Augustine Dall’Ava
1950 - Present
Biography
Augustine ‘Gus’ Dall’Ava is one of the foremost sculptors working in Australia today. He was born in France of Italian heritage and immigrated to Australia at the age of 5. He attended Richmond Technical School, an inner city trade school, and received no art education as a young adult.
In 1967 a friend took Dall’Ava to see the exhibition Two Decades of American Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. In Dall’Ava’s own words, the exhibition, with works from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, ‘opened up a new world’.
Dall’Ava enrolled at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and obtained a Diploma of Fine Art in Sculpture in 1973. Following his graduation, Dall’Ava worked as a labourer while he continued his artistic practice. He gradually built up a body of work that was exhibited alongside Tony Pryor and Geoffrey Barlett’s work at the 109 Gertrude Street Studio Show in 1977.
An influential experience for Dall’Ava was his three-week visit to Japan in 1976. He soon developed a great admiration for the artistic culture of old Japan, in particular the bond between the world of nature and the world of art, the sensitive use of everyday materials and the art of serene understatement. Dall’Ava recalls a visit to the home of a Buddhist monk where he saw a shelf of carefully selected and displayed stones, valued not for any intrinsic worth other than their natural beauty. Dall’Ava was so impressed by the austere simplicity of Japanese art and its sense of tranquillity that he incorporated many of it tenets into his practice.
By 1984 Dall’Ava had moved away from the use of framing devices such as screens toward a more fully developed handling of forms in space, creating delicate and elegant biomorphs such as Hybrid Passion 1988. In the early 1990s Dall’Ava started incorporating marble into his assemblages, which he selected for its variegated patterning.
In recent years the natural tones and organic shapes of his earlier works have been combined with the geometry of precise shapes and primary colours. The Dialogues and Conversations series, fully engage the viewer by drawing the eye across a narrative of intricate marble and stainless steel forms. The. Dall’Ava uses found natural objects such as stones, wood and shells contrasted with stainless steel and bright colours, to construct and create his elegant, lyrical sculptures. There is balance and allure in the use of shapes and the assemblage of juxtaposing materials. There is a joy and sense of playfulness in Dall’Ava’s sculptures which challenge the concept of weight – stones are placed to seems light as air, and the intimate size of the works belies the heavy marble base.
Over three decades of practice Dall’Ava has evolved an art of gentle contemplation and with it a mastery of the relationship of forms and elements within the natural and the created worlds.
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions:
2009 JOURNEY: The sculpture of Augustine Dall'Ava 1975 – 2008, McClelland Gallery &
Sculpture Park
2008 13 Dialogues, John Buckley Gallery, Richmond
2007 Sculptures 2002-2007, John Buckley Gallery, Richmond
2004 New Sculptures, Australian Art Resources, Melbourne
Recent Sculpture, BMGART Adelaide
2003 Sculpture & Drawings 1983-2003, Geelong Gallery
2002 If Only Carl Knew, Stonnington Stables Museum of Art, Deakin University
1999, 1994 Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1997, 1993, 1990 Australian Galleries, Sydney
1993 Chicago International Art Exposition
1990, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1984, 1982 Pinacotheca Gallery, Melbourne
1985, 1983 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
Joint Exhibitions with Geoffrey Bartlett, and Anthony Pryor:
1987 Recent Sculpture, Anima Gallery, Adelaide
1979 ‘The second and last 108 Gertrude Street Sculpture Show’
1978 Recent Sculpture, Watters Gallery, Sydney
Made in Fitzroy’ Exhibition no. 3. Three Australian Sculptors, Regional Development Programme, Visual Arts
Board, Hobart, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
1977 ‘108 Gertrude Street Studio Show’, Fitzroy, Melbourne
1975 Realities Gallery, Melbourn
Group Exhibitions:
2010 A Private View: Art Collecting in the City of Glen Eira. Glen Eira City Council Gallery
Deakin University Small Sculpture Award Deakin University Victoria
2009 The freedom of angels sculpture in a century of upheaval Geelong Gallery Victoria
Deakin University Small Sculpture Award Deakin University Victoria
2008 Winter Collector’s Exhibition John Buckley Gallery Richmond Victoria
2007 Something old, something new John Buckley Gallery Richmond Victoria
2005 ART OMI Australia Retrospective Cell Block Theatre, National Art School Sydney NSW
Contempora 2 Gallery NewQuay, Docklands Melbourne
2004 Open Air Sculpture Exhibition Qdos Arts Lorne Vic
Precious Platters Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne
2003 McClelland Survey & Award 2003 McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park Langwarrin Vic
Less is More BMG ART Adelaide
Against the Grain McCleelland Gallery & Sculpture Park
Sculpture at RMIT during the Jomantas Years RMIT Gallery
2002 Focus on Sculpture, Axia Modern Art, Armadale
Central Goldfields Sculpture Prize and Exhibition Central Goldfields Art Gallery Maryborough Victoria
Festival of Sculpture Toorak Village, Curator Ken Scarlett
Wall Constructions, Smyrnios Gallery, Australia
2001 Colour. Smyrnios Gallery Australia. Curator Prof. Jenny Zimmer
Woollahra Sculpture Prize Sydney NSW
Regeneration – Sculpture and Paintings from the Permanent Collection. McClelland Gallery Victoria
2000 Fine Paintings, Sculpture and Tapestry. Australian Galleries, Sydney.
Easter 2000 Sculpture Show. Qdos Gallery Lorne. Victoria
The Importance of Being Small. Defiance Gallery Sydney
Paintings and Sculpture, Australian Galleries, Melbourne and Sydney
Cinderella’s Gems: Art and the Intellectual Mission, 20th Century Australian Art from Nine University
Collections in N.S.W Gallery We Are Australian, Victorian Art Centre
1997/8 Sculpture, Australian Galleries, Sydney
Notations. Victoria University Gallery. Melbourne
1997 House and Garden. Sculpture Heidelberg Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre.
Australian Galleries, Melbourne
The Japan Inspiration’ Art Gallery of Western Australia
1996 Fifth Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
Tolarno Galleries in association with United Overseas Bank Ltd. Singapore
Australian Galleries, Sydney
Art Chicago 1996 at Navy Pier, Chicago Illinois, USA
1995 Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1993 S.O.F.A. Miami Exposition, Miami, USA
Fifth Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
Art Chicago, ‘The New Pier Show’, Chicago Illinois, USA
‘Sight Regained’, Fred Hollows Foundation and Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Art – Omi, New York
Sur – Real with Les Kossatz, Monash Studios, Melbourne
Just Sculpture, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery
1992 Third Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
A tribute to Anthony Pryor, Realities Gallery, Melbourne
Hollows ‘Sight Regained’ Exhibition, Westpac Gallery, Melbourne
1990 Group Sculpture Show, Meridian / Australian Galleries, Melbourne
Graeme Sturgeon Memorial Fund, Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne
Eltham Art Awards
Sculpture and Drawings, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
Second Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
On – Site, Sculpture in City Spaces, City of Melbourne
Gold Coast City Art Prize for Sculpture, Gold Coast City Art Gallery
1988 Mildura Sculpture Triennial
Pinacotheca Group Show- Pinacotheca Gallery, Melbourne
Episode 1 – Caulfield Arts Complex
A Group Show, Melbourne
1987 Sculpture III, The Lewers Bequest and Penrith Regional Art Gallery
1986 Sculpture. Wollongong City Gallery
Third Australian Sculpture Triennial, Heide Park, Melbourne
1985 Sculpture – Wollongong City Art Gallery
Mixed Sculpture, La Trobe Valley Arts Centre
Hugh Williamson Prize, Ballarat Art Gallery
1984-5 ‘Two Australian Sculptors’ with Anthony Pryor, Schema Gallery, Florence, Italy
‘Australian Sculpture Now’, National Gallery of Victoria
Second Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne
‘Sculptors as Craftsmen’ Meat Market, Melbourne
1981 ‘August Works’ Meat Market, Melbourne
‘Eighth Mildura Sculpture Triennial’
‘The Alice Prize’, Alice Springs
‘First Australian Sculpture Triennial’, La Trobe University, Melbourne
‘Ian Potter Commission’, National Gallery of Victoria
1980 Some Contemporary Australian Sculpture, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery
1979 ‘Caulfield Invitation Sculpture’ Exhibition, Caulfield Arts Centre
1978 Seventh Sculpture Triennial’, Mildura Arts Complex
Achievements, Collections & Commissions
Academic Qualifications:
1994 Master of Fine Arts, Monash University.
1971-73 Diploma Fine Art – Sculpture, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Commissions:
2004 Queens Plaza, Brisbane
2000 Deakin University Melbourne Campus Victoria
Pacific Power Sydney
1997-2000 Australian National Korean War Memorial. Canberra
With Les Kossatz, Sand Helsel and David Bullpitt.
1995 Melbourne International Airport
1981 University of New South Wales
Ian Potter Sculpture, National Gallery of Victoria
Awards:
1996 John David Mooney Foundation, Chicago, U.S.A, Visual Arts Export Strategy 2001
1993 ART-OMI, New York
1984 Visual Arts Board Studio, Tuscany, Italy
1982 The Alice Prize, Alice Springs
1979 & 1975 Australia Council, Visual Arts Board Grant
Public Collections:
Australian National Gallery, Canberra; Australian National Korean War Memorial, Dept of Vet Affairs / Australian War Memorial; Burnie Art Gallery, Tasmania; Deakin University Art Collection; McClelland Gallery Victoria; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Parliament House, Canberra; Private Collections in Australia, Europe, U.S.A; State Bank of New South Wales; Swinburne University; University of New South Wales; Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne; Western Australia Art Gallery, Perth;
Corporate Collections:
Benson’s Property Group, Arthur Andersen Chartered Accountants, Melbourne; Chifley Tower, Sydney; Collins Place, Melbourne; Conflict Management, Melbourne; Design Works Australia, Melbourne; Melbourne International Airport; Mercer, Melbourne; State Bank of NSW; Tullamarine; Pacific Power, Sydney;
