MEGAN COPE
Quandamooka People
b. 1982, Meanjin/Brisbane
Lives and works on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) and in Meanjin/Brisbane
Qualifications
2006 Bachelor of Visual Arts (Visual Communication), Deakin University, Victoria
Select solo exhibitions
2024
Water is Life, Bayside Gallery, Brighton
Mirigan / Star in the Sky and the South East Wind, MIlani Gallery, Meanjin/Brisbane
2023
Whispers, Sydney Opera House, 2022
Low Pressure, Milani Gallery, Meanjin/Brisbane
Unbroken Connections, Redland Art Gallery, Capalaba
2021
Unbroken Connections, Canberra Glassworks, Kamberri/Canberra
Fractures and Frequencies, UNSW Galleries, Sydney
2019
The Black Napoleon, Australian Print Workshop, Naarm/Melbourne
Fight or Flight, Australian War Memorial, Kamberri/Canberra
2015
The Blaktism, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney
The Blaktism, This Is No Fantasy + dianne tanzer gallery, Naarm/Melbourne
2013
The Tide is High, Fehily Contemporary, Naarm/Melbourne
2012
Deep Water, Spiro Grace Art Rooms, Meanjin/Brisbane
Select group exhibitions
2025
Sharjah Biennial 16: to carry, Buhais Geological Park, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Hawai’i Triennial 25: Aloha Nō, Leeward Community College, Honolulu, United States
2024
Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean, Oceanside Museum of Art, California, United States
The Charge That Binds, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Naarm/Melbourne
Remembering the Future, Milani Gallery, Meanjin/Brisbane
Queensland Contemporary Glass, Artisan, Meanjin/Brisbane
Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Meanjin/Brisbane
Dreams Nursed in Darkness, Wollongong Art Gallery, Wollongong
Soils, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
The Ecologies Project, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington
With Nature, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Kamberri/Canberra
2023
We Are Electric, University of Queensland Art Museum, Meanjin/Brisbane
Heat, Redcliffe Art Gallery, Redcliffe
The Soils Project, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville
CrownLand, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland
WEATHER/Whether, Wyndham Art Gallery, Wyndham
proppaNOW: There Goes the Neighbourhood!, Vera List Center, New York City
2022
Te Au: Liquid Constituencies, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, Aotearoa New Zealand
Busan Biennale 2022: We, On The Rising Wave, Museum of Contemporary Art, Busan, South Korea
Reclaim the Earth, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
Embodied Knowledge: Queensland Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Meanjin/Brisbane
Art in Conflict, Australian War Memorial, Kamberri/Canberra (touring)
This language that is every stone, Institute of Modern Art, Meanjin/Brisbane
Interspecies and Other Others, Abbotsford Convent, Naarm/Melbourne
A Landscape is Not Something You Look At, Milani Gallery, Meanin/Brisbane
All light, all air, all space, Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, Goulburn
Mona Foma 2022, Mona Foma, nipaluna/Hobart
Agent Bodies, RMIT Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne
2021
Un/Learning Australia, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
IT’S ONLY A GIFT IF YOU SEE IT AS A GIFT, Outer Space, Brisbane, QLD
Connecting the world through sculpture: In the Air, Monash Museum of Art, Victoria
TarraWarra Biennial 2021: Slow Moving Waters, TarraWarra museum of Art, Victoria
Image is not Nothing (Concrete Archives), ACE Open, ACE Gallery, South Australia (Touring)
OCCURRENT AFFAIR: proppaNOW, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane (Touring)
2020
MCA Collection: Perspectives on place, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney
NGV Triennial, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Monster Theatres, South Australia
do it (australia), Kaldor Public Art Projects, Online
Rite of Passage, Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Brisbane
2019
Water, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Great Movements of Feeling, Next Wave Festival, NETS Victoria (Touring)
Violent Salt, Artspace Mackay, QLD (Touring)
Material Place: Reconsidering Australian Landscapes, UNSW Galleries, University of NSW, Sydney
Haunt, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Concrete, Jam Factory, Adelaide (Touring)
A World of One’s Own, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria
THE UTOPIAN OBJECT – c3 Annual Fundraiser, Melbourne
Firstdraft Auction, Firstdraft, Sydney
2018
Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Installation Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney
Octopus 18: Mother Tongue, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
Ex Embassy, Former Australian Embassy, Berlin
TARNANTHI Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Adelaide
2017
Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
The National 2019: New Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Unfinished Business: Perspectives on art and feminism, ACCA, Melbourne
Coast: the artists’ retreat, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Wales
Sovereignty, ACCA, Melbourne
Another Day in Paradise, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney
2016
Frontier Imaginaries, Al-Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, Jerusalem
Frontier Imaginaries, Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Brisbane
proppaNOW, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Melbourne
Re-visioning Histories, Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, Melbourne
Ideas Platform exhibition, Artspace, Sydney
Ku-ring-gai pH, Manly Art Gallery & Museum
Dead Centre, Edith Cowan University, Perth
40 Years of 3CR, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
Women, Art and Politics, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Melbourne
2015
Western Australian Indigenous Art Award, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Lost in Translocation, RMIT Project Space, Melbourne
BLAKOUT, Sydney College of Art Galleries, University of Sydney
Lifelines: Indigenous Contemporary Art from Australia, Musées de la Civilisation in Québec, Canada
Dead Ringer, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth
2014
Saltwater Country, Gold Coast City Art Gallery
From Where I Stand, Bunjilaka (Melbourne Museum), Melbourne
2013
A Journal of the Plague Year, Para Site, Hong Kong
My Country, I Still Call Australia Home, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Curatorial and Community Projects
2020/2022
Co-Artistic Director, QUAMPI Art and Culture
2015/16
Creative Producer, Indigenous Cultural Program, Footscray Community Arts Centre
2011/Current
Member of proppaNOW Artist Collective
2012
Co-Curator, Art with Altitude, Urban Art Projects & Brisbane Airport
2009/10
Creative Director, BARI Festival
2006/09
Co-Director, tinygold ARI
Awards, grants and residencies
2024
Creative Australia Award for Emerging and Experimental Arts
2022
2022-2024 Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Politics (for art collective proppaNOW for exhibition OCCURRENT AFFAIR)
2020
Canberra Glassworks Residency, ACT (2020-2021)
Australian Council for the Arts, Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups – Grant Recipient
57th Annual Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW – Finalist
2019
Hornsby Art Prize, NSW: Finalist
2018
Konica Minolta Redland Art Award, NSW – Finalist
Sovereign Words, Dhaka Art Summit (Artspace Sydney and OCA Norway), Bangladesh
Cementa 19, Kandos, NSW
Australian Print Workshop, French Connections, Paris
2017
Bundanon Art Residency, The Long Paddock, NSW
Redcliffe Art Award, QLD
2016
Ku-ring-gai pH Residency, NSW
2015
Winner, WA Indigenous Art Award, WA
2012
Arts QLD, Rural Residency, Tambo QLD
2011
Churchie Emerging Art Prize – Finalist
NEWflames Inc, Canopy Artspace, Cairns FNQ
2009
Sunshine Coast Art Prize – Finalist
Clayton Ultz Travelling Scholarship – Finalist
Deakin University – Indigenous Arts Faculty
2008
Highly Commended, Gold Coast Indigenous Art & Design Award
Collections
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
National Gallery of Victoria
Queensland Art Gallery |Gallery of Modern Art
Monash University Art Collection
National Gallery Australia
Australian War Memorial
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Melbourne Museum
Redcliffe City Art Gallery
Queensland University of Technology Art Museum
NEWflames Anne Gamble Myer Collection
Musées de la Civilisation: Canada
Artbank
Darebin Art Collection
Public artworks and commissions
2024 Untitled (Eora—South) and Untitled (Cammeraygal—North), Commonwealth Bank Place, Sydney
2022 What Becomes of the Clouds, 80 Ann Street, Meanjin/Brisbane
2021 Gundungurra Ngurra, Ngununggula | Southern Highlands Regional Gallery, Retford Park
2018 Weelam Ngalut (Our Place), Monash University, Clayton Campus, Naarm/Melbourne
2017/19 Official War Artist, Australian War Memorial
2017 St George Hospital, Kogerah, NSW
2016 Yunggulba, MAIWAR 2016 (Curated by Blaklash Collective), Fish Lane, Brisbane
Yunggulba, Kuril Dhagun, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
2015 You Are, Now Here, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
Transcendance, The Koorie Art Commission, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne
2014 Brisbane Magistrates Court (as a part of G20 Summit), Brisbane
2013 My Country, I Still Call Australia Home, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
2012 The River, Museum of Brisbane
NEWflames, Video Installation, QPAC Theater, Brisbane
2011 Moreton Bay Regional Council – Public Art, Charlish Park
2010 Mater Hospital, South Brisbane
Select bibliography
2022
Indigenous artist Megan Cope has created an oyster reef on Quandamooka Country – Jo Higgins; ABC art Works; ABC News
Episode 22 Arts Week: head to Minjerribah to see Megan Cope build an oyster reef on Country; Art Works; ABC TV
Reclaim the Earth, urge artists at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo; Amy Serafin; Wallpaper Magazine
2021
Artist Profile #56 - Yarnography: The Life and Art of Megan Cope – Hannah Donnelly; Artist Profile
Art Works! - Artist Megan Cope on creating with recycled glass - NAIDOC Week 2021; ABC Art Works TV
Unbroken Connections on AWAYE! with Daniel Browning, Broadcast Sat 22 May 2021; ABC AWAYE!
TarraWarra Biennial: Thoughts on Time and Space - Chi Tran; Ocula Magazine
Deep Waters: TarraWarra 2021 Biennial – Amelia Winata; The Saturday Paper
A Reason To Re-Imagine: The Image is not Nothing (Concrete Archives) – Ali Cobby Eckermann; Artlink
Megan Cope: Fractures and Frequencies – Travis Johnson; Time Out
Exhibition Review: The Image is Not Nothing (Concrete Archives), ACE Open - Emma Bedford; Arts Hub
Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition puts notion of place on the map; The Australian
Listening to country: ‘Fractures- & Frequencies’ and ‘Infractions’ – Anwen Crawford; The Monthly
TarraWarra Biennial 2021: Slow Moving Waters - Announcement by Nina Miall; E-Flux
Fractures and Frequencies - Keynote speech (live) by Suzanne Dhaliwal at Sydney Festival
2020
NGV rises to the challenge with beautiful, thoughtful Triennial exhibition - Robert Nelson; Brisbane Times
Major proppaNOW exhibition opening at UQ Art Museum in 2021- UQ News
Artist Voice: Karla Dickens and Megan Cope - Video interview with Clothilde Bullen; MCA
Unsettling Scores: Sovereignty, Resistance, and Futurity - Disclaimer
Indigenous artists at NGV Triennial to celebrate Country and question colonial legacies - Racheal Knowels; NITimes
Pure Imagination: Creatives in isolation capture moments from home - Alison Vennes; Vogue Magazine
Deep Listening with Megan Cope – Interview with Julianne Cordray; ArtConnect Magazine
Art Show with Namila Benson – Wednesday 15 April 2020, ABC Radio National (starts 45:03)
Native Title’s Compensation Provisions Require Careful Attention – Louise Martin-Crew; Engineering for Public Works
L’arte aborigena rivela l’Australia – Maria Adelaide Marchesoni in Il Sole, 24 Ore
Australian artists tap into current fears and past nightmares in Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art – Dee Jefferson; ABC News
Monsters in the gallery: Adelaide biennial invites the chaos of the unknown – Jane Howard; The Guardian
Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Monster Theatres – Andy Butler; The Saturday Paper
‘Meth Kelly’ and colonial monsters: Australia’s biggest art shows get Indigenous rewrite– Steve Dow; The Guardian
A meeting of monsters at the Adelaide Biennial brings us closer to our fears – Catherine Speck; The Conversation
Review: Monster Theatres – 2020 Adelaide Biennial, Art Gallery of SA – Gina Fairley; ArtsHub
Adelaide biennial: the fright stuff – John McDonald; Brisbane Times
James Cook University central plaza complete – Architecture AU
New $5 Million Plaza Opens at JCU Campus – Townsville Bulletin
JCU’s stunning Central Plaza opens – Mirage News
Cook through the eyes of five curators – Gina Fairley; ArtsHub
250 years on, Cook’s legacy examined in art – Mirage News
2019
Water exhibition in Brisbane proves a wellspring of ideas for positive action against climate change. – Dee Jefferson; ABC
Water: the universal solvent; ABC Radio National
How a peaceful Aboriginal artist got on with the Australian forces in the Middle East – Steve Evans; Canberra TimesSacred ground – Phil Brown; Brisbane News
2018
Resistance Reviewed – Natalie Furnas; Fine Print
2017
A City Built On Shell Middens; ABC TV
Artist profile: Megan Cope; ABC Arts
Invisible Agency: An interview with Megan Cope – Mariam Arcilla; Runway Journal
Material Politics – Lu Forsberg; UN Projects
Upside down/right way up: Historiography of contemporary ‘Australian’ art – Helen Hughes; The National
Material Politics – Henrietta Wilson; Art Asia Pacific
Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial – Sasha Grishin; The Age
2016
Megan Cope’s Blaktism – Graham Mathwin; Sensible Perth
Art Collector, Issue 75, Jan-Mar, p160
When volcanoes clash: Transcendence tells Australia’s history through Indigenous eyes– Andrew Stephens; The Age
Studio: Megan Cope – Toby Fehily; Art Guide Australia
2015
Frontier Wars between Indigenous people and settlers the focus of Wyndham Art Gallery exhibition – Dylan Rainforth; SMH
WA Indigenous Art Award: Megan Cope’s The Blaktism questions authenticity obsession – Dylan Rainforth; The Age
WA Indigenous art award winner explores Aboriginal identity and authenticity – Chloe Papas; ABC Radio – Perth
Megan Cope’s ‘Blaktism’ video wins top indigenous art award – Victoria Laurie; The Australian
2014
Artist Megan Cope takes a fresh look at the question of identity – Kylie Northover; The Age
The Blaktism – Professor Steve Larkin; Metro Arts
2013
Toponymic Interventions #2 – Sarah Werkmeister; Level ARI