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Morgan Allender

Morgan Allender (b.1982) works within the medium of large-scale oil paintings to create evocative works that sit within the liminal space between landscape and still-life. Her boldly gestural paintings use botanical subjects to underpin mysterious, layered windows of light and dark. Meditations on the connection between nature and the human heart, they are built upon a foundation of technical knowledge and psychological colour theory.

Morgan has been awarded and shortlisted for a number of national prizes, including the Fleurieu Biennale Prize (winner and finalist), The Hutchins Australian Contemporary Art Prize (finalist), the Muswellbrook Prize (finalist), The Country Arts Breaking Ground Award (winner), and the Waterhouse Prize (finalist). Her paintings feature in private collections throughout Australia, the USA, the UK, Italy and Japan.

Her dual interests and training in the areas of fine art and horticultural design place her within a long lineage of painters, writers and sculptors whose work is a reflection of time spent both in the studio and in the making of gardens as artform. Her studio is in a converted barn in the Adelaide Hills, set within two acres of garden she has created from scratch on a previously deserted site. This stimulates a cyclical flow of ideas and inspiration between her canvasses and the surrounding natural environment.

1982, Australia

Lives and works in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia

EDUCATION

2004

  • Bachelor Fine Art (Honours), Adelaide Central School of Art, SA

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023

  • 'Soft Skin Warm Earth', Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane

2021

  • 'My Studio Is A Walled Garden', online exhibition, morganallender.com

2020

  • 'Soft Grass And Silence', online exhibition, morganallender.com

2019

  • 'The Garden', online exhibition, morganallender.com

2018

  • 'Recent Works', online exhibition, morganallender.com

2017

  • 'A Restless Green', online exhibition, morganallender.com
  • 'New Paintings', online exhibition, morganallender.com

2015

  • 'Seeing Spring', Artspace Gallery, Adelaide Festival Centre, SA

2013

  • 'Recent Works', Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne, VIC

2011

  • 'The Grove', BMG Art, Adelaide, SA
  • 'The Golden Hour', Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne, VIC

2009

  • 'Wildwood Bower', Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne, VIC
  • 'Recent Works', BMG Art, Adelaide, SA

2008

  • 'Realm', Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne, VIC

2007

  • 'Landscape Lost', Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne, VIC

2006

  • 'The Flood', Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne, VIC

    GROUP EXHIBITIONS

        2017

        • 'Spring Art', (guest feature artist), Loreto, SA

        2016

        • 'Even Still', Adelaide Town Hall, SA

        2014

        • 'How Does Your Garden Grow', Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, Murray Bridge, SA
        • 'Florabotanica', Adelaide Central Gallery, Adelaide, SA

        2013

        • 'Wonderfall', Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide, SA
        • 'Crystal Palace', Flinders University Art Museum & City Gallery, SA

        2012

        • 'Conversations in Ellipsis', SASA Gallery. SA

        2011

        • 'Double Vision', curated Mary-Jean Richardson, Adelaide Central Gallery, Adelaide, SA

        2010

        • 'Short Stories', Helen Gory Galerie, Melbourne, VIC
        • Melbourne Art Fair, Helen Gory Galerie stand, Melbourne, VIC

        2009

        • Whyalla Art Prize, Middleback Theatre Gallery, Whyalla, SA

        2008

        • Fleurieu Biennale Landscape Prize, Hardys Tintara Winery, McLaren Vale, SA
        • 'Contemporaneous', Wangaratta Gallery, Wangaratta, VIC

        AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

        2018

        • Finalist, Muswellbrook Art Prize, NSW
        • Finalist, Fleurieu Biennale Prize, SA
        • Finalist, Hutchins Australian Contemporary Art Prize, TAS
        • Finalist, Waterhouse At Prize, SA
        • Research expedition, France, UK

        2017

        • Research expedition, UK, Fance, Italy

        2015

        • Winner, Country Arts Breaking Ground Award, SA

        2008

        • Highly Commended, Fleurieu Art Prize, SA

        2006

        • Winner, Fleurieu Art Prize Youth Scholarship, SA

        2005

        • Winer, The Advertiser Oscart Award – Best Emerging Painter, SA

        2000

        • Winner, Pro Hart Scholarship, Bachelor Fine Art, Adelaide Central School of Art, SA

        COLLECTIONS

        • Artbank
        • Private collections throughout Australia and United Kingdom, United States, Italy.

        22 March 2023 – 11 April 2023
        Morgan Allender ‘Soft Skin Warm Earth’