Graham Kuo
Graham Kuo was born in China, arriving in Australia in 1963. His first one person exhibition, held soon after completing his formal studies, was a foretaste of a successful exhibiting career spanning, to date, more than twenty years. A graduate of the National Art School n Sydney and has had a distinguished career as a teacher, lecturer and senior lecturer in Sydney, most recently at COFA. Kuo has had more than 40 solo exhibitions within Australia and internationally spanning four decades. He is currently represented by major galleries in Australia in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney as well as Gallery White 8 in Austria and Gaffer Gallery in Hong Kong. Kuo's work is included in all major public collections in Australian including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Queensland Art Gallery, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery Hobart and the Art Gallery of Western Australia. His work is also held in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Caledonia National Gallery.
Kuo drips, trickles and splashes paint onto his canvas and is a fervent employer of the bold and the grand. His understanding of space and emptiness belies his sensuous control of bright colours and gestural markings.
My work sits at the intersection of Eastern philosophy and sensibilities, and Western tradition. I am steeped in the visual language of gestural, lyrical abstraction, but instinctually my approach is influenced by calligraphic mark making. Graham Kuo
BIOGRAPHY
2000 Travelled extensively throughout Northern China
2000 -2009 Senior Lecturer, College of Fine Arts, UNSW
1996 Travelled throughout China
1992 Travelled to USA and Japan
1990 - 1999 Lecturer, College of Fine Arts, UNSW
1984/85 Travelled extensively throughout USA
1982 - 1989 Lecturer City Art Institute, SCAE
1980 Lived in New York City
1979 Travelled throughout Europe
1976 - 1981 Lecturer, Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education
1968 - 1972 Studied at National Art School. Awarded ASTC
1963 Arrived in Australia
1948 Born in China
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011 Wilson Street Gallery at Danks
2010 Mossenson Gallery, Perth, WA
2010 Gallery White 8, Villach, Austria
2010 Gaffer Gallery, Hong Kong
2009 Drawings, Maitland Regional Art Gallery
2009 Wilson Street Gallery, Sydney
2009 Gallery White8, Vienna, Austria
2008 Gallery White8, Villach, Austria
2007 Wilson Street Gallery, Sydney
2005 Gallery White8, Villach, Austria
2005 Maitland regional Art Gallery
2006, 2005, 2002 Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne
2004, 2001, 1999, 1997, 1994, 1992, 1986, 1984, 1982, 1980, 1978 Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney
2000 Dickerson Scott, Melbourne
1998 Robert Steele Gallery, Adelaide
1995, 1986, 1983 Solander Gallery, Canberra
1995 New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW
1992 Gallery Chika, Tokyo, Japan
1989 Stuart Gerstman Galleries, Melbourne
1985 Stadia Graphics Gallery, Sydney
1979 C.A.S. Gallery, Adelaide
1979 Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne
1977 Macquarie Gallery, Canberra
1977 Collectors Gallery, Perth
1976, 1974 Bonython Gallery, Sydney
1975 Narek Gallery, Canberra
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 The Abstract Canvas, Wilson Street Gallery at Danks2010 Wilson Street Showcase, Danks Street Depot II, Sydney
2009 carriageARTworks, Carriageworks, Sydney
Printed Image, Wilson Street Gallery, Sydney
2008 Bridge Art Fair, New York City
‘Abstraction’, Wilson Street Gallery, Sydney
‘Shades of Grey’, Wilson Street Gallery, Sydney
Art Sydney, Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
2007 KIAF, Seoul, Korea
Cologne Art Fair
‘Silk and Sand’, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
‘Paint’, Wilson Street Gallery, Sydney
‘Paper’, Wilson Street Gallery, Sydney
Annually 1998 to 2006 ‘Important Works on Paper’, Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney
1999 Opening Exhibition, Dickerson Scott, Melbourne
1999 Kedumba Drawing Award, Invitational
1998 Australian Masters, Solander Gallery, Canberra
1997 ‘Sextet’, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1997 Opening of New Wing, New England Regional Art Museum
1997 ‘King of the Accordion’ – Dubbo Regional Gallery, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Penrith Regional gallery and Lewers Bequest
1996 Grafton Regional Art Gallery, NSW
Logan Art Gallery, Queensland
Ipswich Regional Art Gallery, Queensland
1995 New England Regional Art Gallery, NSW
1994 ‘Mixed Impressions’, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1994, 1993, 1992, 1991,
1990 Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney
1988 11th International Exhibition of Original Drawings, Museum of Modern Art, Rijeka, Yugoslavia
1983 15th International Print Biennale, Yugoslavia
1981 ‘Continuum’, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Syd
1981 14th International Print Biennale, Yugoslavia
1979 The 6th British International Print Biennial, Bradford, UK
1979 ‘Contemporary Australian Printmakers 1’ touring US and Canada
1978, 1976 7th and 6th International Print Biennial, Cracow, Poland
1978 ‘Intergrafia’, Cracow, Poland
1977 45th Tokyo Print Show, Tokyo, Japan
1976 Western Pacific Print Biennial, New Caledonia
1975 World Print Council Exhibition, San Francisco, USA
1973 New Zealand Print Show, New Zealand
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Art Gallery of NSW; Art Gallery of South Australia; Bendigo Art Gallery; Caledonia National Art Gallery, New Caledonia; Commonwealth Bank; Dept of Foreign affairs, Canberra; Gold Coast City Art Gallery; Griffith University, Qld; Hawthorn City Art Gallery; Macquarie University; Maitland Regional Art Gallery; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Australia; Newcastle City Art Gallery; New England Regional Art Museum; Power Institute of Fine Art, Sydney; Print Council of Australia; Queensland Art Gallery; Queen Victoria Museum and Art gallery, Hobart, Tasmania; University of New South Wales; University of Sydney; Visual Arts Board, NSW; Wagga Wagga City Art Gallery; Western Australia Art Gallery, University of Western Sydney
A professional art teacher until recently, he continues to attract accolades as both teacher and practitioner. Kuo is an artist respected by other artists.
Kuo’s skill and agility as an artist have been written about widely, and he has received glowing critical reviews. An abstract expressionist to his core, Kuo is renowned for his majestic, colourful canvases, watercolours drenched with calligraphic strokes and finely-honed prints. Kuo drips, trickles and splashes paint onto his canvas and is a fervent employer of the bold and the grand. His understanding of space and emptiness belies his sensuous control of bright colours and gestural markings.
Kuo stands at the forefront of abstract art in Australia with more than 30 solo exhibitions to his credit within Australia and internationally and his work is held in all major public collections in Australia including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Queensland Art Gallery and in international collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Caledonia National Gallery.
