Kate Breakey is a visual artist known for her large-scale, hand-colored photographs. Since 1981 her work has appeared in more than 75 solo exhibitions and more than 50 group exhibitions in the United States, France, Japan, Australia, China, and New Zealand. Her work is in the permanent collection of many public institutions including the

Center for Creative Photography The Center for Creative Photography (CCP), established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona's Tucson campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American pho ...

in Tucson, the

Museum of Photographic Arts The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) is a museum in San Diego's Balboa Park. First founded in 1974, MOPA opened in 1983.Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...

, the

Wittliff collections The Wittliff Collections, located on the seventh floor of the Albert B. Alkek Library at Texas State University, was founded by William D. Wittliff in 1987. The Wittliff Collections include the Southwestern Writers Collection and the Southwester ...

Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

, the Austin Museum of Art, 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 and the Osaka Museum in Japan. In 2004, she received the Photographer of the Year Award from the Houston Center for Photography.

Biography

Kate Breakey was born in

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

, South Australia on 14 August 1957. She achieved a Diploma in Graphic Design from the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

in 1978, and a Bachelor of Fine Art from the same university in 1981. In 1988, Breakey moved to Austin, Texas, where she completed a Master of Fine Art at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1991, and where she taught photography in the university's Department of Art and Art History until 1997. In 1999, Breakey moved to Tucson, Arizona. In addition to participating in countless solo and group exhibitions, she is regularly invited to be a guest speaker and to teach throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Public collections

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

, Boulder, CO * Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ *

Museum of Photographic Arts The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) is a museum in San Diego's Balboa Park. First founded in 1974, MOPA opened in 1983.Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

, Photography Collection, The University of Texas at Austin, TX *

, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ * Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX *

Austin Museum of Art The Contemporary Austin, originally known as the Austin Museum of Art, is Austin, Texas's primary contemporary art museum, consisting of two locations and an art school. The Contemporary Austin reflects the spectrum of contemporary art through exh ...

, Austin, TX * South Texas Institute for the Arts, Corpus Christi, TX * Wittliff Gallery of Southwestern and Mexican Photography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX *

, Adelaide, Australia * Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Australia *

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, Australia *

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

, Adelaide, Australia *

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

, Melbourne, Australia * Osaka Museum, Osaka, Japan

Solo exhibitions

* 2015 – ''Small Deaths'', James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA * 2014 – ''Out of Darkness'', Cattletrack Art Gallery, Phoenix, AZ * 2014 – ''Au'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2013 – ''Heartland'',

, Adelaide, Australia * 2013 – ''Creatures of Light and Darkness'', Temple of Music and Art Gallery, Tucson, AZ * 2013 – ''Grasslands'', Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ * 2013 – ''Small Deaths'', Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University, Topeka, KS * 2012 – ''Las Sombras/The Shadows'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2012 – ''Las Sombras/The Shadows'', Wittliff Collection of Southwestern and Mexican Photography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX * 2012 – ''Painted Light'', Goodwin Fine Art, Denver, CO * 2011 – ''Slow Light'', Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ * 2011 – ''Painted Light'', McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX * 2010 – ''New Work 2010'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2010 – ''Painted Light'', Wittliff Collection of Southwestern and Mexican Photography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX * 2010 – ''Kate Breakey'',

Longview Museum of Fine Arts The Longview Museum of Fine Arts (LMFA) is an art museum in downtown Longview, Texas. It was founded in 1958 by the Junior Service League of Longview. Since 1998, it has been on Tyler Street in downtown Longview. The LMFA's permanent collection c ...

, Longview, TX * 2009 – ''Poetics of Light'', Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ * 2009 – ''Mexico – Pueblo y Jardin'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2009 – ''Las Sombras/ The Shadows'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2009 – ''Light Quartet: Themes and Variations'', See+ Gallery, Beijing, China * 2008 – ''Loose Ends'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2008 – ''Kate Breakey, A Natural Investigation'', Gallery in the Garden, Tucson Botanic Gardens, Tucson, AZ * 2008 – ''Small Deaths'', University of Colorado, Boulder, CO * 2007 – ''Elegant Wisdoms'', Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ * 2007 – ''Kate Breakey, Painted Photographs'', Joseph Bellows Gallery, San Diego, CA * 2007 – ''New Work'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2007 – Small Deaths, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX * 2007 – ''Stilled Lives'', Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL * 2006 – ''Memories and Dreams'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2006 – ''Issues and Arrangements'', Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ * 2006 – ''Wildflowers'', Tohono Chul Gallery, Tucson, AZ * 2005 – ''Kate Breakey'', photo-eye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM * 2005 – ''Small Deaths'', Galerie MC, Atlanta, GA * 2005 – ''Photographs'', McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX * 2005 – ''New Work'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2004 – ''Kate Breakey'', Segura Art, Mesa, AZ * 2004 – ''Small Deaths'', Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ * 2004 – ''New Work'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2004 – ''Kate Breakey'', Art Museum of South East Texas, Beaumont, TX * 2004 – ''Remembrances'', Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL * 2004 – ''Kate Breakey Photographs'', McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX * 2003 – ''Stilleven'', Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, TX * 2003 – Kate Breakey, Mainsite Contemporary Art, Norman, OK * 2003 – ''Firsthand: Evocations of Figure and Form'', Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ * 2003 – ''Still Life'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2002 – ''Resurrection: the floral images of Kate Breakey'', Segura Art, Mesa, AZ * 2002 – ''Small Deaths'',

Flinders University Art Museum Flinders University Museum of Art (FUMA), sometimes referred to as Flinders Art Museum, is an art museum in Adelaide, South Australia, that preserves and develops Flinders University's historical and contemporary art collections. History The ar ...

, Adelaide, South Australia * 2002 – ''The Image Chamber, Flora, Fauna, Fact and Dream'', Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ * 2001 – ''Kate Breakey, Photographs'', McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX * 2001 – ''Small Deaths'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2001 – ''Small Deaths'', Wittliff Collection of Southwestern and Mexican Photography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX * 2001 – ''Recent Work'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery Austin, TX * 2001 – ''Hand painted photograph'', Parchman Stremmel Gallery, San Antonio, TX * 2001 – ''Small Deaths'', Julie Saul Gallery, NY, NY * 2000 – ''Naturagraphia'', Temple of Music and Art Gallery, Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ * 2000 – ''The Nature of Things'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2000 – ''Memento Mori'', Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA * 1999 – ''Flora and Fauna'', John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI * 1999 – ''Small Deaths'', Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, CA * 1999 – ''12 Flowers'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 1998 – ''Photoworks'', Wittliff Collection of Southwestern and Mexican Photography, South West Texas State University, TX * 1998 – ''Slow Light'', Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 1998 – ''Small Deaths'', Rudolph Poissant Gallery, Fotofest, Houston, TX * 1997 – ''Kate Breakey, Small Deaths'', Galveston Art Center, Galveston, TX * 1994-5 – ''Laws of Physics – Principles of Mathematics'', New Zealand International Festival of Arts, Wellington, New Zealand * 1994-5 – ''Laws of Physics – Principles of Mathematics'',

Adelaide Festival Centre Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first multi-purpose arts centre and the home of South Australia's performing arts, was built in the 1970s, designed by Hassell Architects. The Festival Theatre opened in June 1973 with the rest of the centr ...

Artspace Gallery, Adelaide, Australia * 1994-5 – ''Laws of Physics – Principles of Mathematics'',

Centre for Contemporary Photography The Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP), in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria, is a venue for the exhibition of contemporary photo-based arts, providing a context for the enjoyment, education, understanding and appraisal of contemporary practic ...

, Melbourne, Australia * 1992 – ''Laws of Physics'', American Association for the Advancement of Science's Art of Science and Technology Program, Atrium Gallery AAAS, Washington, DC * 1989 – ''Portraits of South Australian Aborigines'', Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, Australia * 1988 – ''Encounters 1'', South Australian School of Art Gallery, Adelaide, Australia * 1988 – ''Portraits of South Australian Aborigines'', South Australian Touring Exhibition, Australia * 1987 – ''Portraits of South Australian Aborigines'', Festival Theatre Foyer, Adelaide, Australia * 1986 – ''Scientists, Life-Sized Portraits'', Festival Theatre Gallery, Adelaide, Australia * 1984 – ''Painted Photos'', The Photographers' Gallery, Melbourne, Australia * 1984 – Painted Photos, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, Australia * 1982 – ''Painted Photos'', The Developed Image Gallery, Adelaide, Australia

Selected group exhibitions

* 2016 – ''ART + SCIENCE'', Contemporary Arts Center, Las Vegas, NV * 2014 – ''Without and Within: Photographs by Keith Carter and Kate Breakey'', Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ * 2014 – ''New Acquisitions'', Wittliff Collection of Southwestern and Mexican Photography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX * 2013 – ''Mexico Lindo'', Wittliff Collection of Southwestern and Mexican Photography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX * 2013 – ''Lies That Tell the Truth: Magic Realism in Contemporary Art'', Indiana State University Art Gallery, Terre Haute, IN * 2013 – ''Twentieth Anniversary Show'' (with

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as cap ...

, Keith Carter, James Evans, Jack Spencer, Rick Williams,

Bill Wittliff William Dale Wittliff (January 21, 1940 – June 9, 2019), sometimes credited as Bill Wittliff, was an American screenwriter, author, and photographer who wrote the screenplays for ''The Perfect Storm (film), The Perfect Storm'' (2000), ''Barbaro ...

), Stephen L. Clark Gallery, Austin, TX * 2008 – ''The Texas Chair Project'', Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX * 2007 – ''Latent Image'', Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Mesa, AZ * 2006 – ''A Little More Red'', McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX * 2006 – ''Arts Botanica'', Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL * 2006 – ''Magical Realism'', Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, Australia

Awards

* 2012 –

Tucson Weekly The ''Tucson Weekly'' is an alternative newsweekly that was founded in 1984 by Douglas Biggers and Mark Goehring, and serves the Tucson, Arizona, metropolitan area of about 1,000,000 residents. The paper is a member of the Association of Altern ...

Annual Best of Tucson Awards, Best Photographer * 2012 – Texas Association of Museums Mitchell A. Wilder Award for Excellence in Publication and Media Design (for ''Las Sombras/The Shadows'') * 2011 – Texas Association of Museums Mitchell A. Wilder Award, Gold Award (for ''Painted Light'') * 2002 – Texas Association of Museums Mitchell A. Wilder Award for Excellence in Publication and Media Design (for ''Small Deaths'') * 2004 – Houston Center for Photography, Photographer of the Year * 2002 – Oscart Awards (Adelaide, Australia), Best Photography * 2002 – Arts SA Returning Artist Residency Grant * 1999 – Tokyo International Photo-Biennale, Olympus Japan Co Award * 1990 – Marian Royal Kazen Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Art * 1991 –

Merit Award Scholarship * 1990 –

Merit Award Scholarship * 1989 –

Merit Award Scholarship * 1988 – The International Forestry Conference for the Australian Bicentenary Jurors Award * 1978 –

Adelaide Advertiser Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The demo ...

Prize, Outstanding Design Student * 1977 – Adelaide Art Engravers Award, Outstanding Graphic Design Student

Books

* ''Las Sombras/The Shadows''. Breakey, Kate. University of Texas Press, Wittliff Collection series, Austin, TX 2012. * ''Slow Light''. Breakey, Kate. Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ 2011. * ''Painted Light''. Breakey, Kate. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX 2010. Lena Tabori
" Amazing Illustrated Art Books And Their Brilliant Publishers"
''Huffington Post'', 8 June 2011 * ''Flowers/Birds''. Breakey, Kate. Eastland Books, 2002. * ''Small Deaths: Photographs''. Breakey, Kate (introduction by A. D. Coleman). University of Texas Press, Wittliff Gallery Series, Austin, TX 2001. * ''Our Backyard''. Swearer, Randolph and Breakey, Kate. Lupine Industries, 1994.

References

External links

Official website

Creatures of Light and Darkness: In Conversation with Kate Breakey
''Arizona Illustrated'', 28 March 2013 * Paul Weideman

''Pasatiempo, The Santa Fe New Mexican'', 1 February 2013 * Claire Sykes
"Kate Breakey: The Taxonomy of Grace"
''Photographer's Forum'', 15 November 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Breakey, Kate Australian photographers Australian women photographers Artists from Adelaide University of South Australia alumni University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts alumni Living people 1957 births People from Port Lincoln