Joan Ross (born Glasgow) is an Australian artist based in Sydney who works across a range of mediums including drawing, painting, installations, sculpture and video. Her work investigates the legacy of colonialism in Australia, particularly the effects colonialism has had on Indigenous Australians.

Early life and education

Joan Ross was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. She completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts degree at the City Art Institute and a Masters of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

Career

Ross has been exhibiting since the late 1980s. She has completed solo exhibitions at the Bett Gallery in Hobart and at Gallery Barry Keldoulis and the Michael Reid Gallery in Sydney as well as the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre in Katoomba. Her work has featured in group exhibitions including ''Colonial Afterlives'', Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart (2015); ''South'', Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea (2014); ''Australian Voices'', Fine Art Society Contemporary, London (2013); ''Wonderland: New Contemporary Art from Australia'', Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (2012); ''Lycett and Ross'', Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown (2011); ''Curious Colony: A twenty first century Wunderkammer'', Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle (2010); ''I’m worst at what I do best'', Parramatta Artist Studios, Sydney (2009); ''Lines in the Sand: Botany Bay Stories from 1770'', Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney (2008); ''2007: The Year in Art'', S.H.Ervin Gallery, Sydney (2007). Ross won the 2015 Glennfiddich Artists Residency Prize. She has been a finalist in the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, the Fremantle Print Prize and the

Blake Prize The Blake Prize, formerly the Blake Prize for Religious Art, is an Australian art prize awarded for art that explores spirituality. Since the inaugural prize in 1951, the prize was awarded annually from 1951 to 2015, and since 2016 has been a ...

for Religious Art in 2013. She won the Viewers' Choice Award, Redlands Westpac Art Prize, in 2012 and the Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award in 2005. Her work, ''Oh history, you lied to me'', won the 2017

Sir John Sulman Prize The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936. It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Gallery ...

. In 2019 Joan Ross presented ''Collectors Paradise'' at Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney; ''I give you a mountain'', Bett Gallery, Hobart; ''Did you ask the river?'' Virtual Reality,

Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI, formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is Australia's national museum of film, television, videogames, and art. ACMI was established in 2002 and is based at Federation Square in Melbourne, Victoria. During the 2014-15 finan ...

, Melbourne and at Sydney Contemporary,

Carriageworks Carriageworks is a multi-arts urban cultural precinct located at the former Eveleigh Railway Workshops in Redfern, Sydney, Australia. Carriageworks showcases contemporary art and performing arts, as well as being used for filming, festivals, fa ...

, Sydney. In 2020 Ross prepared a hoarding commission ''We have sung the same song'', for the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

, Sydney. Her ''Joan as a colonial woman looking at the future'' was selected as a finalist for the 2021 Archibald Prize, while ''‘You were my biggest regret’: diary entry 1806'' was similarly recognised in 2022.

Work

Ross's work is held in the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

in Canberra, the

Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to: Africa * Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi Asia East Asia * Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...

in Sydney, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Joan 1961 births Living people Artists from Glasgow 21st-century Australian artists Australian video artists Australian women artists