Dr Susan Fereday is an Australian artist, writer, educator and researcher. Born in Adelaide in 1959, she currently lives in the Adelaide Hills.
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy, Monash University (2010)
- Master of Arts (Fine Art) by research, Deakin University, Prahran (1992)
- Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art), Victoria College, Prahran (1986)
- Technician's Certificate in Photography, Elizabeth TAFE (1982)
Place of residence
- Adelaide (2015-present)
- Wiesbaden (2008-2015)
- Melbourne (2005-2008)
- Vienna (2002-2004)
- Paris (1996-1997)
- Melbourne (1983-1996)
- Adelaide (1959-1982)
Lecturer art theory & studio practise
- University of Adelaide (Curatorial & Museum Studies) (2018-2019)
- Adelaide Central School of Art (2015)
- Monash University (2005-2008)
- Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (1998-2002)
- Victoria College of the Arts, University of Melbourne (1990-1993)
Arts administration
- Australia Council Visual Arts Craft Fund (1996-1999)
- RMIT Gallery Storey Hall, Melbourne (1995-1996)
- Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne (1992-1995)
Curatorial projects
- Ruins in Reverse (artists Lauren Berkowitz, Adam Boyd, Colin Duncan, Hewson-Walker, Shaun Kirby, Chris Langton, Callum Morton, Rose Nolan, Deborah Ostrow, Kathy Temin, Chris Ulbrick, Chris White, Constanze Zikos) RMIT Gallery (1996)
- Like-ness: 46 photographs from Waverley City Collection, Centre for Contemporary Photography (1995)
- Ipso-Photo (co-curated with Stuart Koop) (Margaret Roberts, Chris Fortescue, Marie Sierra-Hughes, Phillip Watkins) Centre for Contemporary Photography (1994)
- Don’t Stop (co-curated with Shiralee Saul) gallery shop and mail-order catalogue works by 30 artists, Linden Gallery (1994)
- Immortality (Rose Farrell & George Parkin, Jeff Gibson, Chris Tabecki, Polixeni Papapetrou, Heather Fernon) Centre for Contemporary Photography, (1993)
- After the Fact: Photographs from the Police Forensic Archive, Victorian Centre for Photography (1992)
Writing
- 'The Object of Photography: a theory of photography in (my) pictures', artist monograph (2013)
- 'Alpha City,’ catalogue text for Christopher Köller exhibition, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, VCA (2011)
- ‘Stretched Skin,’ catalogue text for Penelope Davis exhibition, Nellie Castan Gallery (2011)
- 'Wired World,' catalogue text for Simon Maidment & Paul Shephard exhibition, Conical Gallery, Melbourne (2006)
- 'I Fall in Love with a Beautiful Newcomer Hiding a Deadly Secret,' artist book of poetic text (2000)
- ‘Ruins in Reverse,’ catalogue essay for group exhibition launching new gallery, RMIT Gallery Storey Hall (1996)
- ‘Photography in the art museum’, feature article, Agenda #13/14 (1990)
Public lectures
- ‘Angela Merkel’s Raute and the Little Man in the Boat,' University of Adelaide (2019); Woman, Art & Feminism conference, University of Melbourne (2018)
-
‘The Curious Truth About Photographic Seeing,' seminar, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne (2013)
-
‘For the Wall,' Jeff Wall retrospective, NGV International, Melbourne (2012)
- 'I Am the Ghost in the Image: photography as mirror, window, veil,' AAANZ conference, Melbourne (2006)
- 'After Photography,' Queensland Festival of Photography (2006)
- 'Imaging the Other in Recent Australian Photography,' Australian High Commission New Delhi, India (1999)
- ‘The jig is up,' Australian Contemporary Art Fair forum (1992)
Research
- 'Light Out of Darkness: the origin of photography in mystery and melancholy,' doctoral thesis, exploring occluded meanings in early photographs by Nicéphore Niépce and William Henry Fox Talbot (2010)
- 'Re-photography as Critical Practise,' masters thesis (1992)
Solo exhibitions
- Sarah Scout Presents, Melbourne (2011, 2013, 2016)
- Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne (2013)
- West Space, Melbourne (2008)
- Sutton Gallery, Melbourne (1993, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005)
- Bellas Gallery, Brisbane (1995, 1999, 2002)
- Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (1994, 2001-2002)
- Artspace, Sydney (1996)
- Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide (1993)
- 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne (1990)
- Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney (1989)
Group exhibitions
-
As Still as Life (curator Anouska Phizacklea) Monash Gallery of Art (2019)
-
An Unorthodox Flow of Images (curators Naomi Cass & Pippa Milne) Centre for Contemporary Photography (2017)
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The Dust Never Settles (curator Michele Helmrich) University of Queensland Art Museum (2017)
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Lurid Beauty: Australian Surrealism and its Echoes (curator Simon Maidment) National Gallery of Victoria (2015)
- Transmission: Legacies of the Television Age (curator Maggie Finch) National Gallery of Victoria (2015)
- Photographic Abstractions (curators Stella Loftus-Hills & Stephen Zagala) Monash Gallery of Art (2013)
- Photographer Unknown (curator Kyla McFarlane) Monash University Museum of Art (2009)
- Photography is Dead! Long Live Photography (curator Linda Michael) Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (1996)
- The Aberrant Object: Women Dada and Surrealism (curator Juliana Engberg), Museum of Modern Art at Heide (1994)
Collections
- National Gallery of Australia
- National Gallery of Victoria
- Queensland Art Gallery
- Monash Gallery of Art
- Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
- University of Queensland Art Collection
- Private collections
Grants, Awards, Residencies
- Australia Council, VACB, New Work Grant (2012, 2007, 2002, 1992)
- Mollie Holman Medal for best thesis, Faculty of Art & Design, Monash University (2010)
- Studio residency, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (1996, 2007)
- Monash University Publications Grant (2007)
- Australian Postgraduate Award, 3.5 years (2006)
- Arts Victoria, Arts Development, New Work Grant (2002)
- Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant (2002)
- Studio residency, IMA Brisbane (2001-2002)
- Australia Council, VACB, Artist Development Grant (1999)
- Artist residencey, Noosa Regional Gallery (1999)
- Anne and Gordon Samstag Scholarship, University of South Australia (1995)
Bibliography
- Robert Nelson, ‘National Gallery of Victoria's showcase of Australian surrealism not what you might expect’ (review), The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, 9/11/2015
- Jane O’Sullivan, ‘Susan Fereday’ (interview), Australian Art Collector, #63, Jan-Mar 2013, pp.76-77
- Robert Nelson, ‘Close encounters of the virtual kind through the lens’ (review), The Age, 20/02/2013
- Greg Neville, 'After Life' (review), Greg Neville's Photography Blog, 5 February 2011
- Tim Alves, ‘Light across the lens’ (review) Inkblot blog, 23 February 2011
- Penny Webb, 'Susan Fereday: Afterlife' (review), Art Guide Australia #69, Jan-Feb 2011, pp.39-43
- Anne Marsh, Look: Contemporary Australian Photography Since 1980 (book), Melbourne: Macmillan, 2010, pp. 69, 170, 379-380
- Greg Neville, ‘Grail and Wail’ (review), Greg Neville’s Photography Blog, 11 September 2010
- Melissa Miles ‘Whose art counts?’ (feature article), Art Monthly Australia #224, October 2009, pp.5-8
- Helen McDonald, Erotic Ambiguities: The Female Nude in Art (book), London & New York, 2001, pp.176-178
- Kyla McFarlane (ed.), Photographer Unknown (exhibition catalogue), essays by Daniel Palmer and curator Kyla McFarlane. Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2009
- Ella Mudie, ‘Double exposure for faded images’ (article), The Age A2, 30/8/2008, p.17-18
- Robert Nelson, ‘Memories lie beyond the surface’ (review), The Age, 25/6/2008, p.16
- Penny Webb, ‘Following the Customs of the Country’ (review), The Age, 01/03/2005, p.17
- Ihor Holubisky, 'Susan Fereday at Brisbane IMA', Art & Australia, Summer 2002, pp.234-235
- Susan Fereday, I Fall in Love With a Beautiful Newcomer Hiding a Deadly Secret (artist's book of poetic text), Melbourne, 2000
- Linda Michael (ed.) Photography is Dead! Long Live Photography! (exhibition catalogue), essays by curator Linda Michael, George Alexander, Martyn Jolly. Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 1996
- Robert Schubert, The Object of Photography (exhibition catalogue), Artspace, Sydney, 1996
- Robert Schubert, ‘Susan Fereday: Sutton Gallery’ (review), Art & Text, #52, 1995, pp.91-92
- Robert Nelson, ‘Installation poking at hole in halo’ (review), The Age, 17/5/1995, p.21
- Jeffrey Fereday, The Object of Photography (exhibition catalogue), IMA and Sutton Gallery, 1994
- Juliana Engberg (ed.), The Aberrant Object: Women, Dada and Surrealism (exhibition catalogue), essays by curator Juliana Engberg, Robyn McKenzie, Kenneth Wach, Anne Marsh. Museum of Modern Art at Heide, 1993
- Stuart Koop (ed.) Reflex (exhibition catalogue), Essays curator Stuart Koop and Geoffrey Batchen. CCP, 1993
- Jeffrey Fereday, Object a,(exhibition catalogue), Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide, 1993
- Stuart Koop, ‘Review: Susan Fereday’, Art & Text, #43, 1992, pp.78-79
- Susan Fereday, Ascendant, Anxious Objects, Astonish Me. Essays by Jeffrey Fereday and Carolyn Barnes. Linden Gallery, 1992 (exhibition catalogue)
- Rex Butler, ‘A Love That Cannot Speak Its Name’ (review), Agenda, #15, 1990, p.19
- Patricia Piccinini and Peter Hennessey, ‘Value (review), Eyeline, #12, 1990, pp.43-44
- Carolyn Barnes, ‘Value’ (review), Agenda, #10, 1990, pp.22-23
- Edward Colless, Amoré (exhibition catalogue), Artspace, Sydney, 1990
