PETER D. COLE, BIO + CV

Peter D Cole was born in Gawler SA, moved to Adelaide and studied Sculpture at the South Australian School of Art where he was awarded the H.P. Gill Medal in 1968. Since the 1970’s Cole has been based in Kyneton, Victoria, where he has established himself as one of Australia’s senior and most renowned contemporary sculptors. Cole has largely lived and worked in rural areas of Australia, drawing on the landscape as a source of inspiration and recent research trips to Japan and India have added to his rich source material.

As public artist, Cole has made a significant contribution to the urban landscape and public spaces of Australia receiving the Australian National Trust Heritage Award and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture Award of Merit for Foundation Park, a permanent work at The Rocks, Sydney. He is highly sought for commissions and his work is prominent in many public and corporate collections throughout Australia, including Parliament House, Canberra, the National Gallery of Australia, and Brisbane International Airport.

Born 1947, Gawler, South Australia

EDUCATION

1965-68. Diploma in Fine Art (Sculpture), South Australian School of Art, Adelaide

1970. Moved to Melbourne

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2017. A Modern Narrative, Australian Galleries, Sydney

2016. PLACE AND SPACE, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2013. Australian Galleries, Roylston Street, Sydney

2012. Lister Gallery, Perth

2011. New Sculptures, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

2009. Elements + Memories, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

2007. New works, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

2006. New works, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

2006. New works, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Sydney

2004. Primary Structure, Calder Lister Gallery, Perth

2003. New Sculptures, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

2002. Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne

2002. Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Sydney

2001. From Form, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Sydney

2001. Calder Lister Gallery, Perth

2000. Recent Pastel Drawings and Studies, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne

1998. Australian Galleries, Melbourne

1998. Recent Works on Paper and Sculpture, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Sydney

1997. Steele Gallery, New York, USA

1995. Carpenter Centre for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA

1994. Australian Galleries, Sydney

1990. William Mora Gallery, Melbourne

1986. Realities Gallery, Melbourne

1984-91. Annual exhibitions at Macquarie Galleries, Sydney

1983. United Artists Gallery, Melbourne

1980. Ewing and George Paton Galleries, Melbourne

1970. Pinacotheca, Melbourne

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019. Australian Galleries: The Purves Family Business. The First Four Decades, Book Launch and Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2019. papermade, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2017. Painting, sculpture and works on paper – Group exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2017. Stock show – Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries-Stock Rooms, Melbourne

2017. Painting, sculpture and works on paper – Group exhibition, Australian Galleries, Sydney

2017. Sculpture: medium and small scale – Mixed Sculptors, Australian Galleries, Sydney

2016. Impressions, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne

2014. one of each, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne

2014. Australia Day 2014 Celebratory Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne

2014. Australia Day 2014 Celebratory Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Roylston Street, Sydney

2011. large exhibition of small works, Australian Galleries, Roylston Street, Sydney

2010. Summer stock show, Australian Galleries, Smith Street, Melbourne

2010. Artists’ Prints made with Integrity I, Australian Galleries, Smith Street, Melbourne

2007. McClelland Sculpture Survey and Award, McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park, Langwarrin VIC

2007. Small Pleasures, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Melbourne

2006. The Christmas Collector’s Edition, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne

2006. Summery, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Sydney

2006. Stock Show, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Melbourne

2006. Summer Stock Show, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne

2006. Impressions, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne

2006. 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2005. End of Year Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Sydney

2003. National Sculpture Prize and Exhibition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

2003. Site Unseen, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo VIC

2003. McClelland Sculpture Survey and Award, McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park, Langwarrin VIC

2003. This was the future: Australian Sculpture of the 1950s, 60s, 70s + Today, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne

2002. Tokyo Designers Block Idee, Tokyo, Japan

2001. Nocturne, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington VIC

1999. Calder Lister Gallery, Perth

1999. Volume and Form, Singapore

1992. Powell Street Galleries, Melbourne

1992. Chicago International Art Fair, Chicago, USA

1992. Editions Gallery, Melbourne

1991. William Mora Gallery, Melbourne

1990. Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne

1988. Mildura Sculpture Triennial, Mildura VIC

1987. The Lewers Bequest and Penrith Regional Art Gallery, Penrith NSW

1985. Mildura Sculpture Triennial, Mildura VIC

1984. Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne

1981. Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne

1970. Mildura Sculpture Triennial, Mildura VIC

1967-68. Contemporary Arts Society, Adelaide

PUBLIC COMMISSIONS

Arts Victoria; Shepparton lake sculpture, Shepparton VIC 19 October 2019

Bank of Melbourne; in consultation with Bates Smart McCutcheon; large free standing sculptural screen, Melbourne

Brisbane International Airport; in consultation with Bligh Voller architects and Jean Battersby Art Consultants; large suspended sculptures and series of wall installations, Brisbane

Caulfield City Council; suspended sculpture, Melbourne

Chadstone Shopping Centre, Melbourne

Channel 7 ‘Pixillated Landscape’, large wall installation mixed media and light, Melbourne

Chifley Tower (commissioned by owners MID); permanently located sculpture in Bent Street lobby, Sydney

City of Stonnington, ‘That’s life’, Windsor Railway Station precinct, Melbourne

Darling Harbour; large scale bronze sculpture, Sydney

Foundation Park (in consultation with Sydney Cove Authority); design of park and construction of elements for Foundation Park, Sydney

Hamilton Regional Gallery; permanently located bronze and stone sculpture, Hamilton, VIC

John Gorton Building, Department for the Environment, Canberra

McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park; tapestry, Langwarrin VIC

Opera Quays Sydney (in consultation with Andrew Andersons of Peddle Thorpe); two large suspended sculptures adjacent to collonade to Opera House, part of the Sydney Cove Sculpture walk, Sydney

Queensland Police Headquarters (in consultation with Bligh Voller architects); large suspended sculpture, Brisbane

Thredbo Alpine Village; large painted steel outdoor sculpture, Thredbo NSW

World Expo 1998 (BHP and Transfield Corporation); relocated to south bank, Brisbane, 200 metre

sculptural walk painted steel, Brisbane

AWARDS

1996. Australian National Trust Heritage Award for Foundation Park, Sydney

1995. Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture, Award of Merit for Foundation Park, Sydney

1968. H.P. Gill Medal, South Australian School of Art, Adelaide

Contemporary Art Society Drawing Prize, Adelaide

COLLECTIONS 19 October 2019

Art Bank, Sydney

ANZ Bank

Australian National Gallery, Canberra

Bankers Trust

Caulfield City Council, Melbourne

Clayton Utz, Sydney, Melbourne

Crown Casino, Melbourne

Deakin University, Melbourne

Ernst and Young, Melbourne

Freshwater Place, Melbourne

Heide Museum of Modern Art, Bulleen VIC

McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin VIC

Mildura Regional Gallery, Mildura VIC

Monash University, Melbourne

Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle NSW

Parliament House, Canberra

Phillip Morris Corp. Melbourne

Potter Warburg, Melbourne

Powercorp Melbourne

Royal Pines, Gold Coast

Westpac Banking Corporation

Wollongong Regional Art Gallery, Wollongong NSW

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Art and Australia, vol. 8 no 1, June 1970

Australia Sculpture Now, Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne, 1984

Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne, 1981

Belle Magazine, 2000-01

Cole, Peter D.; Sculpture and Works on Paper 1992-1994, Australian Galleries, 1994

Craft Art, vol. 5, Autumn issue, 1986

Crafti, Stephen; Request.Response.Reaction: The designers of Australia and New Zealand, The Images Publishing Group, 2002

Drury, Neville; New Art 11, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1987

Drury, Neville; New Sculpture, G+B Arts International LTD, distributed by Craftsman House, Sydney, 1994

Interior Design, issue 5, 1986

Interior Design, issue 13, 1986

National Sculpture Prize and Exhibition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2003

On Site Sculpture, Australian Sculpture Triennial, Melbourne, 1990

Sculpture, Sept issue 1999 (USA Art publication)

Sturgeon, Graeme; Sculpture, The Story of the Mildura Sculpture Triennial 1961-1982, Mildura City Council, Mildura,1985

Sunday, Channel 9, 3 September 1996

Sydney Morning Herald, 10 May 1991

The Age, Architecture column, 13 May 1980

The Age, Entertainment Guide, 18 September 1990

The Age, Good Weekend magazine, 12 June 1993

World Expo 88 Collection, Brisbane, 1987