time capsule for the impending end of humanity – our attempts to capture knowledge. Alexander, it would seem, is determined to investigate any and all aspects of what may be described as a ‘hyperobject.’ In his recent book Hyperobjects Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World, Timothy Morton coins the term ‘hyperobjects’ to describe events or systems that are too complex, too massively distributed across space and time, for humans to get a grip on. In terms of grasping its reality it is as mind-warping as explaining a black hole. Alexander can’t seem to help it – even wielding the mundane tool of the airbrush – everything he depicts rises into the realm of the sublime and the timeless. It is a rare skill and one to be cherished.”
Dr. Ashley Crawford, Australian cultural commentator, 2021
2020 Beginning to see the light, Olsen gallery, Sydney
2019 Eternity: Far away so close, Anthony Brunelli Fine Art, NY
“Alexander is considering the permutations and offshoots of human history through the wide-angle lens of the universe. Indeed, it is the act of placing these works side by side that allows for the slow reveal of a multi-linear narrative. Taken this way, Eternity: Far Away. So Close. becomes less about the unknown corners of the cosmos and more about the experience of being human: What counts as progress? What value does truth hold in the face of 13.8 billion years? Can we see an image of the earth without being reminded of our hubris and our fragility? Because as much as our obsession with space is propelled by our need to think through new worlds, it is also driven by the desire to better understand and reshape this world—a world in which we all must live.”
Naomi Riddle, editor Running Dog 2019
2018 Turtles all the way down, Nanda Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney
2017 Vanitas, Chifley tower with Nanda Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney
2016 Fossil, Nanda Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney
2015 Portal, NKN Gallery, Melbourne
2014 Bruno’s dream, Australian High Commission, Singapore
2014 Alchemist’s Opus, Peter Walker Fine Art, Adelaide, SA
2013 Our Father is a Red Giant, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney
2012 E=mc2?, The Fine Art Society, London, UK
“One cannot help but directly think of Giles Alexander the artist in relation to the maxim Know Thyself. As a painter he belongs to a long standing academic tradition of virtuously handled oil painting and precision draughtsmanship, yet he stands aside from this, quite purposefully drawing attention to moments where he departs from tradition. This is not willful contrariness; Alexander uses and abuses his polished aesthetic as another way of interrogating his world, provocatively challenging the established ‘norm’ and questioning all that we hold dear. There is a visual pun in these paintings between ‘space’ as a crucial component of all painting and ‘space’ the final frontier. Alexander has always focused his attentions on real and imagined space, often drawing our attention to the shifting boundaries between the two.”
Kate Bryan, British art historian and curator, director, The Fine Art Society, New Bond st, London.
2012 Know Thyself, Peter Walker fine art, Adelaide, SA
2011 The Goldilocks region, GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney
2010 Reproduction, Dianne Tanzer Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2010 Spacetime, Peter Walker Fine Art, Adelaide, SA
2009 Smoke’n’Mirrors, Kristian Pithie Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2008 Neon Bible, Mori Gallery, Sydney
2007 Engineering Consent, Mori Gallery, Sydney
2007 Reverence, Mori Gallery, Sydney
2002 Survey, The Labor club, Surry Hills, Sydney
Group Exhibitions
2024 Spring Salon, Anthony Brunelli Fine Art, US
2023 Context Miami Beach, Anthony Brunelli Fine Art, US
2021 Sydney Contemporary, Sydney Art Fair, Olsen Gallery
2021 Spring 1883, Art Fair, Melbourne, MARS Gallery
2021 Art Wynwood, Miami Art Fair, Anthony Brunelli Fine Art, NY
2021 Crepuscule, curated by Benjamin Clay, Olsen Annex, Sydney
2020 Returning to the Moon, curated Dr Michael Warner, Informality, UK
2019 Space, Gippsland Art Gallery, Vic
2019 Art Miami, Anthony Brunelli Fine Art, NY
2019 Landscape Obscurer, Nanda Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney
2018 Palm Beach Art Fair, Anthony Brunelli Fine Art, NY
2018 Scope Miami Beach, Anthony Brunelli Fine Art, NY
2018 Sydney Contemporary, Nanda Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney
2018 Small works show, Meisel Gallery, NYC
“While there are a great many artist with the patience and physical skills to create beautiful detailed realist paintings, there are very few I consider to be “post modern”, contemporary and history making. I am always looking for new ideas in Imagery, composition, technique, surface, scale, content and of course ideas. While it is late now for any artist to be called a Photorealist, Giles Alexander has all the qualities of, and is making paintings, which do qualify him to be carrying on the overall line of art history associated with this genre I have devoted my career to. The response to his work in its inaugural showings on 57th street in the center of the art world, and in my booth at Art Miami (attended by close to 100,000 viewers), and the comments and responses therein, have proven this to me.”
Louis K. Meisel, New York gallerist and coiner of the phrase Photorealism
2018 Imagine, Curated by Simon Gregg, Gippsland Art Gallery
2017 Miami Art Fair, Meisel Gallery, NYC
2017 9 hours under ground, Curated Kate Smith, Sydney Opera house
2017 Sydney Contemporary, Nanda Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney
2017 Size Doesn’t Matter, Meisel Gallery, NYC
2016 Equus, curated by Kate Smith, Olsen Irwin gallery, Sydney
2015 Sydney Contemporary, Nanda Hobbs Contemporary, Sydney
2015 Face off, Gallery Ecosse, Exeter
2014 Conquest of Space, Curated by Andrew Frost, Cofa gallery
2014 Fields of Vision: Art and Astronomy, Macquarie Uni.
2014 What Duchamp taught me, The Fine Art Society, London, UK
2014 Melbourne Art Fair, Martin Browne Contemporary
2014 Art14, The Fine Art Society, London, UK
2014 Winter Show, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney
2013 Post-grad show, National Art School, Sydney
2013 Sydney Contemporary, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney
2013 Art13, The Fine Art Society, London, UK
2013 Winter Show, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney
2013 London Art Fair, The Fine Art Society, London, UK
2012 Autumn Show, The Fine Art Society, Hong Kong
2012 Spring Show, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney
2012 The British Cut, The Fine Art Society, Hong Kong
2012 Signal 8, Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong
2012 London Art Fair, The Fine Art Society, London, UK
2012 Hong Kong art fair, Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong
2011 Step09, Milan Art Fair, BlackArtProjects, Milan, Italy
2011 (re)vision Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, NSW
2011 ‘100’ BlackArtProjects, Melbourne, Vic
2011 Wattle, Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong
2010 Art London, Comodaa Gallery, London, U.K
2010 Lost in Painting Dianne tanzer gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2010 Hong Kong Art Fair, Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong
2010 NOTFAIR, curated by Sam Leach & Ash Crawford, Melbourne
2009 Extropian, Sullivan & Strumpf, curated by Sam Leach, Sydney
2009 Australia Now, Comodaa Gallery, Covent Garden, London, U.K
2009 Same same but different, Kristian Pithie Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2009 Innocence, Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim, Queensland
2009 Drawcard 09, NAS Gallery, Sydney
2008 Smithfields 140th Anniversary, Guild Hall, London, U.K
2008 Carteret Islands, Group Exhibition, Mori Gallery, Sydney
2008 Memento Mori, Group Exhibition, blkmrkt, Queensland
2008 Drawcard 08, NAS Gallery, Sydney
2007 Simply The Best, Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim, Queensland
2007 Greens Fundraiser, Mori Gallery, Sydney
2007 Solomon Fundraiser, Royal Australian Institute Architects, Sydney
2007 Reverentia, Group Exhibition, Lorraine Pilgrim, Queensland
2007 Group Exhibition, Mori Gallery, Sydney
2006 Drawcard 06, National Art School, Sydney
2006 Art Sydney 06, Hordern pavilion, Sydney
2006 Inspiration comes of work, Group Exhibition, Kudos Gallery, Sydney
2005 Degree Show, National Art School, Sydney
2005 Infusion 2005, Fonas Group Exhibition. Cell Block Gallery. Sydney
2004 Fonas Infusion, Group Exhibition, Cell Block Gallery, Sydney
2002 Recent Works, exhibition, Global Gallery, Paddington, Sydney
2002 Liverpool City Art Prize, Group Exhibition, Liverpool, NSW
2001 Strawberry Jam, Group Exhibition, Surry Hills, Sydney
2001 Recent Works, Basil Street Basement Gallery, London, U.K.
2001 ORANGE, Group Exhibition, Global Gallery, Paddington, Sydney
Awards, Scholarships and Residencies
2023 Wynne Prize, AGNSW, finalist
2023 The Waverley Art Prize, Bondi pavilion, finalist
2023 Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, finalist
2022 The Waterhouse Prize, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, finalist
2022 Salon des Refuses, S.H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2022 The Mandorla Art Award, Holmes a Court Gallery, West Perth, finalist
2022 The Alice Prize, Alice Springs Arts Foundation, finalist
2019 NG Creative Residencies, Provence, France
2016 Moran Prize, semi-finalist
2016 Paddington Art Prize, finalist
2015 Sovereign Asia Art Award, Hong Kong, nominee
2014 Art of Music, Charity Auction, AGNSW
2014 Fleurieu Art Prize, Adelaide, SA, finalist
2013 Archibald Prize, AGNSW, Sydney, finalist
2013 Sulman Prize, AGNSW, Sydney, finalist
2013 Blake Prize, Sherman wing Cofa gallery, finalist
2013 Fleurieu Art Prize, SA, finalist
2012 Moran Prize, Sydney, NSW, finalist
2012 Sovereign Asia Art Award, Hong Kong, nominee
2012 Fleurieu Art Prize, Adelaide, SA, finalist
2011 Archibald Prize, AGNSW, Sydney, finalist
2010 Arkley Award, Melbourne, Vic, finalist
2010 Moran Prize, NSW State Library, finalist
2010 Archibald Prize, AGNSW, Sydney, finalist
2010 RBS Emerging Artist Award, Sydney, finalist
2009 Directors stock room, Barrat White, Haunch of Venison Gallery, NY
2009 Duke Prize, Brisbane, Queensland, finalist
2009 Wardlow residency, Melbourne, Vic
2008 Duke Prize, Brisbane, Queensland, finalist
2007 Duke Prize, Brisbane, Queensland, finalist
2007 Metro 5 Prize, Melbourne, Vic, 1st Prize
2006 Paddington Art Prize, Marlene Antico Fine Arts, Sydney, finalist
2006 Art On The Rocks, Sydney, Highly Commended
2006 Blake Prize, Touring Exhibition, NSW, ACT, Vic, Queensland, finalist
2006 R & M McGivern Art Prize, Maroondah Art Gallery, Vic, finalist
2005 Murray Sime Painting Prize, National Art School, Sydney, 1st Prize
2005 MCQ International Art Prize, MCA Sydney, 1st Prize
2005 Drawing Week, National Art School, 1st Prize
2004 John Olsen Drawing Prize, Sydney, Highly Commended
2004 2nd year advanced standing, National Art School, Sydney
1988 5 year Art Scholarship, Bishops Stortford College, U.K.
Collections
Art Gallery of Ballarat
Gippsland Art Gallery
Bond University
Macquarie University
ANU
Gold Coast Gallery
Tweed river Gallery
Artbank
London Guildhall Art Gallery
MCQ International
Private collections in Australia, UK, Europe, USA, Singapore and Hong Kong
Publications
April 3rd 2024. Tim Rollinson, Air Guitar, Eastside Radio
https://eastsidefm.org/airguitar/
March 2024. Alison Kubler. Slave to the Rhythm, Vault magazine issue 45
September 2022. Ceridwen Dovey, Creation Myths/Tall Tales, exhibition catalogue.
“You will be asked not only to stare back at the abyss of an eclipse but to peer down from space at Earth via the mechanical gaze of a satellite. Your brain will make a gorgeous abstract pattern out of horror – the smoke from the Black Summer bushfires spiraling into the sheer, flat blackness of outer space in ways that please the eye but trouble the soul. He has been working this rich outer space seam for years, each time coming up with new responses to the challenges posed by art and life. He told me he will always be drawn to all that is off-Earth in his work. It lets him resolve the tension between realism and abstraction that hovers always at the painter’s shoulder. All of Giles’s work, taken together, is a collective witnessing, inviting us as viewers to change perspective – to catch glimpses of the whole mystery – but also to remain attuned to the emotional ties that always tether us to Earth. He takes us all the way out there, but makes sure to bring us down from the otherworldly heights and back into the realm of human feeling.”
Ceridwen Dovey, essayist and author, 2022
December 2021. Artist Profile, Feature article, Peter Hall.
“Some artists, for instance Rubens, Seurat, and Australia’s Jon Cattapan manage to combine abstraction and figuration within the same canvas – as did Turner; others have long periods of one style before switching to the other – Peter Booth and Philip Guston, for example, or switching materials – paint to sculpture – as did the mid-career Linda Marrinon, or from neo-expressionist painting to screen-based installation in the evolving works of Susan Norrie. And a very few – Richter, Andy Warhol, Louise Weaver, and Giles Alexander – progress abstract and figurative careers simultaneously. There are new technical frontiers to conquer, new ways to appraise the past and the future, from Renaissance chapels to rather big Hadron Colliders. With the vision of William Blake, combined with the “anything’s possible” philosophy of Elon Musk, Giles reels off the future challenges and the past seedbeds:
Peter Hill, Artist Profile Issue 57, 2021
2020. American Real, The Privilege of Practice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F9zZG5z3OI&feature=youtu.be
August 2019. Naomi Riddle, Catalogue essay,
April 2018. Louis K. Meisel, Catalogue essay
June 2017. J, Arvanitakis, Life of Sand, Catalogue essay
June 2017. The Art of Collecting, Ben & Co
March 2017. C. Gable, A Sting in the tale, Robb Report,
Oct 2016. D.Ryan, Channel 9 TV News, Oct 22
http://www.snappytv.com/tc/3068149/1712323
May 2016. A. Frost, Open Road, Red Giant, Catalogue essay
March 2016. J. McGeorge, Fossil, Luxury Living Magazine,
http://mag.luxuryliving.com/fossil-giles-alexander/
24 Feb 2016. Queen Anne’s Gate: Works from the Collection of Sting & Trudie Styler,
28 Oct 2015. P. Sawer, Sting sells collection of modern masters, The Telegraph UK,
26 Nov 2014. J. Dunn, Winkle out the winners, AFR,
http://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/winkle-out-the-winners-20141125-11twgr
July 2013. J. McDonald, Our Father is a Red Giant, Catalogue essay
“Whether it be a vista of the Tahitians and their idols or Alexander’s fantasias of deep space, the artist is perfectly placed to act as a commentator on this search for meaning. There are artists who engage with science and those who see their work in spiritual terms, but Alexander is neither of the above, being skeptical of the religious viewpoint but equally wary of claims of science. These works demonstrate that one can engage with a subject in the most intense fashion without ever becoming a believer.”
John McDonald, Art critic Sydney Morning Herald, July 2013
23 July 2013. H McKissock-Davis, Editors pick, Australian Art Collector
http://www.artcollector.net.au/GilesAlexanderOurFatherisaRedGiant
July 2013. S. Cane, Our Father is a Red Giant, Wonder
http://www.pausetowonder.org/2013/08/07/our-father-is-a-red-giant/
July 2013. K.Britton, REVIEW Our Father is a Red Giant, Raven,
https://www.ravencontemporary.com.au/review-giles-alexander-our-father-is-a-red-giant/
May 2013. O. Craven, Profile, Artist Profile magazine.
http://owencraven.com/2013/07/giles-alexander/
Sept 2012. J. O’Sullivan, Giles Alexander joins Martin Browne Contemporary. Australian Art Collector
28th May 2012. R. Brown. An Australian artist in London. ABC Radio National.
2nd June 2012. C. Stewart, The World’s his oyster. Financial Review.
http://www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/review/painting_the_world_his_oyster_EUXTEiQpDfXKSaPI30aK1H
May 2012. A. Yang, Giles Alexander Exhibits in London. Australian Art Collector.
May 2012. G.Sparrow, An Uncertain light. Catalogue essay.
“Each of these dark, luxurious works resembles nothing so much as a window onto a different world. In some cases, this is exactly what they are – the luminous representations of La Luna, our ever-changing moon, the seemingly placid ringed beauty of Saturn, and the mysterious clouded atmosphere of Titan are the fantastical yet minutely detailed porthole views from a spaceship of the mind. At other times, we see through a glass darkly, peering through the murk and reflection into human spaces that shape our experience of the world – the debating chambers of democracy are here, but so are the cloisters and throne rooms of older and more secretive powers. In one case, the title offers us no clue – we find ourselves looking in upon an arcane space and pondering its purpose. And yet the uncertainty cuts both ways – today more than ever, questions hang over the future of many of these long-established power structures.”
Giles Sparrow ‘An Uncertain Light’ Popular science author, May 2012
April 2012. C. Bramley, The art of Space. Sky at night magazine.
http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/blog/chris-bramley/art-space
9th February 2012. Katrina Strickland, Adelaide exhibition, Financial Review.
5 Nov 2011. J. Stowell, Sitters gaze falls on Lake, Newcastle Herald.
January 2011. 50 Most collectable Artists, Australian Art Collector.
May 2010. Tim Dean. The Goldilocks Region. Exhibition Catalogue.
“But the artefacts aren’t just in the production or its consumption; they’re part of the subject. It’s been but a cosmic blink of the eye from the erecting of the pyramids or the forging of the terracotta soldiers, a fleeting moment that has gone unnoticed by the wandering planets, yet in that time we’ve gone from worshipping Jupiter to praising the technology that lets us gaze at the chaotic contortions of the clouds boiling across the surface of the eponymous gas giant. Alexander has us see the relics of human endeavor drifting through our vistas of the ancient relics of the solar system. There’s no comparison in their age, but Alexander reminds us that while images of the planets are ‘new’ – being a triumph of 20th century technology – and the artefacts are ‘ancient’, we can’t help but to see things bound by our own experiential terms.”
Tim Dean, philosopher and science writer, Senior Philosopher at The Ethics Centre.
September 2010. C. Miller, Profile, Australian Art Collector.
http://www.artcollector.net.au/GilesAlexanderReflectionsofthehistoryofpainting
November 2009. A. Frost, The Rapture of Science, The Art Life.
http://theartlife.com.au/2009/the-rapture-of-science/
October 2009. T. W. Lawrance, Australia Now: Contemporary Art, The Arbuturian.com.
July 2009. D. Rule, Around the Galleries, The Age.
July 2009. Admin review, Artinfo.com.au.
June 2009. G. Maestri, Smoke and Mirrors, Exhibition Catalogue.
“The monuments are supposed to commemorate kings and religions, heroes, dogmas, but in the end, the man they commemorate is the builder.'
J. Bronowski, The Ascent of Man, 1974
Religious buildings are designed to lead us in, amplify our sense of experience and heighten belief. Giles Alexander’s paintings operate on the same principal as the structures they depict, drawing us in and urging us to go deeper into the architecture. These are carefully considered and meticulously constructed images, and their faultless execution pays homage to the master masons and artisans of religious antiquity. Ultimately the work questions exactly what it is we are worshiping.”
Guido Maestri, Australian artist, Archibald winner
May 2008. S. Leach, Neon Bible, Exhibition Catalogue.
April 2007. C. Ardill-Guinness, Metro 5 prize documentary, Ovation TV.
March 2007. T. Skewes, Image isn’t everything, The Daily Telegraph.
February 2007. Z. Skewes, Tinted Media Wins Praise, Herald Sun.
24 February 2007. J. Roberts, Halfway around the world, The Age, page 3.