ARTIST BIO
Liam Benson is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice incorporates performance, photography, video and textiles. His work is informed by working collaboratively with diverse communities through an ongoing conversation about how culture, sub-culture and identity interrelate and evolve.
ARTIST CV
Born in Sydney, Australia
Lives and works in Sydney, Australia
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017 I have a wealth of unconditional love and it’s yours if you want it, Artereal Gallery, Sydney
2015 Inheritance, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2015 NOBLE SAVAGE, Artereal Gallery, Rozelle
2012 Motherland, Artereal Gallery, Rozelle
2011 Liam Benson, Artereal Gallery, Rozelle
2011 The Bòcan, The Lewers Bequest, Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith
2010 Southern Cross’ Lullaby, The Lock Up residency & exhibition, Newcastle
2006 Werewolves, MOP Gallery, Redfern
COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY PROJECT - ADORNED
2015 – present
Adorned is a community group of individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who share a love of making. Based in Western Sydney’s Parramatta, the group meet weekly to participate in supported creative workshops, share stories and skills, collaborate and create wearable art.
The Adorned workshop series aims to support participants of all ages from culturally diverse backgrounds by providing a friendly, safe and accessible creative space.
Hosted at Parramatta Artist Studios, the workshop series is facilitated by Liam Benson and Kiri Morcombe.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Just Not Australian, Artspace, Wolloomooloo
2018 ShhhOUT, Art from a GLBTQIA Perspective, ESD Gallery, Darlinghurst
2018 All of Us, Blindside, Melbourne
2018 Site of Passage, Customs House, Sydney
2018 Les Misérables ’18, Kudos Gallery, Paddington
2018 I Can (Sing) Paint a Rainbow, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor
2018 Art + Body Politic, The Lost ones Contemporary Art Gallery, Ballarat
2018 We, The People Who Live For The Beautiful, Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Bondi
2018 Mosaic, LGBTIQ Artists of Western Sydney, Parramatta Artist Studios, Parramatta
2017 Engender, Alaska Projects, Sydney
2017 Governance, Old Government House, Parramatta
2017 I am, You are, We are, Peacock Gallery and Auburn Arts Studio, Auburn
2017 Good Neighbours, Artbank, Sydney
2017 ADORNED – Wisdom, Memory and Song, Parramatta Riverside Theatre, Parramatta
2017 Unflinching Gaze: photo media & the male figure, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst
2017 64th Blake Prize Touring Exhibition, throughout Australia
2017 Young & Free, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, Australia
2017 Exploring Identity: Ned, Koala and Me, Art Space on the Concourse, Chatswood
2016 X/I, Artereal Gallery, Rozelle
2016 The Blake prize, National touring exhibition Australia
2015 Dream Merchant, Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Broken Hill
2015 Imagining Ned, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo
2015 Adorned, Parramatta Riverside Theatre, Parramatta
2015 Dream Merchant, Mosman Art Gallery, Mosman
2015 The Narrative of Location, GAFFA Gallery, Sydney
2015 The Narrative of Location, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne
2015 Façade, Artereal Gallery, Rozelle
2015 Disco Dome, ICE, Parramatta
2015 Street Screen, ACP Paddington
2014-15 Overview, International touring exhibition
2014 Unveiled, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2014 Compassionate Voices, Rosebery
2014 FOMO, ARTEREAL, Rozelle
2013 Same, Same, Artereal, Rozelle
2013 Please allow me to introduce myself, Strange Neighbour, Fitzroy
2013 Beyoncé is a Feminist, Fontanelle, Bowden
2013 Peripheral Visions: Contemporary Art from Australia, Garis and Hahn, New York
2013 The Social, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown
2013 Blue and Pink Phenomenon, The Substation, Newport
2012 SEXES, Performance Space, Eveleigh
2012 Tough Love, AEAF, Lion Arts Centre North Terrace Adelaide, South Australia
2012 Motherland, ARTEREAL, Rozelle
2011 Hello Dolly, Gaffa, Sydney
2011 The Bòcan, The Lewers Bequest, Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith
2011 Femmes & Hommes, John Buckley Gallery – Prahran, Melbourne
2011 Liam Benson, ARTEREAL, Rozelle
2011 The Pioneers, MOP Projects, Chippendale
2010 No Artist is an Island, The Lock Up residency & exhibition, Newcastle
2010 Body capital, Loop Space, Newcastle
2010 Southern Cross’ Lullaby, The Lock Up residency & exhibition, Newcastle
2010 In Temperance, Popup Gallery, Sydney
2010 Re/Gendered, Platform Artists Group Inc. Degraves St Subway (Campbell Arcade), Melbourne
2009 Horror Come Darkness, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Macquarie Park
2009 The More You Ignore Me the Closer I get, The University of Queensland Art Museum,Brisbane
2009 Identifiable Culture, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown
2008 Dream Merchant, Blacktown Arts Centre, Blacktown
2008 Becos I’m Worf It, MOP Projects, Chippendale
2008 Performing for the Camera, Firstdraft Galley, Surry Hills
2008 SafARI 2008, Gaffa, Surry Hills
2008 MAN, Penrith regional Gallery, Emu Plains
2008 Bent Western, Blacktown Arts Centre, Blacktown
2007-08 Our Lucky Country (still different) Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea
2007 Becos I’m Worf It, Linden Centre for Contemporary arts, Melbourne
2007 At the Vanishing Point; the show to launch the space, At the Vanishing Point, Newtown
2007 Postcards from the edge, The Black Loft, Dublin, Ireland
2007 Dream Merchant, Kings artist run initiative, Melbourne
2006-07 Our Lucky Country, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea
2006 Snowdropping, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown
2006 Overt Compensation: Reloaded, Depot Gallery, Waterloo
2006 Gang Festival 05-06, Pelt Gallery, Chippendale
2005-06 Horsepower, Liverpool Regional Gallery, Liverpool
2005 Designfesta: Through a Strangers Eyes, Tokyo
2005 Gang Festival 05-06, Various spaces, Indonesia
2005 Western front, Art is a Social Space, Blacktown Arts Centre, Blacktown
2005 C-Town Bling, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown
2005 Satellite of love, Bus Gallery, Melbourne
2005 Satellite of love, Phatspace, Darlinghurst
2005 Dress code, MOP Gallery, Redfern
2005 Weapons of Mass Destruction, Mori Gallery, Sydney, February
2004 Sideshow Valley: opening night and installation launch, 2004 SOOB festival, Brisbane
2004 Going Pro Project, The Lewers Bequest, Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith
2004 Energex Arbour Contemporary Art Prize, Southbank Brisbane
2004 L’Ovest, Firstdraft Gallery, Surry Hills
2003 What the world needs now 2, Phatspace Gallery, Darlinghurst
2003 Decoding Sub-cultures, Blacktown Arts Centre, Blacktown
2003 Self Discipline, Phatspace Gallery, Darlinghurst
2002 Structurally unsound, UWS Grad show, University of Western Sydney, Kingswood
2002 Smudge, Palace Gallery, South Brisbane, Queensland
2002 Queering the streets, Sydney 2002 Gay Games, Sports and Culture Festival
AWARDS
2016 Glenfiddich Artist in Residence Prize, Finalist
2016 The Blake Prize, Finalist
2015 The Fishers Ghost Art Award, Finalist
2014 Winner, Champions of the West grant, (Arts category)
2013 Winner, The Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Award, Gold Coast Art Centre
2013 The Blake Prize, Finalist
2012 Winner, The Hawkesbury Art Award, Purple Noon Gallery, Freemans Reach
2011 Winner, The Fishers Ghost Art Award, Contemporary Award
2011 Winner, Hazelhurst art on paper award, Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery, Gymea
2011 Winner, The Mardi Gras Award
2011 The Substation Contemporary Art Prize, The Substation, Melbourne, Finalist
2007 Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award, Finalist, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Gold Coast, Finalist
2009 Winner, The Fishers Ghost art Award, Photographic Award
2009 The Blake Prize, Finalist
2007 The Helen Lempriere Traveling Art Scholarship, finalist 2007
2007 Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award, Finalist, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Gold Coast, Finalist
2007 Art and Australia RIPE award, Finalist 2007
2007 Linden Innovators program, Recipient, Linden Centre For Contemporary Art, St Kilda
2006 Iris Award, Finalist, PCP, Perth, 2006
2006 CCP Colour Factory Award, Finalist, CCP, Fitzroy, 2006
2005 Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award, Finalist, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Gold Coast
RESIDENCIES
2011 Arteles Creative Centre, Finland
2010 The Lock Up residency, Newcastle
2007 Our Lucky Country residency program, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea
COLLECTIONS
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
Artbank
Art Gallery of South Australia
University of Western Sydney Art Collection
Private Collections