MEGAN COPE
Born Brisbane, 1982
Lives and works between Minjerribah and Melbourne, Australia
QUALIFICATIONS
2006
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- Bachelor of Visual Arts (Visual Communication), Deakin University, Victoria
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019
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- The Black Napoleon, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne
2016
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- Bereft, Artspace, Sydney
2015
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- The Blaktism, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney
- The Blaktism, This Is No Fantasy, Melbourne
2013
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- The Tide is High, Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne
2012
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- Deep Water – Spiro Grace Art Rooms, Brisbane
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
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- 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Monster Theatres, Art Gallery of South Australia
- Rite of Passage, Queensland University of Technology Art Museum
- OCCURRENT AFFAIR: proppaNOW, University of Queensland Art Museum
- Violent Salt, Noosa Regional Gallery, QLD, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, QLD, Museum of Art and Culture, Lake Macquarie, NSW, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, ACT (touring)
- Great Movements of Feeling, Hamilton Gallery; Mildura Arts Centre, Latrobe Regional Gallery (touring)
- Concrete, Australian Design Centre, NSW; Bathurst Regional Gallery, NSW; Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, NSW; Griffith Regional Art Gallery, NSW; Western Plains Cultural Centre NSW
2019
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- Water, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
- Violent Salt, Artspace Mackay (touring)
- Great Movements of Feeling, Hamilton Gallery (touring)
- Material Place, UNSW Galleries
- A World of Ones Own, Art Gallery of Ballarat
- Haunt, Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane
- Concrete: Art, Design, Architecture, Jam Factory, Adelaide
2018
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- Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Installation Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney
- Octopus 18: Mother Tongue, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
- Ex Embassy, Former Australian Embassy, Berlin
- Coast: the artists’ retreat, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
- Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial, University of Queensland Art Museum (touring)
- Hunter Red (Re(A)d Earth, Lake Macquarie Regional Art Gallery, NSW
- Great Movements of Feeling, Next Wave Festival, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
2017
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- Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia (touring)
- The National: New Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art, Art Gallery of South Australia
- Unfinished Business: Perspectives on art and feminism, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
- Material Politics, Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane
- Another Day in Paradise, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney
- Ku-ring-gai pH, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney
- Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Wales
- Redcliffe Art Award exhibition, Redcliffe Art Gallery, QLD
- The Long Paddock, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, NSW
2016
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- Frontier Imaginaries, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane (touring)
- Frontier Imaginaries, Al-Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, Jerusalem (touring)
- Sovereignty, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
- Lifelines: Indigenous Contemporary Art from Australia, Musées de la Civilisation, Québec, Canada
- The Fraud Complex, West Space, Melbourne
- Re-visioning Histories, Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, Melbourne
- Saltwater Country, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, VIC – Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, SA – Bunbury Regional Art Galleries, WA – Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo, NSW, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, NSW.
- Interpretive Wonderings, Mildura Art Gallery, Victoria
- Miss-represent, Willoughby City Council Gallery, Sydney
- Women, Art and Politics, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Melbourne
- proppaNOW, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Melbourne
- LORE, RAFT South, Hobart
- Dead Centre, Spectrum Project Space, Edith Cowan University, Perth
2015
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- Dead Ringer, Perth Institute for Contemporary Art, Perth
- Lost In Translocation, RMIT Project Space, Melbourne
- War, Wyndham Art Gallery, Victoria
AWARDS | GRANTS | RESIDENCIES
2018
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- Konica Minolta Redland Art Award (finalist), NSW
- Cementa 19, Kandos, NSW
- Australian Print Workshop, French Connections, Paris
- Sovereign Words, Dhaka Art Summit (Artspace Sydney and OCA Norway), Bangladesh
2017
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- Bundanon Art Residency – The Long Paddock, NSW
- Redcliffe Art Award, QLD
2016
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- Ku-ring-gai pH Residency, NSW
2015
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- Winner, WA Indigenous Art Award
2012
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- Arts QLD, Rural Residency, Tambo QLD
2011
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- Churchie Emerging Art Prize – Finalist
- NEWflames Inc, Canopy Artspace, Cairns FNQ
2009
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- Sunshine Coast Art Prize – Finalist
- Clayton Ultz Travelling Scholarship – Finalist
- Deakin University – Indigenous Arts Faculty
2008
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- Highly Commended, Gold Coast Indigenous Art & Design Award
2006
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- Youth Category, Gold Coast Indigenous Art & Design Award
COMMISSIONS
2019
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- Weelam Ngalut (Our Place), Monash University Museum of Art, Clayton Campus, Melbourne (In progress) James Cook University, Townsville
2018
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- Official War Artist, Australian War Memorial
2017
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- St George Hospital, Kogerah, NSW
2016
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- The Koorie Art Commission, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne State Library of Queensland, Brisbane Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Brisbane
- State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
- Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Brisbane
2015
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- Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
2014
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- Brisbane Magistrates Court (as a part of G20 Summit), Brisbane
- State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
- Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Brisbane
2013
- My Country, I Still Call Australia Home, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane The River, Museum of Brisbane
2012
- The River, Museum of Brisbane
- NEWflames, Video Installation, QPAC Theater, Brisbane
2011
- Moreton Bay Regional Council – Public Art, Charlish Park
2010
- Mater Hospital, South Brisbane
COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Victoria
Queensland Art Gallery |Gallery of Modern Art
Monash University Art Collection
National Gallery Australia
Australian War Memorial
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Melbourne Museum
Queensland University of Technology Art Museum
NEWflames Anne Gamble Myer Collection
Musées de la Civilisation: Canada
Artbank
Darebin Art Collection
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2019 Water exhibition in Brisbane proves a wellspring of ideas for positive action against climate change. By Dee Jefferson. ABC.
2019 Water: the universal solvent, on ABC Radio National
2019 How a peaceful Aboriginal artist got on with the Australian forces in the Middle East. Canberra Times. Steve Evans.
2019 Sacred ground. Phil Brown. Brisbane News.
2018 Resistance Reviewed. Natalie Furnas. Fine Print.
2017 A City Built On Shell Middens. Video. ABC TV.
2017 Artist profile: Megan Cope. Video. ABC Arts.
2017 Invisible Agency: An interview with Megan Cope. Mariam Arcilla, Runway, November 2017
2017 Material Politics. Review. Lu Forsberg. UN PROJECTS
2017 Upside down/right way up: Historiography of contemporary ‘Australian’ art. Essay. Helen Hughes. The National.
2017 Material Politics. Review. Henrietta Wilson. Art Asia Pacific, 2017
2017 Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial. Review. Sasha Grishin. The Age.
2016 Megan Cope’s Blaktism. Review. Graham Mathwin, Nov 2016
2016 Megan Cope, Art Collector, Issue 75, Jan-Mar, p160
2016 When volcanoes clash: Transcendence tells Australia’s history through Indigenous eyes. Andrew Stephens. The Age.
2016 Studio: Megan Cope. Toby Fehily. Art Guide Australia, 11 Feb
2015 Frontier Wars between Indigenous people and settlers the focus of Wyndham Art Gallery exhibition. Dylan Rainforth. Sydney Morning Herald.
2015 WA Indigenous Art Award: Megan Cope’s The Blaktism questions authenticity obsession. Dylan Rainforth. The Age.
2015 WA Indigenous art award winner explores Aboriginal identity and authenticity. Chloe Papas. ABC Radio Perth.
2015 Megan Cope’s ‘Blaktism’ video wins top indigenous art award. Victtoria Laurie. The Australian.
2014 Artist Megan Cope takes a fresh look at the question of identity. Kylie Northover. The Age.
2014 The Blaktism. Essay. Professor Steve Larkin. Metro Arts 2014
2013 Toponymic Interventions #2. Essay. Sarah Werkmeister. Level ARI. 2013