VIVIAN COOPER SMITH

Born 1974. Lives and works Melbourne

Education
2017

Master of Fine Arts, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne

2004

Graduate Diploma in Graphic Design, RMIT

1995

Honours in Fine Arts, UWA, Perth

Solo Exhibitions
2019

The Stranger, Blockprojects, Melbourne

2018

Interference Pattern, collaboration with Rebecca Najdowski, Perth Centre for Photography, Perth
A light without stars, Galerie pompom, Sydney

2017

The Insufficient Photograph, Bus Projects, Melbourne

2016

Apparition Apparatus, Galerie pompom, Sydney

2015

Concrete Compositions, Fort Delta, Melbourne
And yet, but for these flowers, City of Yarra Carlton Library Lightbox Project, Melbourne

2014

Anchorage, Galerie pompom, Sydney
Point Farewell (collaboration with Jo Scicluna), C3 Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne

2013

Anchorage, Edmund Pearce, Melbourne
The Year of the Savage, West Space, Melbourne

2012

Control Study, with Jon Butt, St Heliers Street Gallery
Endings, Centre of Contemporary Photography Billboard Project, Melbourne
We’ll make it last forever, MOP Projects, Sydney

2011

UnNatural Light, Kurb Gallery, Perth
UnNatural Light, C3 Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne

2010

Wordless, C3 Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne

2008

Taking Up Country, C3 Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne

2006

Wreckage, Upstairs Flinders, Melbourne
Lullaby Me to Sleep, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne

2004

After They, Ume Nomiya, Melbourne

2002

When I Remembered You, Ume Nomiya, Melbourne

1997

Searching for Monsters, Perth Institute Of Contemporary Arts, Perth

1996

Sneaking Around the Motel, Perth Institute Of Contemporary Arts, Perth

1994

Come on: pop my bubbles, Port Gallery, Fremantle

Selected Group Exhibitions (Since 2007)
2019

By Definition, Sanderson Contemporary, Auckland, NZ
Liminal, Five Walls, Melbourne

2018

Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks
Looking but not seeing, Benalla Art Gallery, Victoria
In Bloom, SPRING1883, The Hotel Windsor, Melbourne
An Empire of Things, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Sydney
Imagine, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale

2017

Darebin Art Prize, Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, Melbourne
Another Look – Contemporary Artists and the Collection, Townhall Gallery, Melbourne
Contagious Magic, Galerie pompom, Sydney
CLIP Award, Perth Centre of Photography, Perth
Waves, C3 Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne

2016

Interiors/Exteriors, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Sydney
Butchery, C3 Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne

2015

Cutting edge: 21st-century photography, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
Terra Australis, Galerie Pavlova, Berlin
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney
West Space 2015 fundraiser, West Space, Melbourne

2014

Holy Lands, George Paton Gallery, Melbourne
Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
View from the Window, Edmund Pearce, Melbourne
Secure the shadow, Breezeblock, Sydney
Landscape transformed, Wallflower Gallery, Mildura
Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast City Gallery

2013

Stockland, Galerie pompom, Sydney
Face Off, Wellington St Projects, Sydney
The Dark Arts, Strange Neighbour, Melbourne
Contemporary Landscapes in Photography Prize, Perth Centre of Photography
Yarra Yarra, St Heliers Street Gallery

2012

Heaven or Las Vegas, Galerie pompom, Sydney
Archive 3, C3 Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne
Flanagans Art Prize, St Patricks College, Ballarat
Kodak Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
Copyshop, C3 Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne
The Study of Everything, C3 Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne
Near Earth Art, The Knock of the Shoe, Wollongong City Gallery, Wollongong

2011

Kodak Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne

2010

Golden Mountain, C3 Contemporary Arts Space, Melbourne

2009

We were young, Kings Gallery, Melbourne
Contemporary Landscapes in Photography Prize, Perth Centre of Photography
St Michael’s Exhibition and Archangel Prize, St Michaels Grammar School, Melbourne

2008

Two, Westspace, Melbourne

2007

Bespoke, Mori Gallery, Sydney

Selected Bibliography (Since 2006)
2019

The Arts Show with Alex McCulloch, Jewish Australian Radio 87.8FM, 25 April 2019
Three Belly Buttons, Podcast with Siying Zhou and Sanja Pahoki

2018

Terra Firma, Issue 5, November, p 88-91
Looking but not Seeing, exhibition catalogue, Benalla Art Gallery
Sophie Willison, ‘Vivian Cooper Smith showing at Galerie pompom’, Terra Firma

2017

Another Look: Contemporary Artists and The Collection, exhibition catalogue, Town Hall Gallery

2016

Pippa Milne, ‘Forecast: Vivian Cooper Smith’, Vault, Issue 15, pp.122-124

2015

Ingrid Kesa, ‘Photographer Vivian Cooper Smith Messes with Static Images’, The Creators Project, 1 September

2014

Dan Rule, The Age, May 10

2013

2013 ‘Vivian Cooper Smith: Anchorage’, The Melbourne Review
Jo Scicluna, ‘Year of the Savage’, catalogue essay

2012

Toby Blyth, ‘Vivian Cooper Smith’, A Magazine
Dan Rule, The Age, November 17
Dylan Rainforth, ‘Space’, The Age, October 3
Dan Rule, The Age, June 30
Kate Walsh, ‘6 of the Best. Q&A’, ‘Good Life’ supplement, Illawarra Mercury, March 27
Angela Thompson, ‘What’s in a name for curator’, Illawarra Mercury, March 1

2011

Dan Rule, The Age, July 2

2010

Dan Rule, The Age, February 13
Karl Smith, ‘Wordless’, catalogue essay

2009

Dan Rule, The Age, June 20

2008

Penny Modra, The Age, November 16
Rohan Trollope, The Age / EG, March 7

2006

Andrew Gaynor, ‘What lies beneath’, Wreckage catalogue essay

Awards/Grants
2021

Finalist, The King’s School Art Prize

2020

Winner, CLIP Award (Contemporary Landscapes in Photography), Perth Centre for Photography
Finalist, The Paul Guest Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, VIC

2019

Finalist, Fisher’s Ghost Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre
Finalist, Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art

2018

Finalist, The Darebin Art Prize, Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, VIC

2017

NGV Women’s Association Award

2015

Finalist, The Darebin Art Prize, Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, VIC

2014

Semi-Finalist, Moran Contemporary Photography Prize
Finalist, Bowness Photography Prize
Finalist, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award
Finalist, The Iris Award, Perth Centre for Photography, Perth, WA

2013

CCP Salon Patrick Corrigan AM Acquisitive Award
Finalist, Contemporary Landscapes in Photography Prize

2012

Winner, Best Night-time image, CCP Kodak Salon
City of Yarra, Small Projects Grant
Finalist, Flanagan Art Prize

2009

Highly Commended, St Michael’s Archangel Prize
Finalist, Contemporary Landscapes in Photography Prize
Semi-finalist, Moran Contemporary Photography Prize

Collections

Australian Catholic University, Gippsland Art Gallery, Artbank, City of Yarra Melbourne