CV + BIO

Sally Bourke

Born Sydney, 1973. Lives and works in Newcastle, Australia

Sally Bourke is a Newcastle based artist with a firm footing in painting, incorporating a range of techniques producing incredibly profound outcomes. An obsessive maker, Bourke has a rigorous approach to her day-to-day studio practice. These habitual processes are evident in her paintings which often depict an image archive reconciling experiences from the past. Though abstract, Bourke’s paintings are curiously recognisable, a celebration of personal encounter and memory.

Recent collaborations include with clothing labels Sauvika and Skarfe. Selected group and solo exhibitions include Beyond, QUT Art Museum (2018); Artist focus at Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Lake Macquarie (2018); Yarn, Newcastle University Gallery, Newcastle (2017); Brutal, The Lock Up Art Space, Newcastle (2017); Opening the Box, Tamworth Regional Art Gallery, Tamworth (2013); An Open Secret, Cessnock Regional Art Gallery, Cessnock (2013); Opening the Box, Tamworth Regional Art Gallery, Tamworth (2013); MARITIME, The Lock Up, Newcastle( 2011); Latitude, The Lock Up Art space, Newcastle (2008) and Pandora’s Box, Newcastle Art Space, Newcastle (2006).

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024  Silence is just a sound, Hugo Michell Gallery, SA
2022 
Tempest, Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide
2021  Of Gods and Monsters, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney
2020  The Park, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney
2019  The Quick Brown Fox, Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide
2018  Artist Focus, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Lake Macquarie
Tall Tales and True, Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide
2017  Yarn, Newcastle University Gallery, Newcastle
Ghosting, Junior Space, Melbourne
Brutal, The Lock Up Art Space, Newcastle
2009  Overpass, Arts Systems Wickham, Newcastle
2008  Latitude, The Lock Up Art space, Newcastle
2007  Afterglow John Miller Galleries, Newcastle
2005  Stowage, John Miller Galleries, Newcastle
2004  Fragments, John Miller Galleries, Newcastle
2003  Past Tense, John Miller Galleries, Newcastle
2001  Queen, Watt Space, Newcastle

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023  Celebrating 15 Years of Hugo Michell Gallery,SA
Painting Now, Michael Reid Galleries, Sydney
Upriver Downriver, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW
2021  OH SHIT, Backwoods Gallery Melbourne
2019  Doug Moran Portrait Prize, Juniper Hall, Sydney
2019  TERRITORY, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney
2018  Beyond Reason, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
ANON, Good space, Sydney
2017  Floral St Pop Up, Nick Knight, London
2014  The Collector’s Choice, University of Newcastle Gallery, Newcastle
2013  An Open Secret, Cessnock Art Gallery, NSW
Opening the Box, Tamworth Art Gallery, NSW 
2012  More From the Box, Moree Art Gallery, NSW
2011  Maritime, The Lock Up, Newcastle  
2010  Drawn To Abstraction, Arts Systems Wickham, Newcastle
2009  Newcastle By Name, John Miller Galleries, Newcastle 
2007  Pretty Little Things, Back to Back Gallery, Newcastle
My Favourite Things, Foresight Gallery, Newcastle
2006  Pandora’s Box, Newcastle Art Space, Newcastle 
2004  Yellow+ Blue, Watt Space, Newcastle Greens, Newcastle
Summertime, John Miller Galleries, Newcastle
Intercourse, Watt Space, Newcastle
2003  Museum, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle
About Time, Rocketart, Newcastle
The Red Balloon, John Miller Galleries, Newcastle

PUBLICATIONS

Lisa Slade, SALLY BOURKE, Fathom - 7 women artists, 2009, Pg 6,7
Una Rey, BRUTAL TREASURY, The Lock Up catalogue essay, 2017 Pg 2
Sally Bourke, SALLY BOURKE, REVS magazine (Finland) SPRING/SUMMER, The Maze Vol 18, 2017, pg 188-195
Kit Betley, Sally Bourke: Reflections, Jungle Magazine (UK) AUTUMN/WINTER, The Resilience Edition, Vol 3,2017, Pg 182-193
Sally Bourke, FAMILIARS, WRPD magazine (Milan) FALL/WINTER, Issue N4, 201/18, Pg 32-39
PAN No.5 SUPERNATURAL,  2021 Cover by Polly Borland (London)
PAN No.4 Ghost Stories, 2020, Designed by Nobi Kashiwagi . London
PAN No.2 La Belle et la Bête, 2018, cover by Nick Knight. London

COLLECTIONS

Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Private Collections