Alex Davern
Photo: Tino Konino
I was exposed to the idea of becoming an artist through being involved in skateboarding and music culture. I moved to nipaluna/Hobart in 2009 to study a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Tasmanian School of Art. Since graduating I have been employed at The Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) where I have continued to explore my artistic understanding of the world through supporting a variety of exhibitions and events as part of the library team. Throughout this time I have continued to write and perform music, with the debut album from TEENS due to release later this year.
Art is complicated. Someone I know thinks it’s biological. I’m still not sure. All I know is I can’t stop creating things. It’s frustrating.
My favourite art experience is… That plastic bag scene in that movie. I’m joking – I don’t do favourites.
I held a solo exhibition with Sawtooth ARI in 2017 (shout-out to Paul Eggins!) titled Doing the same thing over & over again. This opportunity allowed me to develop my practice, pushing me to venture into an installation/expanded painting space, which has been developed further in recent exhibitions. I’ve been doing (pretty much) the same thing since.
Biography
Alex Davern is a visual artist, musician and librarian based in nipaluna/Hobart whose artistic practice sits on the boundary between abstraction and the representational. He is driven by an ongoing interest in harnessing the emotional qualities of light through the depiction of architectural space and void.
Since graduating from the Tasmanian School of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Art in 2012, Alex Davern has held numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally and overseas, including The clouds have cameras (Contemporary Art Tasmania, Hobart), Transparent things (Bett Gallery, Hobart), On Belonging(s) (Devonport Regional Gallery, Tasmania), and erogazione in corso (Villa Lena, Palaia, Italy.) He has been selected for a number of Australian prizes including The Hadley's Art Prize, Tidal National Art Award and The Glover Prize. Davern has also undertaken numerous studio residencies, including Villa Lena (Palaia, Italy), Cradle Mountain Wilderness Gallery (Tasmanian Central Highlands), Launceston Church Grammar School (Launceston, Tasmania) and Contemporary Art Tasmania (Hobart, Tasmania). His works are held in public and private collections, notably Artbank, National Gallery of Australia and Villa Lena Foundation.
Alex is represented by Bett Gallery, Hobart.