Since the early 1980s Carchesio has built a reputation for producing small-scale watercolours and minute sculpture. Playing with geometric patterns and figurative symbolism, through his subtle images Carchesio attempts to create an ontological space emptied of the clutter of everyday life, in which imagery from the subconscious can emerge.
Eugene Carchesio
His considered placement of interlocking shapes alludes to the science of mathematics and highlights his interest in the purity of shapes and geometry. There is a distinct emphasis on process, this becomes manifest through the visible inconsistencies and variations of pigment application that can be observed in his work.
Selected solo exhibitions include: No Question No Answer, Milani Gallery, Brisbane 2021; Someone's Universe: The Art of Eugene Carchesio, Art Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane, 2008; everything takes time takes everything, The Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2006; New Work, Church Gallery, Perth, 2002; Australian Representative, 10th Indian Triennale of Art, New Delhi, 2001; Lift Project, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2001; and Gelber, MUSIK BERLIN, 1997.
Carchesio's work is held in major collections throughout Australia. He has also been curated into many important exhibitions both in Australia and internationally including: Call of the Avant-Garde, Constructivism & Australian Art, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2017; Shut Up and Paint, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2016; Sugar Spin: You, me, art and everything, QAGOMA, Brisbane, 2016; The Kaleidoscopic Turn, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 2015; Born to Concrete, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane 2013; Negotiating This World: Contemporary Australian Art, National Gallery Victoria, Melbourne, 2012; TarraWarra Biennial 2012: Sonic Spheres, TarraWarra, Healesville, Victoria, 2012; Roundabout, Wellington Art Gallery, New Zealand, 2010; Hybrid & Folklore, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2010; Cubism and Australian Art, Heide Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2009; Asia Pacific Triennial, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2003; Contemporary Drawing, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Centre, New York, 2002; Phenomena, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2001; 9th Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1992; Medium Density: Contemporary Australian Drawings and Photographs, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1992; and Strangers in Paradise, Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea, 1992.
Born 1960, Brisbane, Australia. Lives and works in Brisbane Australia.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021
- from here to there..., Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
2020
- No Question No Answer, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
2019
- Conscious Intuition, with Diena Georgetti, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, VCA, Melbourne
- The Ventriloquist (vol.2), Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
2018
- The No-Between and the Ventriloquist, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
- Collaborations, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
2015
- Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
- Mystic and Prophets, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
2013
- Sleepwalker, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
- Stars ignite between the death of mountains, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
2011
- Circles. Squares. Mountains., Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
- Recent works on paper, KickArts Contemporary Arts, Cairns
2010
- Blood of Hercules, Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
- On Nothing, Sutton Project Space (with Masato Takasaka).
2009
- Interplanetary light transmission drawings (volume two), Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
2008-09
- Someone’s Universe: The Art of Eugene Carchesio Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
2008
- Mysteries of the self, Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
2007
- the birth of saints, Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
- 52 works ascending and descending, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
2006
- everything takes time takes everything, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.
2005
- Peace on Earth, Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
2004
- The Empty House, Bellas Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
2003
- Eugene Carchesio, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
- Mortal Kings, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
2002
- Heliocentricities, University of Qld Art Museum.
- Cosmic Theories, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane
2001
- Australian Representative, 10th Indian Triennale of Art, New Dehli, India.
- Lift Project, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
- Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
- The Jon & Eugene show (Collaboration with Jon Cattapan), Bellas Gallery , Brisbane.
- On Contemporary Silence, Artspace, Sydney; IMA, Brisbane.
2000
- dead leaves of tokyo, Bundaberg Art Gallery, Bundaburg.
- from nothing, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
- patterns and forces, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1999
- dead leaves of tokyo, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1998
- Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
- Bellas Gallery (Collaboration with Anne Wallace), Brisbane.
1997
- Gelber, MUSIK BERLIN.
- Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
- Sleeper, Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide.
1996
- Self portrait as 52 days, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
1995
- The Truth of Opposites, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
- Landscape, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1994
- Interpreter, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
- Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1993
- Eternal Mystery Paintings, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
- Interpreter, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1992
- Museum of Silence / European Ghosts, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
- Works From The Museum Of Silence No's 52-64, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
- From Silence (collaboration with Victor Meertens), Deakin University Gallery, Geelong.
- In the Light of Things (collaboration with Victor Meertens), Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1991
- European Ghosts, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1990
- Here (123 Works), 24 Hour Art, Darwin.
- Store 5, Melbourne.
- 187 Works For The Peoples Republic Of Spiritual Revolution, Institute of Modern Art.
- Someone's Universe, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1989
- 13 Pictures For The Peoples Republic Of Spiritual Revolution, Store 5, Melbourne.
- Believe in the Mystery of Things, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1988
- No Flag I'm Just Waving, arch lane Public Art, Brisbane.
- Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1987
- John Mills Annexe, Brisbane.
- Energy Question No.123, Mini MOCA, Brisbane.
- Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1984
- One Flat Gallery, Brisbane.
1983
- Ash Room, One Flat Gallery, Brisbane.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
- ARTIST POET POEISIS, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
2022
- Birds & Language, Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong
2018
- Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award
- David &, Arcade, Melbourne
- Monochrome, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne
2017
- Less Than, Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Brisbane
- Every Brilliant Eye: Australian Art in the 1990s, Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- I Can See Russia From Here, TBC, Melbourne
- weep for painting: seven non-occasions, Mars Gallery, Melbourne
- Call of the Avant-Garde: Constructivism and Australian Art, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
2016
- Sugar Spin: You, me, art and everything, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
- Shut up and paint, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Beyond the tower: 40 years and counting, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
- Fieldwork: Artist Encounters, SCA Galleries, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney
2015
- 9/11, Moana Art Space, Perth
- Score for a Scene, TCB Art Space, Melbourne
- The Kaleidoscopic Turn, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2011-12
- Ten Year of Contemporary Art: The James C Sourris AM Collection, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.
2010
- Hybrid & Folklore, National Gallery Victoria (performance).
- Super Deluxe, Artspace Sydney Biennale (performance).
- (to) give time to time, Mildura Palimpsest.
- Roundabout, Wellington Art Gallery New Zealand.
- Light from Light, Queensland State Library & Shanghai State Library.
- Hongqiao International Art School (performance).
- Room 40, Kickarts Cairns (performance).
- National Works On Paper, Mornington Regional Gallery.
- Paint(H)ing, Australian Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide
- Recent Australian Drawing, Heide Museum, Melbourne.
2009
- I walk the line: New Australian Drawing, MCA, Sydney.
- +/- , Monash University, Melbourne.
2008
- 21:100:100 One hundred sound works by one hundred artists from the 21st century, Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne.
- Under the Influence: Art & Music, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane.
2006
- Multiplicity, Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne.
2005
- Store 5 is… Anna Schwarz Gallery, Melborurne.
2004
- From the ephemeral to the eternal, University of SA Art Museum, Adelaide.
2003
- Papercuts, Monash University, Melbourne.
2002
- Asia Pacific Triennale, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
- Phenomena, Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne.
2001
- The Australian Paper Art Awards, Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne.
- Phenomena, Art Gallery of NSw.
1999
- Spin Me Round, Metro Arts Brisbane.
- On the brink, Heide Museum of Modern Art.
- Home and Away, The Chartwell Collection, Auckland.
- A Letter to Picasso, Postmaster Gallery, Melbourne.
- Drawings, Brisbane City Gallery, Brisbane.
1998
- Metamorphosis, Mornington Peninsula Gallery, Mornington.
1997
- On Dialogue. Contemporary Australian Art, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin.
- International Biennial of Watercolours, Slovenia.
1996
- Reference Points, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
- Familiar and Strange, Seoul Arts Center, Korea.
- Artist’s Books, Brisbane City Gallery and Museum.
1995
- Carnivales des animaux, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
- Salon, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.
- Unsighted, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane.
- Artrage, ABC Video project.
1994
- Aussemblage, Auckland City Art Gallery; National Art Gallery, Wellington.
- Moet & Chandon National Touring Exhibition.
- 21,600 each 24 Hrs, Boardroom Four, Canberra Travellodge, Canberra.
1993
- Strangers in Paradise, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney and Korea.
- Eight Artists, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.
1992
- 9th Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
- Medium Density: Contemporary Australian Drawings and Photographs, Australian National Gallery, Canberra.
- Above the Lake / Below the Sky, Benalla Art Gallery, Victoria.
- Strangers in Paradise, Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea.
- Savage Club Invitational Prize, McClelland Art Gallery, Langwarrin, Victoria.
- The Caboose, Ars Multiplicata, Sydney.
- Collecting Art, Maquarie Galleries, Sydney.
- Domino I, Ian Potter Gallery, University of Melbourne.
- Moet & Chandon Touring Exhibition.
- Contemporary Australian Drawing, Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane.
- From Silence, Deakin University Gallery, Geelong.
- Abstract Art, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney.
1991
- Microcosm, Gary Anderson Gallery, Sydney.
- First Draft, Sydney.
- Signals, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
- Correspondences, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
1990
- Architecture of Light, Mori Gallery, Sydney.
- Only Life, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
- Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville.
- Question of Belief, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia , Adelaide.
- Australian Sculpture Triennial, National Gallery of Victoria ,Melbourne.
- Balance 90, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
- In Full Sunlight, First Draft West, Sydney.
1989
- Can Queenslanders Draw ?, Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane.
- Collaborations, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
- In Full Sunlight, 10,000 feet, Melbourne.
- In Full Sunlight, Aglassofwater, Brisbane.
- Tower of Babel, Watters Gallery, Sydney.
- Victory over the Sun, First Draft, Sydney.
- Uncommon Knowledge, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
- Cosmos, City Gallery, Melbourne.
- Your Collection Revealed, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
- Australian Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales.
1988
- Axis-File, New York.
- Centre Gallery, Gold Coast.
- (I)magical Poetics, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.
- Site of Execution, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne.
1987
- Living Money, Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
- Third Australian Sculpture Triennial, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne.
- Distillation, John Mills National, Brisbane.
- Bellas Gallery, Brisbane.
1986
- Young Contemporaries, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.
- THAT Space, Brisbane.
1985
- Guttersnipers, Watters Gallery, Sydney.
1984
- One Flat Exhibit, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.
1983
- One Flat Exhibit, George Street, Brisbane.
- No Names, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.
1982
- Community Arts Centre, Brisbane.
- One Flat Gallery, Brisbane.
1981
- Schonell Theatre, Brisbane.
Recordings (Selected)
- Acoustifications
- Mud of Life
- 101 Compositions For An Abstract World
- Songs Humans Shouldn't Sing
- Shadows Stole My Breath
- Believe In The Mystery Of Things
- Improvised Abstract Folk Songs For Hope
- The Spirit Starves
- Solo Improvisations (Vol 1 +2)
- Patterns and Forces
- D.N.E.S.P
- D.N.E (Human Crutch)
- D.N.E.TWO
- D.N.E (47 Songs Humans Shouldn't Sing)
Selected Bibliography
- Airo-Farulla, Joe `Eugene Carchesio', Art and Australia, vol.29,no.4, Winter 1992.
- Barnes,Carolyn Cosmic Resistance", Agenda# 5, June 1990,pp.3-5.
- Baume, Nicholas `Victory Over The Sun', Eyeline,no.10,Dec 1989,pp.26-7.
- Baxter, John ‘DNE 47 Songs Humans Shouldn't Sing', Option,(USA).
Nov/Dec 1990, p.109. - Bogle, Andrew Aussemblage, ex.cat., Auckland City Art Gallery, New Zealand.
- Bond, Anthony `Australian Perspecta 1989', Art Monthly Australia, no.22, July 1989 pp.1-2.
- Strangers in Paradise, ex.cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, 1992.
- The Boundary Rider. Ninth Biennale of Sydney, ex.cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1992.
- Carchesio, Eugene Selected Works 1985 - 1995, self-published, Brisbane, June 1996.
- Cattapan,John ‘A Surrealist Map', Tension,no.21,1990, p.57.
- Chapman, Chris 'Carnivorous Plants', Art & Australia, Vol32, No.1, 1994.
- Cooke, Glen R Correspondences, ex.cat., Queensland Art Gallery,1991,Brisbane, p.5.
- Coulter-Smith, G `Tony Bond on Perspecta', Eyeline, no.8, March 1989, pp.8-9.
- Gates, Merryn Domino I Collaborations Between Artists, ex.cat., Ian Potter Gallery, University of Melbourne, 1992.
- Gofton, David ‘A Monochrome Set: The Colour of Your Energies', Eyeline, no.1, May 1987.
- Edwards, Geoffrey Fourth Australian Sculpture Triennial,ex.cat., National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1990.
- Engberg, Juliana `The Third Sculpture Triennial', Australian and International Art Monthly, no.7, December 1987, pp.9-10.
- Helmrich, Michele ‘Balance 1990', Agenda, June 1990.
- Jones, Anne ‘Clout: Sound and Light', Eyeline, no.1, May 1987,pp.18-19.
- Lingard, Bob, (ed.) Interviews with Nine Queensland Artists, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, 1986,pp.8-9.
- ‘Eugene Carchesio', Australian Perspecta 1989,ex.cat., AGNSW, Sydney, 1989.
- Neri, Louise Third Australian Sculpture Triennial,ex.cat., National Gallery of Victoria,Melbourne,1987.
- McClintock, Margo ‘Eugene Carchesio Speaks', Eyeline,no.14, Autumn 1991, pp.12-15.
- McGillick, Paul The Australian Financial Review, Feb.14, 1992.
- Moses, David ‘Work-to-Screen : Projecting Performance', Eyeline, no.7, December 1988, pp.6.
- O'Halloran, David `Questions of Belief', ex.cat., Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, May 1990.
- Petelin, George Tension, no.20, 1990, p.63.
- `Profile', From Australia - Contemporary Art, Craft and Design, no.3, Australia Council 1991.
- Rainbird,Steven `Brisbane Report', Art and Australia, Spring 1991, p.33.
- Sayers, Andrew Architecture of Light,ex.cat., Mori Gallery, 1990.
- `Sculpture Blossoms in Triennial Showing', Times on Sunday, 20 September, 1987.
- Shields,Margaret `Eugene Carchesio', Eyeline, no.6, September 1988, pp.26-7.
- Schubert, Robert Agenda 25, September 1992.
- Snelling, Michael 'Someone's Universe: The Art of Eugene Carchesio', 2008, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
- Sturgeon,Graeme Contemporary Australian Sculpture, 1991,p.xx.
- Sullivan, Eve ‘The Caboose', Art + Text 44, January 1993, p.74.
- Szulakowska, Ursula ‘Eugene Carchesio', Art & Text,no.36,May 1990,pp.135-137.
- `The World is an Abstract Pearl', Eyeline, no.2, August 1987, p.34.
- `Brisbane Dada: collaborative art in a stagnant culture', Eyeline, no.1,1987.
- (I)magical Poetics,ex.cat., Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane,1988.
By the artist
- 'Artists Page', Eyeline,no.9, Winter 1989,p.22.
- Art Wonder Stories, no.1,1983,(Ed) One Flat Exhibit,Brisbane,p.12.
- Axis-File: Sites of Dis-Closureex.cat., produced by Axis with Queensland
- College of ArtGallery and School of Humanities,1988.
- Balance 90, ex.cat.,Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane 1990.
- Cosmos, ex.cat., City Gallery, Melbourne.
- Eyeline, no.12,Winter 1990 (back cover).
- 'Intuitive Strategies', Cantrils Filmnotes,no.57/58, Dec 1988,pp.22-5.
- Kerb Your Dog,No.5, Ed.,John Young and John Nixon, 1990, Sydney.
- Moet & Chandon Touring Exhibition,ex.cat., 1992.
- No Names, ex.cat., Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, 1983.
- Outersite- Five Contemporary Art Space Projects, May-June 1988, p.22.
- Queensland Symphony Orchestra 1991 Master Concert Series Illustrated Subscription Catalogue.
- Rosebud, no.1, Store 5, Melbourne, March 1991.
- 16 Poems, Brisbane, 1991.
- 187 Works For The Peoples Republic Of Spiritual Revolution,ex.cat. IMA,Brisbane, 1990.
- Lynn, Victoria and Sequiera, David.
- Eugene Carchesio: Selected Works 1985 - 1995, (self-published), Brisbane, 1996.
Collections
- Artbank, Sydney.
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
- Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth.
- Australian National Gallery, Canberra.
- Brisbane College of Advanced Education, Brisbane.
- Brisbane City Council.
- Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand.
- Gold Coast City Gallery, Gold Coast.
- Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education, Toowoomba.
- Griffith University, Brisbane.
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
- Parliament House, Canberra.
- Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville.
- Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.
- Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane.
- University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane.
- Waikato Museum, Hamilton, New Zealand.
