Robyn Sweaney
Born 1957, Melbourne, Australia
Lives & Works – Mullumbimby (Bundjalung)
The tightly-choreographed paintings of Robyn Sweaney respond to the philosophical and ontological currency of the built environment. The artist’s preoccupation with the Australian architectural vernacular – particularly from the post war period – is rooted in an enduring fascination with the physiognomy of cultural identity. Domestic dwellings divulge more than their mere exteriors, functioning as physical incarnations of the aesthetic, ideological and social structures influencing human behaviour. Informed by travel through familiar and unfamiliar rural and suburban places, Sweaney finds that, ‘certain elements of place resonate an unexplainable reaction within me – something ignites deep within memory. The landscape is somehow opened up by the search itself and my response can reach beyond its visual appearance.’
Robyn Sweaney has exhibited regularly since 1992 and been involved in over ninety group exhibitions. She was the winner of the Wynne Trustees’ Watercolour Prize, AGNSW (2019) and has been the finalist of many major awards including the Wynne Prize (2024, 2023, 2019, 2017, 2011), Salon Des Refusés (2022, 2021, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008), Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Prize (JADA) (2018, 2014, 2010, 2008, 2004), Mosman Art Prize (2015, 2010, 2009), Paddington Art Prize (2023, 2015, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009), Moran Prize (2012, 2011), Portia Geach Memorial Award (2019, 2013), Fleurieu Art Prize (2013) and the Sulman Prize (2009). Her work is held in public and private collections throughout Australia including The State Library of New South Wales, Artbank, The Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Tweed Regional Gallery, Stanthorpe and Grafton and Lismore Regional Galleries.
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30 Years of Arthouse Gallery
7 - 21 December 2024Over the past three decades, Arthouse Gallery has distinguished itself as one of Australia's leading contemporary art galleries. Currently representing over forty artists, the gallery celebrates its 30th anniversary this...Read more -
Arthouse Group Show
Summer – Part 1 9 - 27 January 2024Arthouse Gallery is delighted to begin 2024 with 'Summer' featuring a selection of new and exciting works from our stable of artists. This coming year features solo shows by newly–represented,...Read more -
Off–Site Exhibition
George Place 19 December 2023 - 29 February 2024George Place is an outstanding office precinct in the thriving hub of Sydney’s CBD. George Place hosts a series of inclusive events and activities to enhance the workday experience for...Read more -
Arthouse Group Show
Sydney Contemporary Collection 2023 – Booth F12 7 - 10 September 2023
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Group Show
Paper 4 May - 10 June 2023'Paper & Clay' brings together the work of twenty-nine Australian artists traversing the timeless materiality of two enduring artforms. Unencumbered by dense conceptual wilderness, the works in this show posit...Read more -
Robyn Sweaney
Living on the Edge 21 September - 15 October 2022I don’t think Robyn Sweaney and I are the only people who harbour an emotional connection to the humble working and lower middle class homes of the immediate post-War period....Read more -
Sydney Contemporary 2020 Group Show
1 - 24 October 2020 -
Robyn Sweaney
Hidden in Plain Sight 2 - 20 June 2020Robyn Sweaney responds to the ways in which cultural identity can be read through the physical and philosophical undulations of the Australian landscape, both manmade and natural. Her characteristically detailed...Read more
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Robyn Sweaney
Backwards Looking Forwards 6 December 2018 - 12 January 2019The tightly-choreographed paintings of Robyn Sweaney respond to the philosophical and ontological currency of the built environment. The artist’s preoccupation with the Australian architectural vernacular – particularly from the post...Read more -
Robyn Sweaney
The Summer That Was 26 July - 12 August 2017'The Summer That Was’ explores the psychological currency of the artist’s often-annual pilgrimage to Victoria, where she recently spent the summer reconnecting with the coastal landscape that she grew up...Read more -
Robyn Sweaney
Looking Sideways, Heading West 24 February - 12 March 2016Based in Mullumbimby, Robyn Sweaney responds to the suburban mundane of her local rural environment in her layered explorations of Australian identity and place. Tightly refined homes and streetscapes divulge...Read more
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Exhibition Calendar 2024
2024ARTHOUSE GALLERY ANNOUNCES A DYNAMIC AND EXCITING EXHIBITION CALENDAR FOR 2024 Arthouse Gallery is delighted to announce our dynamic exhibition program for 2024. This coming...Read more -
Robyn Sweaney wins second prize in The Doyles Art Award
Mudgeeraba 3 July 2024Robyn Sweaney has won second prize in The Doyles Art Award in the landscape category. The Doyles Art Award is an annual Australian representational fine...Read more -
Robyn Sweaney announced as a finalist in the Wynne Prize 2024
Art Gallery of New South Wales 30 May 2024We are thrilled to announce that Robyn Sweaney is a finalist in the prestigious Wynne Prize 2024. A now five times finalist, Sweaney has been...Read more -
'Lost in Palm Springs' featuring Robyn Sweaney & Kate Ballis currently on tour
Robyn Sweaney & Kate Ballis 24 May 2024In some exciting news, 'Lost in Palm Springs', an incredible group exhibition curated by Greer Honeywill is currently on tour around Australia exhibiting at various...Read more
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Multiple Arthouse Gallery artists announced as finalists in the Paddington Art Prize
Susan Baird, Jo Bertini, Jo Davenport, Lauren O'Connor and Robyn Sweaney 14 September 2023October 12-22, 2023 Cooee Art Leven 17 Thurlow Street Redfern NSW. We are delighted to announce that Susan Baird, Jo Bertini, Jo Davenport, Lauren O'Connor...Read more -
Robyn Sweaney Selected as a Finalist in Wynne Prize
Art Gallery of NSW 6 May – 3 September 23Four-time Wynne finalist Robyn Sweaney was attracted to this house by its symmetrical facade, which has remained unaltered for decades. Although the lives of those...Read more