
Born 1960 in Horsham in North West Victoria, Anthony Pelchen studied Economics at Monash University and a decade later painting at the Victorian College of the Arts. Common to all his work is an overriding interest in the fine lines and shifts between physical and psychological states and how a dominance of one inevitably points to the absence and potential of another. This involves work across media - painting, drawing, photography, video, sculpture and installation - all incorporating elements of repetition, austerity and subtle change within set structures.
Throughout the 1990's he lived in Melbourne and exhibited widely in artist-run, institutional and alternative spaces, including 200 Gertrude Street, the Project Space - RMIT, Temple Studios,talk Artists Initiative and St Stephenʼs Anglican Church. He has exhibited twice in Osaka and has been represented in various surveys of painting and drawing over the past twelve years. Residencies include 200 Gertrude Street (1995/6,1999), Bundanon Trust (2001,2003), Parks Victoria (2002), Nou-Machi, Japan (2005,2007) and Malaysia (Asialink, 2010). He has been a recipient of Arts Victoria grants for New Work, Presentation and International Cultural Exchange.
Since 1998 he has periodically collaborated with Melbourne-based performers Yumi Umiumare and Tony Yap in gallery, church, landscape and land environments in Australia, Japan and Denmark.
In 2008 he participated in Drought – Cross Cultural Collaborations, involving solo and collaborative work presented at ACMI and the NGV. In 2009, his installation Spent and video work Well were commissioned for the Murray Darling Palimpsest #7 in Mildura.
Between 2009-2013 he annually presented work at the Melaka Art & Performance Festival (MAP Fest) and during his 2010 Asialink residency formed a new Visual Arts program, initiating new venue relationships with the National University of Singapore and Heritage Trust of Malaysia. He curated the MAPFest visual arts program 2010-2012, bringing together 22 artsist from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Afganistan.
His collaborative artist book with writer Andrew Lindsay, Difficult Majesty, was launched at the National Gallery of Victoria and shortlisted for the 2010 Mackay Artspace, Libris Awards. In 2011 he participated in the Lake Hindmarsh Project at 27 Gipps Street Gallery, Melbourne and Revisitations at the VAC, Latrobe University, Bendigo.
In 2012 he was shortlisted for the Rick Amor Drawing Prize and the Blake Prize. In 2013, Kuang Road Prayer - the body of work initiated in Malaysia in 2010 – was shown at the Horsham Regional Art Gallery and his Blake Prize entry - Code Maroon (stay or go), 2011 - toured to the Jewish Museum of Victoria.
In late 2013, Pelchen formed the Malaysia Australia Raft Project (MARP), initially bringing artist Soong Ro Ger from Malaysia to collaborate with 5 Australian artists - encompassing a raft build and journey then culminating in an installation and performances at the Natimuk Frinj Festival. MARP then presented in Melaka, Malaysia in 2014 and in central Melbourne, 2015 – forecourt, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art - having grown to 11 collaborators, MARP was a part of the world-wide project Fluid States, and the Melbourne aspect, Performing Mobilities).
In August 2014, he participated in We Fall Into the Sea To Become an Island at Artist Run Initiative, Run Amok, Penang. Early in 2015, Kuang Road Prayer was represented at the Latrobe University Visual Arts Centre, Bendigo.
In 2017 he was shortlisted for the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art
Gallery, and 2018 his engagement with Melaka, Malaysia continued with a residency at the Baboon House and later leading the 6-artist I see you/you see me: Melaka Swabs
project.
His work is represented in collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, John McBride Collection -Sydney, James Mollison Collection – Melbourne, Australian Print Workshop, Bundanon Trust, Horsham Regional Art Gallery and Artbank.
In 2020, a Creative Victoria grant is supporting the fictional collaborative project, Kanazawa Jack - Signals From The Dark.
ANTHONY PELCHEN
Born Horsham, Victoria, 1960
Studies | |
1979-81 | Bachelor of Economics, Monash University, Melbourne |
1989-91 | Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting), Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne |
Solo Exhibitions/ Installations | |
2015 | Kuang Road Prayer, Latrobe University Visual Arts Centre, Bendigo |
2013 | Kuang Road Prayer, Horsham Regional Art Gallery |
2012 | Code Maroon, Baboon House, Melaka, Malaysia |
2011 | Kuang Road Prayer, No. 8 Heeren Street Heritage Centre, Melaka, Malaysia |
2010 | Spent, Jubilee Hall Horsham/ Well, Horsham Regional Art Gallery |
2009 | The sum of the days (the value of the parts), floor installation, St Pauls church, Melaka, Malaysia |
2005 | Church and landscape, Natimuk Lutheran Church, Wimmera |
2003 | Looking forwards/walking backwards, Natimuk Lutheran Church, Wimmera |
2003 | Looking forwards/walking backwards, Gallery Chayamachi, Osaka |
2001 | 3,492 poly bags and a ploughed path, Wimmera land installation |
1999 | 14,171 days (God knows how many breaths), St Stephen's Anglican Church, Richmond |
1999 | Cover me in mud, bury me in wheat (throw me in the river), Horsham Regional Art Gallery |
1999 | vectis, talk artists initiative, Melbourne |
1997 | Looking with mouth open, singing with eyes closed, The Project Space, R.M.I.T., Melbourne |
1997 | Cover me in mud (bury me in wheat, throw me in the river), Temple Studios, Melbourne |
1996 | Slide installation; 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne / Canberra School of Art |
1996 | Vectis, Studio 12 at 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne |
1995 | I Lay Me Down, Studio 12 at 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne |
Selected Group Exhibitions / Installatons | |
2017 | Printmaking in the Wimmera, Horsham Regional Art Gallery |
2017 | Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery |
2016 | Pushing the Sky, Horsham Regional Art Gallery |
2014 | We Fall Into the Sea to Become an Island, Run Amok Gallery, Penang |
2013/12 | Blake Prize, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney / Jewish Museum of Victoria March-July 2013) |
2012 | Rick Amor Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of Ballarat |
2012 | The Kick Ass Painting Show, Fontanelle Gallery, Adelaide; curated by Brigid Noone. |
2011 | Revisitations, Latrobe University, Bendigo with Domenico de Clario, Elizabeth Presa and Tony Yap, curated by Lella Cariddi |
2011 | Lake Hindmarsh Project, 27 Gipps Street Gallery Melb., curated by Dr Sheridan Palmer |
2010 | Survival, Rimbun Dahan, Malaysi |
2010 | Libris Awards, Artspace, Mackay |
2009 | Spent floor installation/ Well video installation: Murray Darling Palimpsest #7, The Art Vault -Mildura / Ballarat Gold Mining Exchange Building |
2009 | Difficult Majesty, artist book with Andrew Lindsay; Ballarat University Post Office Galler |
2009 | Gulag Studios1994-2009, Counihan Gallery Melbourne, Curated by Dr Sheridan Palmer |
2008 | Drought – Creative Cross Cultural Collaborations, curated by Lella Cariddi; Fed. Square / ACMI / NGV |
2006 | Being at Bundanon, toured Victoria/NSW |
2004 | The Alice Prize, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs |
2004 | The Spirit of Football, National Gallery of Victoria |
2004 | National Works on Paper survey, Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery |
2002 | 5, installation/ perf’ce with Hisako Tsuzuku, Yumi Umiumare & Tony Yap, Mass Gallery, Melb |
2001 | Australian Paper Art Awards: Vic Arts Centre, Melb/ Festival Centre, Adelaide/ UTS Gallery,Syd |
2000 | National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery |
2000 | Anthony Pelchen, Hisako Tsuzuku and Shukou Tsuchiya, Takarazuka Cultural Centre, Japan |
1998 | Finale 1998, Renard Wardell Gallery, Richmond |
1998 | National Works On Paper, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery |
1997 | The Alice Prize, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs |
1997 | New Acquisitions of Contemporary Australian Art, National Gallery of Victoria |
1996 | 12th Biennial Prints Acquisitive Exhibition, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery |
1995 | 1031 Kilograms, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne |
1995 | Keith and Elizabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship, Victorian College of the Arts |
1994 | John Doe, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne |
Self Curated Projects | |
2018 I see you/you see me: Melaka Swabs, Malaysia |
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2015/14/13 | Malaysia Australia Raft Project (MARP) – forecourt Austalia Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne 2015/ St Paul's Hill, Melaka 2014/ The Verge, Natimuk, Victoria 2013 |
2012/11/10 | Formed and curated Visual Arts Program for the Melaka Art & Performance Festival, Malaysia> |
Collaborations | |
2012 | installation activation: Frank Van de Ven, Code Maroon, Baboon House, Melaka, Malaysia |
2010 | installation disruption: Tony Yap, Spent, Jubilee Hall, Horsham |
2009 | Installation disruption: Tony Yap, Merangkori, St Pauls church, Melaka (MAP 09) |
2009 | Installation disruption: Tony Yap, Merangkori, Ballarat Gold Mining Exchange |
2008/9 | Artists book with writer Andrew Lindsay, Difficult Majesty, NGV/Ballarat University Gallery |
2009 | Installation disruption: Tony Yap, Merangkori, Palimpsest #7, Mildura |
2008 | Installation/disruption: Tony Yap, Difficult Majesty, Punctum - Bendigo |
2007 | Installation, Troubled Nature, Natimuk Lutheran Church, with 222 children (Japan/Wimmera) |
2005 | Installation, 100 Years, Natimuk Lutheran Church (with community x 100) |
2003 | Installation for Inori-invisible with Yumi Umiumare, Copenhagen |
2001 | land installation, foreground Mt Arapiles, Wimmera:3,492 poly bags… (performance: Yumi Umiumare, Cape Kennedy, Jillian Pearce & Tony Yap) |
2000 | Installation for Inori-invisible with Yumi Umiumare, Dancehouse, Melbourne |
2000 | nstallation for Inori-invisible with Yumi Umiumare, Takarazuka City, Japan |
1999 | Installation for How could you even begin to understand (Version5), with Yumi Umiumare and Tony Yap, St Stephen's Anglican Church, Melbourne |
Grants / Awards / Residencies
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2020 Creative Victoria: Sustaining Creative Worker Initiative | |
2018 | Baboon House residency, Melaka, Malaysia |
2013/14 | Arts Victoria Development grants |
2010 | Asialink residency, Malaysia |
2009 | Regional Arts Victoria – Arts Development (MAP 01, Melaka) |
2008 | Arts Victoria – Arts Development Grant – Presentation |
2007 | Regional Arts Victoria – Arts Development (Japan Residency) |
2005 | Regional Arts Victoria grants– Japan Residency/ New Work |
2003 | Bundanon Trust residency – Nowra, NSW |
2003 | Arts Victoria – Cultural Exchange Program Grant (Denmark) |
2002 | Parks Victoria residency - Warrandyte, Victoria |
2001 | Bundanon Trust residency - Nowra, NSW |
2001 | Green Room Award nomination – Design for Dance (Inori-in-visible) |
2001 | Arts Victoria - Regional Arts Development Grant |
2001 | Arts Victoria - Arts Development: New Work - Presentation |
1999 | Arts Victoria - Cultural Exchange Program Grant (Japan) |
1999 | Arts Victoria - Arts Development Program Gran |
1999 | 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne - Studio 18 live-in residency |
1994-96 | 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne - studio residency |
19105 | Victorian College of the Arts - Theodore Urbach Award for Painting |
Collections
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National Gallery of Victoria - Margaret Stewart Endowment, Bundanon Trust, Horsham Regional Art Gallery, John McBride Collection –Sydney, James Mollison Collection – Mebourne, Australian Print Workshop, Wimmera College of TAFE, Artbank, Australian Institute of Management, Melbourne Airport, Private- Australia, New Zealand, England, Japan | |
Publication / Interviews | |
2012 | Jonathan Nichols - text: Anthony Pelchen, Kuang Road Prayer, Horsham Regional Art Gallery |
2011 | Lella Cariddi, catalogure essay, Revisitations project |
2011 | Dr Sheridan Palmer, catalogue essay, Lake Hindmarsh Project |
2010 |
Portrait: Anthony Pelchen, with Shefah Szetu on 6th Nov 2010, BFM 89.9, The Business Station, Kuala Lumpur: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRfBftAXYlA |
2010 | Dr Sheridan Palmer, catalogue essay, Spent, Jubilee Hall, Horsham |
2009 | Dr Sheridan Palmer, Gulag Studios 1994-2009, catalogue essay |
2009 | Artists talk: Drought- Perceptions & Propositions, Ballarat University |
2004 | ABC Radio National interview with Julie Copeland, 12th Dec, The Maker: Anthony Pelchen |
2001 | essays: 3492 poly bags… www.abc.net.au/arts/fertile/essay_6.htm |
2001 | Leslie Harding, Re-thinking the Vital Illusion, Craft Victoria Quarterly – Spring Issue |
2001 | Leslie Harding & Carolyn Laffan, Marks of Intimacy, Australian Paper Art Awards |
2009 | Sandra Bridie, talk artists initiative, Melbourne |
1999 | Peter Timms, The Age, 16 June |
1997 | Peter Timms, Back to the Land, Herald Sun, 28 May |
1997 | Robert Nelson, The Age, 8 January |
1995 | Jenny Zimmer, The Age, 21 June |
Other | |
2011-19 Teaching - adults and children of All-Abilities, Horsham |
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20012/11 | Teaching – Ballarat University Art Dept, Horsham campus |
2007/5 | Conducted drawing/painting workshops, Nou Machi, Nigata pref., Japan |
2012-2004 | Conducted residential Butoh/drawing workshop with Yumi Umiumare, Wimmera River |
1998/99 | Guest tutor in drawing, RMIT Koori Education Unit |
1998/1997 | Lectures: Deakin University, RMIT University, Victorian College of the Arts |
Travel |
2018/2017/14/12/11/10/9/3Malaysia; 2014/7/5/3/0 Japan; 2003 Denmark, France; 1991 Indonesia; 1983 North America, Mexico, Southern Europe, Scotland
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