VR MORRISON
CONTEMPORARY REALIST PAINTER
ABOUT THE ARTIST
VR Morrison is well known for her highly realistic and lavish artworks that use beauty as an artifice to explore dark and ominous morality tales. She is a widely acclaimed artist known for her highly realistic and lavish oil paintings that draw inspiration from classical painting traditions and allegorical subject matter which is mediated through her interest in popular culture, natural history and haute fashion. Her career began in Australia mid 2000’s where she self directed her study of oil painting in techniques of the Old Masters. She later moved to the South of France where she immersed herself in the rich European art history and culture. For over 20 years she has refined the techniques of master painters through her contemporary art practices and is a proven commercially successful artist. Through this she has developed simple, logical and easily replicated methods that enable her to teach others to fast track their skills in a range of painting techniques, from classical oil painting to various illustration styles. Her career path includes commercial illustration and tertiary lecturing fine art in prestigious art universities and colleges. She currently lives and works on the Gold Coast, Australia.
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2013 - Current: Lecturer Short Courses, Oil Painting, Illustration and Digital Art Making, National Art School, Sydney
2018 - 2021: Illustration Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney, NSW
ARTISTIC AWARDS & PRIZES
2022 Portia Geach Prize, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, finalist
2022 42nd Alice Art Prize, Alice Springs, Finalist
2012 Portia Geach Prize, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, finalist
2011 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, State Library of NSW, Sydney, finalist
2010 Redlands Art Award, Redland Art Gallery, Brisbane, finalist
2010 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, State Library of NSW, Sydney, finalist
2007 Fisher’s Ghost Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, finalist
2007 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, State Library of NSW, Sydney, highly commended
2006 Fletcher Jones Art Prize, Geelong Gallery, Geelong, finalist
2006 Redlands Art Award, Redlands Gallery, Brisbane, finalist
2005 Sir John Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, finalist
2005 Metro Art Award, Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne, People’s Choice Award, winner
2003 Conrad Jupiter’s Art Award, Gold Coast City Gallery, Gold Coast, finalist
2003 Nudgee Art Prize, Nudgee Arts Festival, Brisbane, second prize winner
2003 NEIS Grant Recipient, State Government of Queensland
2002 Nudgee Art Prize, Nudgee Arts Festival, Brisbane, winner
2001 Conrad Jupiter’s Art Award, Gold Coast City Gallery, Gold Coast, finalist
2000 Rapid Graphics/Brisbane Institute of TAFE, Brisbane, Award for Achievement in Art
COLLECTIONS
BHP Billiton Collection, Melbourne
Private collections in Australia and overseas
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011 Enchanter Moi, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2008 Rouge, Melbourne Art Fair, Sullivan Strumpf Fine Art, Royal Exhibition Centre, Melbourne
2007 Blood and Bourgeoisie, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2006 Paintings from France, Schubert Contemporary, Gold Coast
2005 Liberte, Egalite, Gastronomie, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2004 Front Row, Hardy Brothers Jewellers, Brisbane
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Summer Salon, Lorriane Pilgrim Gallery, Southport, QLD
2016 Love- More Than a Four letter Word, Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, QLD
2014 Telling, Adelaide Central School of Art Gallery, Adelaide
2013 Rapture of Death, Gippsland Art Gallery, VIC
2012 SSFA12, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2011 SSFA11, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2010 G20 World Arts Festival, Seoul, Korea
2010 SSFA10, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2010 Time Travel: Re-imaging the Past, Tweed River Gallery, Murwillumbah
2009 Horror - Come Darkness, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney
2009 SSFA09, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2008 The Year of the Bird, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Sydney
2008 Neo Goth: Back in Black, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
2008 SSFA08, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2007 SSFA07, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2007 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney
2007 Come Hither: Interpretations of the Boudoir, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Wagga Wagga
2007 Twenty/20: Twenty Years of the Churchie Emerging Artists Award, Museum of Brisbane
2006 Flaming Youth, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange
2006 Art Sydney 06, Royal Hall of Industries, Sydney
2006 Winter 06, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2006 SSFA06, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2005 Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, opening exhibition, Sydney
2003 Churchie National Emerging Art Award, Griffith University Art Gallery, Brisbane
2002 Straight Out Of Brisbane Festival (Exhibitor of “Homestays” Project), Brisbane
2002 SOFA +Art, Art History Society Of University of Queensland, Brisbane
2002 Looking for Ones Roots, Multicultural Arts Centre, Brisbane
2002 Zeitgeist, Stephens Gallery, Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2013 Trunk Books, Volume 2 Blood, Boccalatte, Sydney
2010 Gibson, Prue. The Rapture of Death, Boccalatte, Sydney
2009 Arnaut, Manuel. ‘A Morte Fica- Fhes Tao Bem’ Vogue Portugal, July
2009 Sorenson, Rosemary. ‘ How Death Becomes You’, The Australian, 12 March
2008 Neo Goth: Back in Black, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane, Gibson, Prue. ‘Arts Focus'
2008 Neo Goth: Back in Black, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane, Kubler, Alison, 'As Black as Stone'
2008 Gibson, Prue. 'Figuratively Speaking’, Vogue Australia, August
2008 Gibson, Prue. ‘Deathly art: VR Morrison, Nell & Therese Howard’, Art Monthly, Issue 210, June
2007 Taylor, A. ‘Tortured Inspiration’, The Sun Herald, October
2007 Kubler, Alison. ‘Blood and the Bourgeoisie’ catalogue essay, October
2005 Ingram, Terry. ‘BHP Billiton mines art’ Australian Financial Review 17 November
2005 ‘Exhibition Review’, The Art Life, November, www.artlifeblogspot.com
2005 Sorensen, Rosemary, Novice Sweeps Award, The Courier Mail, 17 February
2005 Makin, Jeff, In Paise of Caravaggio, The Herald Sun, 14 February
2005 Anderson, Peter. ‘Decadent Morsels’ catalogue essay, November
2004 VR Offers Front Row Seat, Northside News, Brisbane, 3 March
2003 Johnston, Tracy. ‘Glamour is Back’, Style Magazine, February
2003 MacIntyre, Alasdair. ‘A Cinematic Sensibility’, VR Morrison