Bonita Ely
Born 1946, Mildura. Lives and works in Sydney, Australia.
Education
2009
PhD, University of Western Sydney.
1990
Master of Art (Fine Arts), Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney University.
1969
Diploma of Fine Arts (Sculpture) Prahran College of Fine Arts, Melbourne.
1966
Certificate of Art, Caulfield Institute of Technology, Melbourne
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019
Bonita Ely: Future Tense, Griffith University Art Musuem, Brisbane
2014
Murray River Punch-The Soup, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
2013
Interior Decoration, Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
2011
Three Rivers, photography, drawing, performance documentation. Australian Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide.
2010
Murray River Punch, performance documentation (1980). National Gallery of Victoriag
2009
The Murray’s Edge, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
The Murray’s Edge, COFA Exhibition Space, COFA, UNSW, Sydney.
2008
The Murray’s Edge, Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
2005
Wildlife Documentary, Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
2004
Wildlife Documentary, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
2003
Outside Inside: fragments in place, Museum of Art, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
2001
Inside Mawson's Sleeping Bag: the Poetics of Heroism, Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane & Stills Gallery, Sydney
2000
Inside Mawson's Sleeping Bag: the Poetics of Heroism, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
1999
Juggernaut, Asian Biennale of Contemporary Art, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Juggernaut, Customs House, Sydney
Juggernaut, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
1998
Light House (Public commission), 2nd International Sculpture Symposium, Hue, Vietnam.
1997
Artists In The House! Elizabeth Bay House Contemporary Art Installation Program, Elizabeth Bay House, Historic Houses Trust, Sydney.
Juggernaut (Presented as part of the Melbourne Festival), Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
1995
Solo exhibition, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
1994
“Sleeper’s Ties 111”, Highways Gallery, 2 part installation, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
“Sleeper’s Ties 11” New Gallery, 2 part installation, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
1993
“Sleepers/Ties 1" Urban intervention near Olympic Boulevard and 17th Street, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
1992
Histories, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
Histories, Annandale Galleries, Sydney
1991
“We Live To Be Surprised”, Performance Space, Sydney
1987 - 92
Bellas Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
1987
Phototropic, Performance Space, Sydney
Roslyn Oxley Gallery, Sydney
1986
“Dogwoman Makes History”, First Draft, Sydney
1985
The Murray River Project, Performance Space, Sydney
1984
Exhibition, Praxis, Freemantle, WA
Performance, Jabiluka UO2, Praxis, Freemantle
1983
Controlled Atmosphere, Artspace, Sydney
1983
The Murray River Project, Adelaide Arts Centre
1981
Mt Feathertop Project, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
1979
Mt Feathertop Project, Art Projects, Melbourne
1975
At Home With The Locust People, West Street Gallery, Sydney
1969
Student solo exhibition, Prahran College of Fine Arts, Melbourne
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019
Water, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Material Place: Reconsidering Australian Landscapes, UNSW Galleries, Sydney.
Human Free Earth, Plasticity of the Planet, lokal_30, Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland
From the Kitchen Table, Drew Gallery Projects 1984-90, The Gallery and Dilston Grove, London
m_othering the perceptual art poetica, Counihan Gallery, Victoria
2018
From the Kitchen Table, Drew Gallery Projects 1984-90, Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury
Frontier Imaginaries ed. 5: Trade Markings, Vanabbe Museum, Eindhoven
In Site: Process, Performance, Documentation, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
They Say I Look Like My Mother, 55 Sydneham Road, Sydney
2017
Toxic Assets: Frontier Imaginaries Ed.No3, E-Flux and Columbia University, New York (d)OCUMENTA 14, Athens and Kassel
Red Green Blue: A History of Video Art, Griffith University Art Museum, Brisbane
The Dust Never Settles, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
2016
Toubled Waters, UNSW Galleries, Sydney
War: A Kids Playground, Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush
Frontier Imaginaries, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
2015
Propositions Three, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
Guarding the Home Front, Casula Powerhouse, New South Wales
10th Palimpsest Biennale, Mildura, Victoria
2014
Tears of Rage, Arts Project Australia, Melbourne
Why not walk backwards?, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
Conflict: Contemporary responses to war, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
A Special Arrow Was Shot In The Neck, David Roberts Art Foundation, London
On Return and What Remains, Artspace, Sydney
Now the heart is filled with gold as if it were a purse, Arts Project Australia, Melbourne
2013
Landings at the Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam
Mix Tape 1980s: Appropriation, Subculture, Critical Style, Ian Potter Centre, NGV:A. From the National Gallery collection, curator, Max Delany.
Imperial Pastoral: On Constructions of Rurality, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Murray River Grids.
New3: Selected recent acquisitions 2011-1013, University of Queensland Art Museum. Life Is Full of Situations, etching, 1978.
Drawing Now, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, COFA. Quarry, artists book, 1999.
2012
101 Contemporary Australian Artists, Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria.
Desert Equinox, Broken Hill. Re-installed Thunderbolt near Coles Supermarket, South Broken Hill (ERIA - ARC Linkage Grant).
Agent Orange Benefit, Mori Gallery, Sydney. Ecology 101: Bottlebrush, photograph.
Volume One: the MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. Documentation of Murray River Punch, Dogman series, Controlled Atmosphere, Jabiluka UO2.
2011
A Different Temporality, Monash University Museum of Art [MUMA], Melbourne. Photography, 1977; video of the 1980 Murray River Punch performance; etchings; publication, Murray/Murundi pub. EAF, 1981.
Buffer Zone, Sydney Olympic Park Armory Gallery, Sydney. Reverb, Site specific sound installation. An Environmental Research Initiative for Art project (ERIA), COFA.
Tell Me Tell Me: Australian and Korean Art 1976-2011. Museum of Contemporary Art satellite exhibition, the National Art School Gallery, Darlinghurst, Sydney. Artist’s box from Austauch/Exchange (collaboration with Marr Grounds, 1982).
Tell Me Tell Me: Australian and Korean Art 1976-2011. National Museum of Contemporary Art. Seoul, Korea.
Perspectiktiva, COFA space. Screening, Shock & Awe: Chookwoman’s Tour of the Georges River Headwaters. PowerPoint.
2010
In the Balance, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. Printmaking, performance, book (Murray/Murundi), photography from 1977 to 2008, from the Murray River series.
River, Cambelltown Arts Centre, Cambelltown, NSW. Commission. Photography and an edition of postcards.
The Challenged Landscape, UTS Gallery. Photography and performance of Murray River Punch: the 21st Century. Curator, Sandy Edwards.
Cry Me a River, Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney University. Drawing and photography on a Chinese- style scroll regarding the proposed Tillegra Dam.
To Give Time to Time, Australian Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide. Murray River Punch and Murray River Punch: the 21st Century performance screenings.
To Give Time to Time, Mildura Palimpsest, Mildura, Victoria. Murray River Punch and Murray River Punch: the 21st Century performance screenings.
2008
Heat: Art and Climate Change, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne.
When You Think About Art, Ewing and George Paton Gallery, Melbourne University.
Urban Screens Melbourne 08 (USM08), Federation Square.
2007
Five by Five, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney.
Henri Warland Art Prize. Warrnambool Art Gallery, Warrnambool, Victoria.
2006
The Cleveland Street Project, Performance Space, Sydney.
Procession, Mai's Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
2005
National Sculpture Prize. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
States of Transformation, COFA Gallery, UNSW.
2004
Even, Mildura Arts Centre, Lake Benenee.
2003
This was the Future: Australian Sculpture of the 1950s, 60s, 70s and Today, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne.
Reverb, Mai's Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Outside In, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney.
2002
Fieldwork Inaugural exhibition of Federation Square’s Ian Potter Centre for Australian art, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Border Panic, Performance Space and Museum Of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
3 Foot Square, COFA, Sydney
2001
Histories in the Making, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney.
2000
Spitting and Biting, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne.
1999
We Are Australian, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne [travelling].
Shifting Currents: College of Fine Arts Faculty, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, College of Fine Arts, the University of New South Wales.
1998
Co-Existence: Australian Artists Against Racism, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney.
Private Parts, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne.
The Acid Test, RMIT Project Space, Melbourne.
1997
Gift For India, Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust, Lalit Kala Galleries, New Delhi; Gallery Chemould, Bombay.
1996
Parking, Casula Power House, Casula, Sydney.
The River, travelling (cont.)
1995
Girls Girls Girls, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, & Orange Regional Gallery, NSW.
The River, Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery, Victoria & traveling
Eveolution, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle, N.S W.
The Women’s Show, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
25 Years of Performance Art in Australia, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney. Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane & Australian Centre for contemporary Art, Melbourne.
1993
Spirit Level: Fifth Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne.
1992
Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia.
1989
In Transit, Canterbury, UK.
Australian Prints, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
1988
Bicentennial Print Portfolio, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
1985
Making Appearances, Charlottenberg Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
1983
Continuum, Survey of Australian Art, G Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japa
Performance Festival, Kunsterhaus Bethanien, West Berlin
1981
Murray River Punch, performance, Rundle Street Mall, Adelaide. Experimental Art Foundation residency
1980
Murray River Punch, performance, George Paton and Ewing Gallery, Melbourne University. Women at Work, a festival of women’s performance art.
The Security Show, George Paton & Ewing Galleries, University of Melbourne. HQ, installation.
15 Sculptors (travelling) National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1978
The Women’s Show, Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide.
The Map Show, George Paton & Ewing Galleries, University of Melbourne.
1977
Women’s Postal Event, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, United Kingdom.
1976
Three Statements on Environment, George Paton & Ewing Galleries, University of Melbourne.
Post Object Show, Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide.
1975
The Grid Show, George Paton & Ewing Galleries, University of Melbourne.
1969
Group student exhibition, Prahran College of Fine Arts. Melbourne.
Selected Awards & Prizes
2005
Short listed, National Sculpture Prize, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
1985
Visual Arts Board, Australia Council – Kiffi Rubbo Memorial Art Award Grant
1979
Henri Worland Memorial Arts Prize, Warrnambool, Victoria.
Selected Collections
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, A.C.T.
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane
University of New South Wales, Sydney
Griffith University, Brisbane
Victorian Law Courts, Melbourne
Art Bank, Sydney
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Central Art Gallery, Beijing, China
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France
Staatliche Museum, West Berline, Germany
British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, London
National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens, Greece
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India
National Library of Indonesia, Jakarta
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe, Rome, Italy
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan
National Institute of Fine Arts, Mexico City
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
National Museum and Art Gallery, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States of America
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia
Narodna Gallerija, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare
University of California, Los Angeles
Selected Public Art Projects
2010
Thunderbolt Permanent installation, South Broken Hill, initially for Desert Equinox, Australia’s first solar art exhibition.
2010
Thunderbolt Jacaranda Park, Sydney Olympic Park to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the beginning of the Sydney Olympics.
2002
Longevity: Scissors and Sickles. Public sculpture commission, 3rd International Sculpture Symposium: Hue, Vietnam. LOCATION: City Hall, Hue, Vietnam.