Wes Placek
Photo by Klaudia Budzyn, 2017
| 1947 | Born in West Germany | |
| 1950 | Arrived in Australia | |
EDUCATION |
||
| 1966-67 | Studied painting at Preston Technical College | |
| 1968 | Studied painting at RMIT | |
| 1970 | Completed Teacher Training at Melbourne Teachers College | |
| 1973-74 | Studied painting at Preston Institute of Technology | |
| 1974 | Awarded Diploma of Art from Preston Institute of Technology | |
| 1978-79 | Founded Artists Space Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 1993-94 | Studied Monash University, Gippsland, Master of Arts (By Research) | |
| 1995 | Awarded Master of Arts (Visual Arts), Monash University | |
TRAVEL |
||
| 1975 | USA - Los Angeles, New York; England, Poland, East Germany | |
| 1980 | USA, Poland, Yugoslavia, Austria | |
| 1984 | USA | |
| 1999 | Poland and Germany | |
AWARDS |
||
| 1973 | Australia Council Visual Arts Board Grant | |
| 1974 | Georges Invitation Art Prize | |
| 1975 | Australia Council Visual Arts Board Overseas Travel Grant | |
| 1994 | Print Council of Australia Print Commission Print Aquisition Award, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery |
|
| 1997 | Annual T-Shirt Design Prize, Noosa Regional Gallery | |
ONE MAN EXHIBITIONS |
||
| 1971 | Pinacotheca Gallery, Melbourne, First one-person exhibition | |
| 1972 | Pinacotheca Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 1973 | Pinacotheca Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 1976 | Hawthorn City Art Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 1977 | Hawthorn City Art Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 1978 | Gallery de Tastes, Melbourne, Paintings Adelaide Fine Art & Graphics, Adelaide, Paintings |
|
| 1980 | Church Street Photographic Centre, Melbourne, Photographs | |
| 1981 | Pitspace, Preston Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Painting/Sculpture and Photographs | |
| 1982 | The Developed Image, Adelaide, Photographs | |
| 1984 | Artists Space, Melbourne, Paintings 1970-80 Artists Space, Dog Series Paintings, Melbourne Manuka Gallery, ACT, Canberra, Painting |
|
| 1985 | 70 Arden Street, Melbourne, Paintings/Drawings The Developed Image, Adelaide, Photographs |
|
| 1986 | Artists Space, “Still Life Photography”, Melbourne | |
| 1988 | Artists Space Gallery, Melbourne, Paintings | |
| 1989 | Artists Space, “Works from the Kitchen”, Photographs | |
| 1990 | Artists Space, “Recent Paintings” Switchback Gallery, Monash University College, Gippsland, Photographs |
|
| 1991 | Artists Space Gallery, Melbourne, “Paintings and Drawings” Priebe Annex Gallery, Ray Spicer/Wes Placek: “Contrasting Styles in Photography”, University of Wisconsin Oskosh LaTrobe University College of Northern Victoria, Photographs and Paintings |
|
| 1992 | David Ellis Fine Art, Melbourne, “Seeing the Landscape” Paintings | |
| 1993 | Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne, “Etchings” | |
| 1994 | Lyall Burton Gallery, “Recent Paintings” | |
| 1995 | Yume Ya Gallery Melbourne, “Recent Paintings and Prints” | |
| 1996 | “Collection in Context”, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery “Red, Yellow and Blue, Still-Life”, Painted Photographs, Viscom 9 Gallery, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Department of Visual Communication |
|
| 1997 | “Urban Patinas”, Paintings, Drawings and Prints, Smyrnios Gallery Australia, Melbourne | |
| 1998 | Works from the Studio, “Forays into Landscape” & “Domestic Configurations”, Preview Gallery, Melbourne “Apertures”, Paintings - The Oxford Street Series, 1994-1998, Preview Gallery, Melbourne |
|
| 1999 | “Urban Scrawl” - Photographic Images of Lodz, Poland and Frankfurt, Germany | |
| 2004 | “Recent Paintings”, Watson Place Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 2008 | "Recent Paintings - A Painters Journey" Place Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 2012 | “Totemics – Recent Paintings”, Place Gallery, Melbourne | |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS |
||
| 1971 | Pinacotheca Gallery | |
| 1972 | Pinacotheca Gallery | |
| 1973 | Georges Invitation Art Prize, Georges Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 1974 | Chapman Powell Street Gallery, ‘3+3+1+3’, Melbourne Georges Invitation Art Prize, Georges Gallery, Melbourne |
|
| 1976 | National Gallery of Victoria, Some Recent Acquisitions Manawatu Art Gallery, New Zealand Print Council of Australia 1976 Exhibition Hawthorn City Art Gallery |
|
| 1977 | Manawatu Art Gallery, New Zealand A Show of Hands Exhibition Uniart Gallery, Elblag, Poland “Exhibition in the Circle” University of Waterloo Art Gallery Waterloo, Ontario, Canada LaTrobe University Union Arts Festival |
|
| 1979 | Port Melbourne Galleries | |
| 1980 | Centre Documentacia d’Art Actual, Barcelona, Spain | |
| 1981 | “First Australian Sculpture Triennial”, PIT & LaTrobe University Albury Art Gallery, Works on Paper Australian Photography in Switzerland, Internationale Photographiefoerderung, Berne, Switzerland Church Street Photographic Centre, Melbourne Final Retrospective Exhibition 1977-1981 |
|
| 1982 | Gryphon Gallery “Personal Directions”, Prints and Photographs Preston to Phillip, A Survey (10 years of art education) Reconnaissance Gallery, Melbourne |
|
| 1985 | Sculpture ‘85. World Trade Centre, Melbourne | |
| 1987 | “Five Artists”, Artists Space, Melbourne “Urban Structures”, Artists Space, Melbourne “Images of Australia”, Photography, Monash Gallery of Art |
|
| 1988 | “The Thousand Mile Stare”, A Photographic Exhibition, Australian for Contemporary Art, Melbourne | |
| 1989 | “Still-Life: Photography”, Artists Space Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 1990 | Artists Space, Kodak “Five Visions” Photography “Australian Photography” Monash Gallery of Art |
|
| 1992 | David Ellis Fine Art, Melbourne, “Gallery Artists” Third Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne David Ellis Fine Art |
|
| 1993 | “Works on Paper International Fair”, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney Australian Print Workshop | |
| 1994 | “Unified Diversity, Print Commission”, Print Council of Australia, Australian Print Workshop, Access Studio, Fitzroy, Melbourne The Tin Sheds, University of Sydney Noreen Graham Galleries, Brisbane Biennial Prints Acquisitive Exhibition”, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery |
|
| 1995 | “12th Biennial Spring Festival of Drawing”, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery | |
| 1996 | “NONOBJECT”, Yume Ya Gallery Melbourne “BOX”, Craft Victoria, Melbourne “XIII EDIZIONE PREMIO INTERNAZIONALE BIELLA”, Italia “Buildings and Boulevards”, Photography, Monash Gallery of Art |
|
| 1997 | “THE EMBELLISHED EGG”, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery “National T-Shirt Design Award”, Noosa Regional Gallery, Qld |
|
| 1998 | “National T-Shirt Design Award”, Noosa Regional Gallery, Qld The Fleurieu Biennale 1998. The Fleurieu Prize for Australian Landscape, McLaren Vale, Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia |
|
| 1999 | “20 Photographers”, Melbourne Arts Club, Melbourne | |
| 2004 | “Works on Paper”, Watson Place Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 2008 | “Portraits of Artists, Place Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 2009 | POST. A Group Exhibition, Place Gallery, Melbourne | |
| 2012 | “Photographic Abstractions”, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne | |
| 2013-14 | “Still Life”, Art Gallery of New South Wales | |
BIBLIOGRAPHY |
||
| “Some Recent Acquisitions 1975/76 Catalogue”, National Gallery of Victoria, Jennie Boddington The National Gallery Society of Victoria “Bulletin”, August 1978, “Auschwitz Photographs”, Jennie Boddington “Directory of Australian Printmakers, 1976” Print Council of Australia “Artists and Galleries of Australia and New Zealand”, Max Germaine, Lansdowne Editions, 1979 Interview with Tom McCullough, June 1981, “Line as Space Exhibition”, Preston Institute of Technology Art Gallery, Pitspace (unpublished) “The First Australian Sculpture Triennial Catalogue”, 1981. Published by: First Australian Sculpture Triennial Committee, 1981 Building and Architecture (South Australia), Volume 9, June 1982 “Encyclopaedia of Austalian Art”, 1984, Alan McCulloch “Sculpture 85 - The Book”, published by: Sculpture 85 Inc., April 1985, Melbourne “Thousand Mile Stare Exhibition Catalogue”, Victorian Centre for Photography, 1988 “Wes Placek, Paintings”, Artists Space Gallery, Melbourne, August 1988. Catalogue Introduction, Janina Green. Agenda, No. 5, June 19, 1989, “Still on the Subject of Life” Angela Borg “Still Life Photography”, Artbeat, No.137, April 12, 1989, Scott Brown. Agenda No.5, August 1989, “Words from the Kitchen”, Wes Placek’s Paintings and Photographs, Alex Selenitsch Catalogue Notes, Wes Placek Exhibition, Switchback Gallery, September 1990, Beatrice Faust Catalogue Notes, Wes Placek Exhibition, Artists Space Gallery Melbourne, April 1991, John Jenkins Catalogue Notes, 1991, Wes Placek, Paintings and Photographs, 1985 to 1990, Patrizia Mania Catalogue Notes, 1991, Wes Placek, Paintings, “Seeing the Landscape: Trees/rocks/mounds, bushes (hats)”, David Ellis Gallery, Melbourne, June 1992, Alex Selenitsch Overland 130, Autumn 1993, Drawings Overland 131, Winter 1993, Drawings Wes Placek “Etchings”, Imprint. Volume 28, Number 4, 1993, Alex Selenitsch Overland 135, Winter 1994, Paintings and Etching Overland 136, Spring 1994, Etching Overland 137, Summer 1994, Etching “Encyclopaedia of Australian Art”, Alan McCullloch and Susan McCulloch, Allen and Unwin, 1994 Overland 138, Autumn 1995, Etching Overland 139, Winter 1995, Etching Overland 140, Spring 1995 Overland 140, Spring 1995, Etching Overland 142, Autumn 1996, Etching Catalogue Notes, Wes Placek, “The Community of Vessels”, Collection in Context Exhibition, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery Inc. 1995, Alex Selenitsch “BOX”, Catalogue Notes, Craft Victoria, 1996, Suzie Attiwill Australian Printmakers in the 1990’s. Artist Printmakers: 1990 to 1995, Sasha Grishin. Published by Craftsman House 1996. Overland 149, Summer 1997, Drawing Overland 151, Winter 1998, Drawing Overland 152, Spring 1998, Drawing Catalogue Notes, Wes Placek, Paintings, “Apertures”, Preview Gallery Melbourne, 1998, Suzie Attiwill “Australian Identity – Struggle and Transformation in Australian Literature”, Yasue Arimitsu, University of Tokyo Press, 2003 Review: Wes Placek, artshub.com.au/Australian Arts Workers, 21 May 2008, CAP WES PLACEK@PLACE 2008, Alex Selenitsch, 8 April 2008 “POST. An art excursion.” Place Gallery, Richmond, September, 2009 “Death of digital printmaking?”, Imprint, No.4, Volume 45, Summer, 2010, Professor Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA Catalogue Notes, Wes Placek, “Circles”, Place Gallery, Richmond, March 2012, Alex Selenitsch Catalogue Notes, “Photographic Abstractions”, Monash Gallery of Art, August 2012, Stella Loftus-Hills and Stephen Zagala |
||
SELECTED NEWSPAPER ARTICLES |
|
| Alan Warren: | “Carvings with Vitality”, The Sun, June 1971 Prize for the Whole Community”, The Herald, March 1974 “New Exhibitions”, Wes Placek, Paintings, The Herald, 18 May 1978 |
| Alan McCulloch: | New Exhibitions, Wes Placek, Paintings, The Herald, June 1971 |
| Memory Holloway: | “Assault on the Eyes with Changing Hues”, The Age, 18 October 1972 |
| Rodney Milgate: | “Paintings that Transcend Technique”, The Australian, 21 October 1972 |
| Jeffrey Makin: | “Starters Promise Bright Future”, The Sun, March 1973 |
| Patrick McCaughey: | “Abstract School Surpasses Itself”, The Age, 14 November 1973 “Georges Prize Short on Style, Substance”, The Age, February 1974 |
| Bernard Boles: | “A Slow Plod to Pick a Georges Winner”, Nation, 8 April 1974 |
| Jeffrey Makin: | The Georges Prize 1974, The Sun, February. 1974 |
| Maureen Gilchrist: | “Achievement, but in patches”, The Age, 30 May 1974 |
| Mary Eagle: | “Show maps out new style”, The Age, 17 May 1978 |
| David Dolan: | “Efforts not Fruitful”, Adelaide Advertiser, 9 August 1978 |
| Ronald Millar: | “Personal Directions”, (Prints & Photographs), The Herald, 8 April 1982 |
| Neville Weston | “So Nearly Artless”, Adelaide Advertiser, 2 June 1982 |
| Sonia Barron: | “Lighthearted Hat Show”, The Canberra Times, 1 October 1984 |
| Janina Green: | “Subtle New Artwork over the Road from Silos”, The Melbourne Times, 17 June 1987 |
| Linda Hicks: | “Thought Provoking “Approach to History”, The Herald, 23 December 1987 |
| Beatrice Faust: | “Wide Range in Black and White”, The Age, 7 March 1989 Exhibitions with a Touch of the Unusual”, The Age, 6 July 1989 |
| Campbell Thomson: | “Hats off to the Cameramen”, The Herald, 23 March 1989 “Focus on Art Images”, The Herald, 11 July 1989 |
| Robert Hollingworth: | “Art Photos Relying Less on the Camera Itself”, Geelong Advertiser, 12 July 1990 |
| Charles Radnay: | “Hats off to Placek’s Deceptive Imagery”, 23 July 1990 Geelong Advertiser |
| Robert Rooney: | “A Select Short List”, The Australian, 9-10 April 1994 |
| Robert Nelson: | “Mix of Visual, Culinary Art”, The Age 22 March 1995 “Imprints of Talent: a Modern Look”, The Age, 24 January 1996 |
REPRESENTED |
|
| Australian National Gallery, Canberra Mildura Arts Centre Polish Art Foundation, Melbourne National Gallery of Victoria Darwin Community College Commonwealth Art Bank Kodak Australia University of Wisconsin, Oskosh Latrobe University College, Northern Victoria Monash University College, Gippsland Print Council of Australia Canson Australia Pty Ltd Latrobe Regional Art Gallery State Library of Victoria Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery Deakin University Monash Gallery of Art Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Dept of Visual Communication Heide Museum of Modern Art Art Gallery of New South Wales Riddoch Art Gallery, South Australia |
|