Robert Clinch

Clinch_ArtistProfileMag_Iss24_2013

Biography

Clinch's striking imagery transports the viewer to a fictional but hauntingly real world; telling accessible tales of loneliness, joy, injustice, humour, melancholy and whimsy.

In keeping with his neo-renaissance use of the luxurious egg tempera medium, he paints entirely from drawings, executed plein-air, often at numerous locations and then adapted for composition in the studio. The same fastidious approach is devoted to his beautifully hand-drawn limited-edition lithographs.

Clinch has completed many major commissions, including works for; The National Gallery of Victoria, The Ian Potter Museum (Melbourne University), Frank Lowy (Westfield Holdings) and Lindsay Fox (Linfox Transport).

Exhibitions

SOLO

2022

Robert Clinch: Life on Earth, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne

2017-19

Objet D'art (touring): Gosford Regional Gallery; Cowra Reginal Art Gallery; Benalla Art Gallery; Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery; Artspace Mackay; Broken Hill Regional Gallery; Hervey Bay Regional Gallery; Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery

2017

The Goggomonil D'art Project, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne

2014
Sounds of Silence: Robert Clinch, National Museum of Szcezecin, Poland.

2013
Fanfare for the Common Man, Art Gallery of Ballarat & touring to Wollongong City. Gallery

2011
Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane.
Real Life, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Morwell, VIC.

2010
Themes and Variations, Manningham Council Gallery, Melbourne.

2009
Lithographs, Drawings & Egg Tempera, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney.
Solitary Perspectives, Shepparton Art Gallery, Shepparton, VIC.

2008
Black & White, Hill-Smith Gallery, Adelaide.

2007
Urban Myths and Legends, Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne.
Urban Myths, Touring; Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum, Benalla Art Gallery, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Geelong Gallery.

2006
Robert Clinch, Lithographs, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney.

1994
Robert Clinch, Lithographs McClelland Galleries, Langwarrin, VIC.

1988
Works On Paper, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney.

SELECTED GROUP

From 1985 to 2022, exhibited in over 70 group exhibitions in recognised public art museums and commercial galleries in Australia, USA, Hong Kong,

2016
Collectors Exhibition; Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne. 
Dialect: The Town Hall Galery, City of Boroondara, Melbourne.
Summer Salon Show:  Metropolis Gallery, Geelong, VIC.

2015
Salon: Gem's from the Stockroom; Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney.

2014
The Object Devine; Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne.
The Big Picture Show: Large Scale Australian Paintings; Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne.
DRAWN: Following The Line; Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne.

2013
X-Marker: 10 years of the Town Hall Gallery collection; the Town Hall Gallery, City of Boroondara, Melbourne.
Burnie Print Prize 2013; Burnie Regional Art Gallery, Burnie, TAS.

2012
Dreams and Reality; Karin Weber Gallery, Hong Kong.
Parallel Lines: Recent work by Robert Clinch and Peter Serwan; Riddoch Art Gallery, Mount Gambier, SA.
Urban Spaces; Steps Gallery, Melbourne.

2011
Banyule Award For Works On Paper; Banyule Art Space, Melbourne.
Collaborations: artist & printer; Lancaster Press Gallery, Melbourne.
Geelong Aquisitive Print Awards; Geelong Gallery, Geelong, VIC.
Contemporary And Collectable Australian Printmakers; Metropolis Gallery, Geelong, VIC.
On Paper; The Town Hall Gallery, City Of Boroondara, Melbourne.
2011 Rick Amor Print Prize; The Barn Gallery, Montsalvat, Etlham, Melbourne.

2010
2010 Fletcher Jones Art Prize;Geelong Gallery, Geelong, VIC.

2009
In The Black, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne.

2008
Annual Collectors' Exhibition, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne.
Preserving The Past; Enriching The Future, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat, VIC.
2008 Fletcher Jones Art Prize, Geelong Gallery, Geelong, VIC.
People, Places, Townhall Gallery, Boroondara, Melbourne.
Director's Choice Exhibition, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide.

2007
Works From The Studio, Lancaster Press Gallery, Melbourne.
Banyule Works on Paper Art Award, Banyule Art Space, Melbourne.
The Art Of The Dog, Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum, Castlemaine, VIC.
Inaugural Burnie Print Prize, Burnie Regional Art Gallery, Burnie, TAS.

2006
Passion Printing, Lancaster Press Gallery, Melbourne.
Civic Connections, The Town Hall Gallery, Boroondara, Melbourne.
Australian Print Making; 1960s to Present, Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum, Castlemaine, VIC.
Melbourne and Country, Adam Galleries, Melbourne.
Geelong Aquisitive Print Awards, Geelong Gallery, Geelong, VIC.

2005
Expansion, Lancaster Press Gallery, Melbourne.
Ballarat and Beyond, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat, VIC.

2004
Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Lancaster Press Gallery, Melbourne.
City Life, Hoorn-Ashby Gallery, New York.

2003
Hoorn-Ashby Gallery, Nantucket.

2002
Hoorn-Ashby Gallery, New York.
Hoorn-Ashby Gallery, Nantucket.

2001
Hoorn-Ashby Gallery, New York.

2000
Hammer Galleries, New York.
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

1998
Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

1997
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

1995
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

1994
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

1993
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

1992
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Uncommon Australians, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, (then touring all State and National Galleries).

1991
Alice Bale Art Award, McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin, VIC.
Portraits of Joseph Brown, Latrobe University Gallery, Melbourne.

1989
Ansett Invitation Art Award, City of Hamilton Art Galley, Hamilton, VIC.
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Sir William Dobell Art Award, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney.

1987
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Alice Bale Art Award, McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin, VIC.

1986
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

1985
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Fine Painting, Australian Galleries, Melbourne.

Achievements, Collections & Commissions

ACHIEVEMENTS:
State Library of Victoria Creative Fellowship, 2102-13.
Archibald Prize;   Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1998 (finalist).
Wynne Prize;       Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991-92, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000 (finalist).
Geelong acquisitive print awards, (finalist), Geelong Gallery, 2009.
Wynne Trustees Water Colour Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1993.
Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship, 1993.
Wynne Trustees Water Colour Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1989.
Royal Overseas Art Award, Open Prize, 1984.

COLLECTIONS:

COMMISSIONS
Fox Artworks Trust,2020; 2015.
Westfield Collection, 1999.
Potter Museum, Melbourne University, 1998.
National Gallery of Victoria; 1995-1996.
Linfox Transport; 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993-1994.
Portrait; Dr. Joseph Brown, A.O., O.B.E., 1991.
Portrait; Sir Henry Bolte, G.C.M.G.,1989.
Portrait; Fr. John Brosnan, O.B.E.,1985.

Bibliography

Karl von Miller, D'ART, feature length documentary movie; Official Selection MDFF, 2020, Artisan Films

Mardi Nowak, Marion Piper, Marker: 10 Years of the Town Hall Gallery Collection, (Essay; Marion Piper), Town Hall Gallery, 2013.

Robert Clinch, Artist Profile, Issue 24, (Essay), Nextmedia, 2013.

David Thomas, Julie Collett, Robert Clinch; Fanfare for the common man, Art Gallery of Ballarat, 2013.

Christine Rohrschneider, Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon (The Universal Artists Dictionary), Saur, 2011.

Fiona West, Real Life: Stories from the Inner Suburbs, (Exhibition essay), Latrobe Regional Gallery, 2011.

Megan McEvoy, Themes and Variations, (Catalogue interview), Manningham Gallery, 2010.

Bryony Nainby, Zara Stanhope and Katherine Furlonger, The CBus Collection Of Australian Art, CBus, 2009.

David Hurlston, Preserving The Past, Enriching The Future Hugh Williamson's Legacy, NGV, 2008.

Thomas, David, ''d'Art: The Art of Robert Clinch'', The Lytlewode Press, Stoke-on-Trent, 2007.