David Austen’s work encompasses painting, drawing, sculpture and film. He was born in Harlow, UK in 1960 and studied at Maidstone College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. His works are held in many public collections including TATE, London, Arts Council England, Government Art Collection and British Council, UK, as well as in private collections in the UK, Europe and the US. He lives and works in London.

BIOGRAPHY

2011 Bryan Robertson Award
2009 Stanley Picker Fellow, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, UK
2004-5 Drawing Fellow, Wimbledon School of Art
1982-85 Royal College of Art, London, UK
1978-81 Maidstone College of Art, Kent, UK

SELECTED SOLO and TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2023

Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, The Boys: an Adventure Drawings by David Austen Words by Hisham Matar

2021

TOTAH, New York, The Last Trapeze Artist with screening of The Gorgon’s Dream

2019
Ikon Gallery, London, UK, The Aerodrome
Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland, David Austen Underworld

2018
TOTAH, New York, the stars above the ocean the ocean beneath the stars
Matt’s Gallery, London, UK, David Austen – The Drowned

2016
Ingleby Gallery at Art Basel Miami Beach, The light that fell upon us burned

2015
Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Cogliandrino (MACC), Italy, Black Heart

2013
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, Smoking Moon, film screening as part of Art Basel Miami Beach film program, Miami, USA
Ingleby Gallery, UK, Billboard for Edinburgh (public art project)

2012
Ingleby Gallery and the Edinburgh International Film Festival at The Burns Monument, Edinburgh, UK and at Rob Tufnell, London, UK, The Gorgon’s Dream

2011
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, Papillion

2010
Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK, Smoke Town and End of Love

2009
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, My love, I have been digging up my own bones in the garden again
Schiavo Mazzonis Gallery, Rome, Italy, Man Smoking 
Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, UK, The End of Love

2008
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, David Austen & Man Ray

2007
Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK (cat. illus), David Austen
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, Glitter
Locarno Film Festival, Italy, Crackers (film screening)

2006
Camden Arts Centre, London, UK, Smoking Moon
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, GREEN ELECTRIC MORNING (cat. illus)

2005
Wimbledon School of Art, London, UK, Froth on the Daydream

2004
PEER, London, UK (cat. illus)
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, Darkland

2003
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, Hard Times

2001
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
Annandale Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Christ Church Mansion, Ipswich, UK, Edge of the World
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK

2000
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, Happy City 

1999
Galerie Marianne Hollenbach, Stuttgart, Germany

1998
Inverleith House, Edinburgh, UK
Slewe Gallery, Amsterdam, NL

1997
Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London, UK
Mead Gallery, Warwick, UK (cat. illus)
Galerie Marianne Hollenbach, Stuttgart, Germany

1994
Anthony Reynolds, London, UK

1993
Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

1992
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK
Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK

1991
Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK

1990
Frith Street Gallery, London, UK (cat. illus)

1989
Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Nottingham, UK (cat. illus)

1988
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK (cat. illus)
Arnolfini, Bristol, UK

1987
Serpentine Gallery, London, UK

1986
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK (cat. illus)

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024

TOTAH, New York, NY, Clockwise

2024

Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, The Love of the Marvelous and the Disbelief of the True

2023

The Italian Cultural Institute, London, UK, The Italian Effect

2022

Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, Leicester, UK, THE WORLD WE LIVE IN: ART AN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT An Arts Council Touring Exhibition

2021

Drawing Room and Cromwell Place, London, UK, The Drawing Biennial 2021

MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK, Everything Else is Everything Else

PEER, London, UK, Crocodile Cradle

2020
Royal Academy, London, UK, Summer Exhibition

TOTAH, New York, The Shadow

2019
9th Jafre Biennial–IX Biennal De Jafre, 17143 Jafre, Girona, ES, The Gorgon’s Dream (El Somni De La Gorgona)
Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK, The Aerodrome 

2018
TOTAH, New York, Polarities

Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, Jacob’s Ladder
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, TWENTY

2017
Chapter, Cardiff, UK, These Rotten Words

2016
TOTAH, New York, Cosmic Connections

2015
Sarah Hardie EAF Performance, Edinburgh, UK, Songs For Someone Who Isn’t There

2014
The Drawing Room, London UK (co-curator) touring to De La Warr Pavilion, East Sussex, The Nakeds
Timothy Taylor Gallery, London UK, Slow Learner
Drawing Room, London, UK, Abstract Drawing

2013
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, Once upon a time and a very good time it was…
Centro de Artes Visuales Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres, Spain, On Paper
New Art Centre, Salisbury, UK, Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?,
Drawing Room, London, UK, Drawing Biennial 2013

2012
Centro de Artes Visuales Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres, Spain, Language Games. An Introduction to The Art of Our Times
Large Glass, London, UK, With An Apple I Will Astonish 
Tannery Arts @ the Drawing Room, London, UK, Working on the Inside
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, Summer Exhibition
Emma Hill Fine Art Eagle Gallery, London, UK, The Artist’s Imprint

2011
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, Ill Fare The Land 
Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK, Artists for Kettle’s Yard
Tate Britain, London, UK, Watercolour 
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK. One Another

2009
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, On The Lonely
Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, No Shoes on the Carpet

2008
Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery, Suffolk, UK, Better Than Grey a Serious Consideration of Colour
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, The Archer and The Goat
Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK, Conversations
Voewood Projects, High Kelling, Norfolk, UK, At Home
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland, Order Desire Light
A Foundation, London, UK, 100 Years, 100 Artists, 100 Works of Art

2007
A Foundation, Liverpool, UK, ArtProjx at Greenland Street
Centro de Arte y Naturalexa – Fundación Bèulas, Huesca, Spain, La vida privada –colección Josep Civit
Model Arts & Niland Gallery, Sligo, Ireland & Tannery Arts, London, UK, The Secret Theory of Drawing

2006
A Handful of Dust, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK
Chung King Project, Los Angeles, CA: in association with The Drawing Room, London, UK, Flip: A Drawing Exhibition

2005
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, Edition
The Gallery, Wimbledon School of Art, London, UK The Hardest Thing to Draw is a Kiss (curated by David Austen)
MEIAC, Badajoz, Spain, Miradas y Conceptos
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow, and Blue?
The Eagle Gallery, London, UK, In Focus
Andrew Mummery Gallery, London, UK, Remarkable 

2004
Slewe Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 10 Years 
The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK, John Moore’s Exhibition 23 
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, Painting 
Arts Council Collection, Draiocht, Dublin, Ireland, See it…Read it, Art with Words 
Galleri Bouhlou, Bergen, Norway, Chromophiles

2003
Cambridge, UK, Exodus, Kettle’s Yard (curated by David Austen)
Laing Art Gallery, London, UK, The Collection of an Invisible Man
South London Gallery, London, UK, Independence

2002
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, Abstraction 
The Nunnery, London, UK, 3 x 2
Bloomberg Space, London, UK, Artaid 

2001
Galerie Kempfer, Munich, Germany, Yellow

2000
Archimede Staffolini Gallery, Cyprus, Y2K
The New Museum at Walsall, Walsall, UK, Blue

1999
Cairo, Egypt, Commission for the British Embassy 
Liverpool, UK, John Moores Exhibition 21

1998
Djanogly Art Gallery, Nottingham, UK, Book 
National Museum, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Source / Chanzo

1997
Sandra Gering Gallery, New York, NY, Marks and Traces
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK, Antechamber
Purdy Hicks Gallery, London, UK, A Cloudburst of Material Possessions
Slewe Gallery, Amsterdam, NL

1996
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK
Sunderland Museum and Art Gallery, Sunderland, UK, Take it From Here
The Tannery, London, UK, In Passing
Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK, Absolute Vision: New British Painting in the 1990’s

1995
Buttler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland, The Contemporary Art Society Collection
Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Made in L.A

1994
Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Recent Publications – Editions and Monoprints

1993
Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Painters’ Prints
Curwen Gallery, London, UK, WaterCOLOUR
Cubitt Street Gallery, London, UK, Strictly Painting
Royal Festival Hall, London, UK, Moving into View, Recent British Painting
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, Spit in the Ocean

1992
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK, Whitechapel Open
Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, Poiesis
Centre de Conference Albert Borshette, Brussels, Belgium, New Voices: Recent Painting For The British Council Collection (Catalogue)
Arts Council Gallery, Belfast, UK; City Arts Centre, Edinburgh, UK; Barbican Centre, London, UK, Twelve Stars (Catalogue)

1991
Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, New Editions
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK, Whitechapel Open co-selector

1990
Espace Culturel Graslin, Nantes, France, Mind the Gap (cat. illus)
Ciento, Barcelona, Spain
Graeme Murray Gallery, Edinburgh, UK, Poiesis
David Beitzel, New York, NY
Anderson O’Day Gallery, London, UK, The Theory and Practice of the Small Painting (curated by Tony Godfrey)
Zellweger, Basel, Switzerland, British Art 
Broadgate Art Project, London, UK

1988
City Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, UK, Object and Image: Aspects of British Art in the 1980’s
Norwich School of Art, Norwich, Vanitas, UK (cat. illus)
Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London, UK, Atlas 3

1987
Riverside Studios, London, UK, Riverside Open
Franham College of Art and Serpentine Gallery, London, UK, On a Plate (cat. illus)

1986
Gimpel Fils, London, UK and touring to: Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer, New York, NY (cat. illus), Between Identity and Politics: A New Art
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, Works on Paper
John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, UK and the Exhibition Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK, Canvass: New British Painting
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, New Art

1985
Royal College of Art Degree Show, London, UK (cat. illus)
Solomon Gallery, London, UK, Young Masters(cat. illus)
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK, New Art 2
Riverside Studios, London, UK, Riverside Open

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2019

Davie, William. “The Aerodrome, An exhibition dedicated to the memory of Michael Stanley.” The Brooklyn Rail, September 2019.

Buck, Louisa. “The aerodrome: Michael Stanley remembered at Ikon Gallery.” The Art Newspaper, 14 June 2019.

McLeod, Kate. “David Austen Underworld DCA.” The Skinny, 23 May 2019.

Spens, Christiana. “‘David Austen - interview: ‘I think Dr Seuss is as great as Picasso’.” Studio International, 2 April 2019.

2018

Brock, Hovey. “The stars above the ocean the ocean beneath the stars.” The Brooklyn Rail

2017

Russell, Niki. “These Rotten Words.” Art Monthly

2011
Furseth, Jessica. “David Austen: Papillon.” thisistomorrow.info, October 2011.
Battersby, Matilda. “Refreshing Watercolours.” theindependent.co.uk, 15 February 2011.
Jobey, Liz. “Q&A.” FT Magazine, 12 February 2011.

2010
Sherwin, Skye. The Guardian Guide, 18 December 2010.
Nikkhah, Roya. “Gordon Brown’s ‘love inspired’ art collection.” The Sunday Telegraph, 7 March 2010.
Graham-Dixon, Andrew. “MPs falling into hell among artistic Labour of love.” The Sunday Telegraph, 7 March 2010.

2009
Clegg, James. “David Austen.” Art Review, December 2009.
“End of Love.” qype.co.uk, 25 November 2009.
Gore, Will. “End of Love opens at Stanley Picker Gallery.” The Surrey Comet, 25 November 2009.
Macmillan, Duncan. “Art reviews: A Model of Order; Concrete Poetry/David Austen.” The Scotsman, 3 November 2009.
“David Austen Edinburgh.” The Guardian Guide, 24 October 2009.
Doubal, Rosalie. “David Austen: My love, I have been digging up my own bones in the garden again.” list.co.uk, 23 October 2009.
Sutherland, Giles. “David Austen at The Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh.” The Times (Scotland), 20 October 2009.

2008
Westwood, Martin. “David Austen: Surfacing At The Crossroads.” Turps Banana, issue Five, 2008.
“David Austen and Man Ray.” The Herald, 8 March 2008.
“Dark futures with a nod to a surreal past.” The Scotsman, 14 March 2008.

2007
Holman, Martin. “I Have This Terrible Feeling; Heavy and Black; What’s David Austen Doing Making Films?” Miser & Now, issue 10, 2007.
Irving, Cameron. “David Austen.” Untitled, issue 42, Summer 2007.
Bayley, Lucy. “Art Round-up.” The London Paper, 22 May 2007.
Lack, Jessica. “David Austen.” The Guardian Guide, 12-18 May 2007.
Reilly, Hugh. “Where the art is.” The London Paper, 16 May 2007.
“Artprojx: David Austen.” Kultureflash.net, 16 May 2007.
Sumpter, Helen. “Where the magic happens.” Time Out, 9-15 May 2007.
Duguid, Hannah. “Pleasure, pain and the art of opposites.” The Independent, 8 May 2007.
“David Austen, Exhibition at MK G.” MK News, 21 March 2007.
Tipton, Gemma. “David Austen: Crackers.” A-N Magazine, March 2007.
Clark, Robert. “David Austen, Milton Keynes.” The Guardian Guide, 10 February 2007.
Morton, Tom. “The Secret Theory of Drawing.” Frieze.com, 2 January 2007.

2005
Austen, David. “David Austen on Alberto Giacometti’s ‘Hour of the Traces’ (1930).” Tate, 1 May 2005.

2004
Falconer, Morgan. “David Austen.” Modern Painters, Summer 2004.
Falconer, Morgan. “Stuff of Substance.” What’s on in London, 3-10 March 2004.

2003
Evans, Jane. “Exodus.” A-N Magazine, September 2003.
Pitman, Joanna. “Bible Lessons.” The Times, 22 July 2003.
Hubbard, Sue. “The sands of time.” The Independent, 22 July 2003.
Mead, Andrew. “Double Vision.” The Architects’ Journal, 17 July 2003.
Hedges, Ruth. The List, 3-17 July 2003.
Lack, Jessica. The Guardian, 23 June 2003.
Cowan, Amber. “Exodus.” The Times, 21 June 2003.
Clark, Robert. “Exodus.” The Guardian Guide, 21-27 June 2003.
Chapman, Peter. The Independent, 14 June 2003.
Kyriacou, Sotiris. “Exodus.” Contemporary, issue 52, 2003.
Burnett, Craig. “Austen in the Desert.” Previews, Modern Painters, Summer 2003.
Clark, Robert. “David Austen.” The Guardian Guide, 14-20 June 2003.
Cowan, Amber. “David Austen – Ingleby Gallery.” The Times, 7-13 June 2003.
“David Austen.” Scotland on Sunday, 8 June 2003.
Pickles, Helen. Financial Times, 10-11 May 2003.

2001
“Artist commission.” Modern Painters, Winter 2001.
Clarke, Helen. “The Show asks: Only connect.” East Anglian Daily Times, 11 June 2001.
Sutherland, Giles. “Around the Galleries: Edinburgh.” The Times, 14 February 2001.

2000
Dodson, Sean. “Artists who paint by digits.” The Guardian, 30 November 2000.
Glover, Izi. “David Austen.” Time Out, 12-19 April 2000.
Ebner, Jorn. “Tiefer Griff in die Familienkiste.” Frankfurter Allgemeiner Zeitung, 8 April 2000.
McEwen, John. Art Sunday Telegraph, 2 April 2000.
Darwent, Charles. “The colour that changed the World.” The Independent, 20 February 2000.

1999
Hughes, Glyn. The Cyprus Weekly, 17-23 December 1999.
Cyprus Weekly, 24-30 December 1999.
Hasenfuss, Frecher. “David Austen stellt Aus.” Stuttgarter Zeitung N.245, 1999.
Simerini, 15 December 1999.
Politis, 10 December 1999.
Alithia, 6 December 1999.
Philelefttheros, 6 December 1999.

1998
McEwen, John. “Light in a corner of the bar.” The Sunday Telegraph, 31 May 1998.
Beaumont, Susanna. “David Austen.” The List, 20 May 1998.

1997
Cruz, Juan. “Antechamber.” Art Monthly, no. 206, May 1997, pp. 31-32.
Rondi, Joëlle. “About Vision.” Art Press, January 1997, pp.64-65.
Kellaway, Kate. “Once, twice, 74 times a lady.” Observer Review, 13 April 1997.
Januszczak, Waldemar. “It’s all a matter of life and death.” The Sunday Times, 6 April 1997.
Lambirth, Andrew. “David Austen.” What’s On, 12-19 March 1997.
Feaver, William. “Cloud pleasers.” The Observer, 9 February 1997.

1996
Feaver, William. “Crooked Style.” The Observer, 17 November 1996.
McEwen, John. “It’s Young, it’s British, it’s Cool.” Sunday Telegraph, 17 November 1996.

1995
Bonaventura, Paul. “A Dream without Sound interview.” Modern Painters, September 1995.

1994
Hubbard, Sue. “David Austen.” Time Out, 16-23 March 1994.
Norman, Geraldine. “Exhibition highlights new wave of painting ‘unbound’ for success.” The Independent, 14 March 1994.
Pagel, David. “David Austen.” Art Issues, No. 31, January/February 1994.

1993
Lillington, David. “Strictly Painting.” Time Out, 10-17 March 1993.
Feaver, William. The Observer, 28 February 1993.
Hall, Charles. The Guardian, 12 February 1993.

1991
Hall, James. “James Hall examines some new interpretations of Minimalism in the light of several current shows.” The Independent, 2 April 1991.
Godfrey, Tony, “British Painting for the 90s.” Art in America, April 1991.
Zellen, Jody. ArtScene, March 1991.
McKenna, Kristine. The Los Angeles Times, February 1991.

1990
The Guardian, September 1990.
Kent, Sarah. “David Austen, Frith Street Gallery.” Time Out, 4-11 July 1990.
Hubbard, Sue. “David Austen, Frith Street Gallery.” Galleries, June 1990.

1989
Godfrey, Tony. “David Austen at Anthony Reynolds.” Art In America, September 1989.

1988
Kent, Sarah. Time Out, 16-23 November 1988.
Kent, Sarah. “Studies the Atlas.” Time Out, Aug 24-31 1988.
Lumsden, Alice. “Artbreak.” Vogue, July 1988.
Howell, Sarah. “Hung for Less.” World of Interiors, June 1988.

1987
Sewell, Brian. “The Fine Art of Investing.” Sunday Express Magazine, 29 November 1987.
Kent, Sarah. “Drawings and Sculpture.” Time Out, 5-12 August 1987.
Kent, Sarah. “On a Plate.” Time Out, 8-15 April 1987.
Barker, Barry. Flash Art, February-March 1987.
Garlake, Margaret. Art Monthly, January 1987.
Currah, Mark. City Limits, 20-27 November 1987.
Garlake, Margaret. “Preview.” Art Monthly, November 1987.
Kent, Sarah. “Works on Paper.” Time Out, 6-12 March 2987.

1986
Currah, Mark. “Between Identity and Politics, a New Art.” City Limits, 7-13 February 1986.
Allthorpe-Guyton, Marjorie. “Between Identity and Politics: A New Art (Part 1).” Arts Review, vol. XXXVIII, no. 2, 31 January 1986.
Johnstone, Mog. “Riverside Studios: Open Exhibition.” Artline, vol. 3, no. 1, 1986.
Costa, Juliet R. London, no. 23 December – January 1986.

1985
Allthorpe-Guyton, Marjorie. “New Art I and II at Anthony Reynolds.” Artscribe International, no. 55December 1985 – January 1985.
Kent, Sarah. Time Out, 22-28 August 1985.
On Paula Rego, William Feaver, The Observer, 8 September 1985.
Januszczak, Waldemar. “New Art.” The Guardian, 27 August 1985.
Pollitt, Nigel. “New Art II.” City Limits, 30 August-5 September 1985.

PUBLICATIONS

2023

The Last Trapeze Artist, TOTAH, New York, NY

The Boys: an Adventure Drawings by David Austen Words by Hisham Matar, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

2021

Simon Moretti: Crocodile Cradle, PEER and Mousse Publishing, Milan, Italy

2019
Underworld, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, UK

2018
the stars above the ocean the ocean beneath the stars, TOTAH, New York, NY
The Drowned, Matt’s Gallery, London, UK

2016
The light that fell upon us burned, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

2015
Twighlight – A Wall of Gouaches, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

2014
The Nakeds, The Drawing Room, London, UK

2012
The Roundel, 100 Artists Remake a London Icon, Art/Books Publishing, London, UK

2011
The Gorgon’s Dream, LemonMelon, London, UK

2010
David Austen: END OF LOVE, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK

2007
David Austen, Milton Keynes Gallery, Buckinghamshire, UK

2006
GREEN ELECTRIC MORNING, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

2005
Froth on the Daydream, David Austen, Broken Glass, UK

2004
Stood Up, David Austen and Rupert Thomson, Peer, London, UK

2001
Objects and Images from the Edge of the World, Wolsey Art Gallery, Ipswich, UK

1997
David Austen, edited by Mead Gallery, Warwick Art Centre, Coventry, UK

1992
Jean Cocteau: Tempest of Stars, Illus. By David Austen, Enitharmon Editions, London, UK

1990
David Austen, Frith Street Gallery, London, UK

1989
David Austen, edited by Marco Livingstone, Art Random monograph, Kyoto Shoin, Japan

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

UBS Art Collection
The Tate Gallery, London, UK
The British Council, UK
Arts Council of England, UK
Government Art Collection, UK