Biography
INFO@DARRENKNIGHTGALLERY.COM
1966 - Born Melbourne, Australia
1987-89 -Bachelor of Fine Arts (Sculpture), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne
1997 - Masters of Fine Art, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2007
Embedded with PUNKASILA, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, Australia
PUNKASILA – Conspicuous Objects, Kedai Kebun Forum, Yogyakarta Indonesia
2006
PUNKASILA band project Cemeti Art Foundation (CAF), Indonesian Institute of Art, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2005
Vodka Sans Frontiers, Klaipeda Art Exhibition Hall, Klaipeda, Lithuania
Museum Fatigue, Silvershot, Melbourne
2004
The Histrionic Heretical Missionaries of Conceptual Art/Rock Evangelism present Museum Fatigue, CD Launch, Cherry Bar, Melbourne, Australia
Konzeptuelle Kunste Karaoke, The Farm Brisbane, Australia
2003-2004
Never Mind the Pollocks – Here’s The Histrionics, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2003
Flogging a Dead Source, exhibition launching The Histrionic album Never Mind the Pollocks, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
Pretty Flagrant, exhibition launching The Histrionic album, Never Mind the Pollocks, Kjubh, Cologne, Germany
International Studio Programme, Künstlerhaus Galleries, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
2002
Preview of the histrionics forthcoming CD, single performance, Neuer Aachener Kunstverien, Aachen, Germany
Hughbris, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2001
The Broccoli Maestro and The Strange Voyage of Bas Jan Ader, Chamber Operas by Slave Pianos, (with Michael Stevenson, Rohan Drape and Neil Kelly), Malksten, Dusseldorf, Germany.
2000
Daily Practice, (with Michael Stevenson), ACCA, Melbourne,
Australia, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne,
Australia, Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand
Slave Pianos Internationale Biennale 2000 – Songs of Life, (with Michael Stevenson, Rohan Drape and Neil Kelly), RMIT Gallery, Court House Hotel and ACCA, Melbourne, Australia
Slave Pianos, (with Michael Stevenson, Rohan Drape and Neil Kelly), China Art Objects Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, Lovers, Melbourne, Australia
The Compromised Economy of Desire and Fear, with the Slave Pianos Collective, The Public Office Carpark, Melbourne, Australia
1999
Slave Pianos (with Michael Stevenson, Rohan Drape and Neil Kelly), Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, Australia
!! Emancipate the dissonance!! (with Slave Pianos) Lombard/Freid Fine Arts, New York, USA
1998
Logos (with Ben Morieson), Adelaide Festival, Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, Adelaide,Australia
1997
TRANS, with Pat Scull, h., Melbourne, Australia
Kiddies Kube, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1996
Live Injection, 1st Floor, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia
The Expanded Field (with Callum Morton), 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne, Australia
Hot Property (incendiary event with Ben Morieson), Avondale Heights, Melbourne
1994
False Day, Studio 12, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne, Australia
1993
Playing Field, 41 Gold Street, Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia
1992
Pure Difference, 41 Gold Street, Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia
Speculum, 52 Provost Street, North Melbourne, Australia
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008
COVER - ReencenaCAo + RepetiCAo, Curated by Fernando Oliva, Museu de Arte Moderna, MAM, De Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sold on Soylent (Sculpture’s back in town) And/Or Gallery, Dallas, Texas, USA
Under the Influence, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia
The Led Zeppelin World Tour, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2007
FLUXUS EAST: FLUXUS NETWORKS IN CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE, with Slave Pianios, Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin, Germany
Dedicated Follower of Fashion, The Carlton Hotel, Melbourne, Australia
Rules of engagement, West Space, Melbourne Australia
DE OVERKANT/DOWN-UNDER, The Hague Sculpture, The Netherlands
Saloon at Moscow Biennale, Moscow Russia
2004
A Constructed World, VCA Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Concern, Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta, Indonesia and VCA Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2003
This was the future…Australian Sculpture of the 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s + Today, Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia
2002
Elvis has left the building – Urban Legends, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth Cultural Centre, Western Australia
40 Jahre: Fluxus und die Flogen, Kulturamt, Wiesbaden (curated by Rene Block)
2001
The Broccoli Maestro and The Strange Voyage of Bas Jan Ader, Chamber Operas by Slave Pianos, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany.
Wiederaufnahme – Retake, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany
The Broccoli Maestro. A Chamber Opera in Two Acts for Six Voices and Six Players. Libretto by Slave Pianos, presented in collaboration with Chamber Made Orchestra, North Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne, Australia
Burnout 2001:art meet street meet, a Ben Morieson project, Docklands, Melbourne, Australia
2000
Uncommon Worlds, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Non-Objective Brass, Slave Pianos with The Burley Griffin Brass Band, National Galley of Australia, Canberra
Slave Pianos, 4th Sergey Kuryokhin Festival, Leningrad Palace of Youth, St.Petersburg, Russia
Rent, Overgaden, Copenhagen, Denmark, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia
1999
What Your Children Should Know About Conceptualism, (with Michael Stevenson), Neuer Aachener Kunstverein and Brandenburgischer Kunstverein Potsdam, Germany
The Queen is Dead, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Toi, Toi, Toi, with Michael Stevenson, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, Auckland Art Gallery
1998-2000
Close Quarters, Contemporary Art from Australia and New Zealand, touring exhibition; Monash University Gallery and ACCA, Melbourne, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra, Govett-Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin and Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
1998
Strolling, the art of arcades, boulevards, barricades, publicity, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Melbourne, Australia
1997
Art=Advertising, Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
1996
The Expanded Field, with Callum Morton and Anna Nervegna, 200 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Australia
Room of Circles, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
1995
5.25.41 (curator and participating artist), 41 Gold Street, Collingwood, Australia
P.S., with Alexandra Bertram, University of Melbourne gallery, Melbourne, Australia
1994
john doe, 200 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Australia
1993
(un)authorized duplication, 200 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Australia
1992
Globality, installation with Basis, 183 Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia
Subterror, with Natalie Jeremijenko, Spencer Street underpass, Melbourne, Australia
1991
Incendiary 14.09.91, installation and documentation in collaboration with Basis, 41 Gold Street, Collingwood, Australia
SITE WORK
1998
Logos, with Ben Morieson, Adelaide Festival, Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, Adelaide, Australia
1996
Hot Property, with Ben Morieson, Avondale Heights, Victoria, Australia
1995
Forgetting, three events with Ben Morieson, Stanley, Launceston and Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
1994
Section, fire event with Ben Morieson and Andrius Lipsys, New Farm Power Station, Brisbane, Australia
Short Circuit, fire event with Ben Morieson and Andrius Lipsys, New Farm, Power Station, Brisbane, Australia
Irruption, fire event with Ben Morieson, Parkville, Australia
Cum On Feel The Noize, fire event with Ben Morieson and Andrius Lipsys, Livid Festival, Brisbane, Australia
1993
Crypt Arc, fire event with Andrius Lipsys, part of Breathe Forum, IMA, Brisbane, Australia
Resistance, fire event with Ben Morieson, part of the Fifth Australian Sculpture Triennial, Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Bulleen, Victoria, Australia
1992
Untitled, desert sculpture 50km south of Bourke, NSW, Australia
Deep Rock Tracer, fire event with Ben Morieson, Yarra River, Melbourne, Australia
Ek-Stasis, fire event with Ben Morieson, Peninsula Pottery, Tyabb, Victoria, Australia
1991
Fire Line, fire event, Vilnius, Lithuania
New York Consequence, fire event filmed by Jonas Mekas, New York City, USA
Incendiary 14.09.91, fire event in collaboration with Basis, demolished C.U.B. site, Carlton, Australia
LIVE PERFORMANCES
2008
The Histrionics, Big Day Out, Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia, 28th January 2008
The Histrionics, The Palais, St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia, 17th February 20082007
SILVER CLOUDS / ELECTRIC CHAIR, A WAR OF CURRENTS: FLOATING PAINTINGS & PIANO EXECUTION- $250 / 250 Clouds / 200 People / 88 Notes / 2000 Volts - Andy Warhol Silver Clouds (1966) / Slave Pianos Electric Chair (2007) with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
22nd October, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne , Australia
The Histrionics: Crimes Against Humanities Tour, (June), Australian Opening Party - Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; Fluc, Vienna, Austria;
Den Haag Sculptuur: De Overkant/Down Under, The Netherlands, Ballhaus, Berlin, Germany.
Slave Pianos present Dissident Consonances: Fluxus/Sajudis, A musical theatre featuring Vytautas Landsbergis, Alison Knowles, Geoffrey Hendricks, Ben Patterson, Eric Anderson, Tamas St. Auby, Larry Miller and Ben Vautier, Art Forum Berlin, Germany
PUNKASILA at APT5, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane Australia
PUNKASILA, Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne, Australia.
The Histrionics at ACMI, Melbourne Australia Wednesday, 2 May 2007
SLAVE PIANOS & the ASTRA CHOIR present: DissidentConsonances or The Iron Curtain, The Flux-Labyrinth & Lithuanian House or Chairman George Maciunas & President Vytautas Landsbergis, 26th & 27th May, Lithuanian House, Melbourne, Australia
PUNKASILA: Permission to fire -Concert and launch of Acronym Wars CD, 4 March 2007, Kedai Kebun Forum, Yogyakarta Indonesia
The Histrionics: Live at ACMI, Wednesday 2 May 2007, 7pm
2007
PUNKASILA: Permission to fire – Concert and launch of Acronym Wars CD, 4 March 2007, Kedai Kebun Forum, Yogyakarta Indonesia
The Histrionics: Live at ACMI, Wednesday 2 May 2007, 7pm
2006
Slave Pianos: Rendition & Interrogation, in multi-mix: performance and demonstration, Sunday 22 October 2006, 12:00-3:30pm, Level 4 in the Multiplicity Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Australian performance art night, Gossip Pop, at the Glamour Bar, Shanghai with “The Shanghai Dumplings”, 9pm, Monday, 3 September
Punkasila, Penjabaran Singatan Indoenesia (P.S.I) (Dismantling Indonesian Acronyms), Acronym Wars, Radical Café, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
2005
The Histrionics with Martin Creed, Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne.
The Histrionics, Cherry Bar, Melbourne.
The Histrionics, L’Oreal Fashion Week, GPO, Melbourne
2004
Two Lives in Flux and Vice Versa, National Drama Theatre, Vilnius, Lithuania
with The Histrionics, Museum Fatigue Tour, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius; Klaipeda, Lithuania; Künstlerhaus Bethanien Gmbh,
Berlin; Dusseldorf, Germany; Luxembourg; Bassin Vauban, Strasbourg; Castel Coucou, Forbach, France
with special guests, Konzeptuelle Kunste Karaoke, un Magazine #1 launch, Kings artist-run initiative, Melbourne, Australia
with The Histrionics, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art,
PICA, Perth, Australia, Artspace, Sydney, The Cherry Bar, Melbourne, Australia
Konzeptuelle Kunste Karaoke, The Farm, Brisbane, Australia
2003
Never Mind the Pollocks Tour with The Histrionics, Green Square Hotel, Sydney, Australia, Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne, Australia,
Town Hall Hotel, North Melbourne, Australia
Galerie Alimentation Generale, Luxembourg, Casino – Forum d’art Contemporain, Luxembourg, Bergstubl, Berlin, Germany,
Blijburg, Amsterdam, Holland, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany, Club Zero, Aachen, Germany, Kunsthaus, Dresden,
Germany, Magazin4, Vorarlberger Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria, heeresbaeckerei-kultur, Berlin, Germany
2002
Foreign Knowledge (documentary monodrama), Old Court House Building, Ballarat, Australia
40 Jahre: Fluxus und die Flogen (with Arditti String Quartet), Wiesbaden Museum, Wiesbaden, Germany
2001
The Strange Voyage of Bas Jan Ader, Klangbrucke, Aachen & Malkasten, Dusseldorf, Germany
The Broccoli Maestro (with Chamber Made Opera), North Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne, Australia
2000
Non-Objective Brass, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Aperto (with Graeme Leak), Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
A Long Tale with Many Notes (with DeFLOCKeD String Quartet), RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Non-Objective Labour: Towards a Dialectical Theory of Corruption (with Krasnyi String Quartet), Baltyiski Dom Theatre, St. Petersburg and the Contemporary Music Centre, Moscow, Russia
The Compromised Economy of Desire and Fear, The Public Office, Melbourne, Australia
1999
Slave Chamber (with Flux String Quartet), Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, New York, USA
Anti-Jazz (with Barney McAll and the Ben-tet), Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, New York, USA
Caged Uncaged: Unleash the Beasts (with DJ Olive), Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, New York, USA
PAGE ART
2004 - The Histrionics, Video Art Lyrics, State of the Arts, July-Sept 2004
1997 - Berkowitz Situations, Broadsheet, page 21, Vol 26 No.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ambarwati, N. Fine Arts: The militaristic act Punkasila, www.artsmanagement.net, posted 5 May 2007
Ball, A. & Clarkson, J. Only Livid at Heart, The Brisbane Review, 14 January 1993
Clement, T. GI Joke, Metro, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 April, 2007
Colless, E.Thinking inside the box, The Weekend Australian 28 – 29 May 2005
Cooper, S. Resistance, edited by Vanessa Bird & Harriet Edquist, The Culture of Landscape Architecture, Edge Publishing, Melbourne, 1994
Cross, David, Danius Kesminas, review, World Art, Issue 16,
Dannatt, Adrian, Duchamp and Beuys, not Debussy and Beethoven, The Art Newspaper, No.99 January 2000
Day, C. The expanded field, A short ride in a fast machine – Gertrude contemporary art spaces 1985 – 2005. Melbourne: Black Inc, 2005. p87
Dirgantoro, W. Permission to fire in Broadsheet September 2007, pp. 190-191
Duncan, Michael, Self-Created Worlds, Art in America, October 2002
Ed. What’s on Melbourne, The Australian Financial Review 1-3 June 2007, p.L4
Feary, M. & Maidment, S. Slave to the Rhythm in CAC INTERVIU issue 9-10 / spring – summer 2008 / Conversation about art, pp. 30-34.
Fitzgerald, M. Exploding with laughter Time 7 May 2007, pp. 59-60.
Gawronski, Alex, Danius Kesminas: hughbris, Eyeline, Spring 2002
Gawronski, Alex, Danius Kesminas, Broadsheet, Volume 33, No. 1 Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, February – May 2004
Hansen, David, Politics of art, Sightlines Critical Guide, The Age, 1 June, 2007
Hearst, A. Show #18: Sold on Soylent (Sculpture’s Back In Town) in Fluent Collaborative http://www.fluentcollab.org/mbg/index.php/reviews/review/107/65
Hibbert, Lily, Cover and editorial, Un. Magazine, Issue 1, August 2004
Hjorth, Larissa, Mortgage, review, Broadsheet, Volume 29/4, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia,December 2000
Holcroft, Julian, Slave Pianos, review, LIKE Art Magazine, No.9 Winter 1999
Jackson, B. Changing and Persisting Notions of the Avant Garde, Eyeline, #22/23 Summer 1993
Jeremijenko, N. Incendiary, The Interior, #3 & 4, 4 February 1992
Kelly, E. Oh Fluxus, it goes on and on and on in The Australian – Arts 25 October 2007, p. 12
Kesminas, D. The head man talketh, interview with David Byrne, State of the Arts, January – March 2006
Kesminas, D. Histrionics: museum fatigue, Poster Magazine, Issue 8, Autumn 2005
Kremer, B. Absolut Kesminas, Broadsheet Vol. 34 No. 4, Dec 05 – Feb 06
Kremer, Boris, Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin Internationales Atelierprogramm 2002/2003, Germany
Koop, Stuart, Never Mind the Pollocks…., Broadsheet, Volume 33, No. 1 Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, February – May 2004
Koop, Stuart, Notes on the Difference between the First and Ground Floors, Good Thinking, words and pictures on contemporary art, catalogue essay, 1st Floor Artists and Writers Space, Melbourne 2000
McDonald, John, The Broccoli Maestro, catalogue essay, published by Slave Pianos, October 2001
McDonald, John, Slave Pianos – Pianology, liner notes, Slave Pianos A Diagnosis 1998-2001, published by Revolver, Germany, 2001
Maloney, E. Consuming Art, Art Monthly, No.99 May 1997
Millie, J. M16s for punks in Inside Indonesia 90: Oct-Dec 2007, www.insideindonesia.org/content/view/621/47
Montgomery, J. The strange tale of the Lucky Country, the cultural cringe and the flight of the Tall Poppies, in Art Monthly Australia, #215, November 2008, pp. 32 - 35
Morse, Elizabeth, A Play on Words, Artnews, April 2000
Mudie Cunningham, D. The Art of Noise in Artist Profile, Issue 5 2008, pp. 60-61
O’Connell, Stephen, Slave Pianos, review, art/text #67 1999
Palmer, D. Looking back: Solo Shows Frieze Issue 96 January – February 2006
Peters, P. Danius Kesminas & The Histrionics in De Overkant/Down Under – Den Haag Sculptuur 07, Den Haag Sculptuur, The Hague, 2007, pp. 56-57.
Rahn, Kathleen & Titz, Susanne, Slave Pianos, catalogue essay, Wiederaufnahme-Retake, published by Revolver, Germany 2001
Shadbolt, Brigid, Daily Practice, exhibition catalogue essay, Australian Centre for
Contemporary Art, October 2000
Shaw, John, A Work on a Critic’s Collision, Cultural and Vehicular, The New York Times, 7 March 2002
Smee, Sebastian, Slave to the music, review, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 August 1999
Snell, Ted, Confronting catastrophe, The Weekend Australian, 14-15 December 2002
Te Koha, Nui, Band gets $10,000 grant, The Herald Sun, 27 May 2007
Thompson, G. Punkasila, Foreign Correspondent, ABC TV, Tuesday 22 May 2007, 9:20pm
Vella, Kellie, Danius Kesminas: Konzeptuelle Künst Karaoke, LocalART, Issue no. 12, June 2004
Webb, P. Clouds mostly hot air second time around in The Age 24 October 2007, p. 21
Webb, P. With a Song in his Art, The Age Metro, 6 May 2005
Winchester, R. Australia in Art Asia Pacific Art Almanac, 2005/2006
AWARDS/COMMISSIONS/RESIDENCIES
2002 - Kunstlerhaus Bethanien Studio Residency, Berlin.
1993-95 - Studio residency, Gertrude Street Artist’s Spaces, Melbourne, Australia
1991 - Heidelberg School Art Award
1989 - Nexus Designs Traveling Art Award for Sculpture
COLLECTIONS
Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney