LEACH, SAM
Born 1973, Adelaide
2005 Master of Arts (Fine Arts) by research RMIT University, Melbourne
2004 Honours Fine Art (Painting), RMIT University, Melbourne
2003 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting), RMIT University, Melbourne
1993 Bachelor of Economics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide
AWARDS AND PRIZES
2010 Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, winner
2010 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, winner
2010 RMIT Alumnus of the Year Award, RMIT University, Melbourne
2009 Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, Coffs Harbour, finalist
2009 Royal Bank of Scotland Emerging Artist Award, Sydney, finalist
2009 University of Queensland Self Portrait Prize, Brisbane, finalist
2009 Arthur Guy Memorial Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, finalist
2009 Waterhouse Natural History Prize, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, finalist
2009 Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, finalist
2008 Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize, Gold Coast City Gallery, Gold Coast, finalist
2008 Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, commendation
2008 Fleurieu Art Prize, Fleurieu Biennale, Art of Food and Wine and Water Prize, McLaren Vale, winner
2008 ABN Amro Emerging Artist Award, Sydney, finalist
2008 Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, finalist
2007 Siemens Fine Art Award, RMIT University, Melbourne, winner
2007 Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, Sydney, finalist
2007 Stan and Maureen Duke, Gold Coast Art Prize, Gold Coast City Gallery, Gold Coast, finalist
2007 Metro5 Art Award, Metro Gallery, Melbourne, finalist
2007 Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, finalist
2006 Fletcher Jones Contemporary Art Prize, Geelong Gallery, Geelong, finalist
2006 Metro5 Art Award, Metro Gallery, Melbourne, judges award
2005 Siemens Fine Art Award, RMIT University, Melbourne, finalist
2004 Siemens Fine Art Award, RMIT University, Melbourne, finalist
COLLECTIONS
Artbank
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, Coffs Harbour
Christ Church Grammar, Perth
Geelong Art Gallery, Geelong
Gold Coast City Gallery, Gold Coast
Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne
La Trobe University, Melbourne
Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Newcastle
University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo Regional Gallery, Dubbo
Private collections in Australia and overseas
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012 SSFA12, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney
2011-12 Sam Leach: The Ecstasy of Infrastructure, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville
2011 We Have Never Been Modern, ARTHK11, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Asia One, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
2010 Present at Hand, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2010 Platonia, COMODAA, London, United Kingdom
2010 Cosmists, 24HR ART, Northern Territory Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin
2009 The Next Billion Years, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2009 The Margin, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2009 Native Dualism, Peter Walker Fine Art, Adelaide
2008 Holotypes, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2008 Negentrophies, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2007 Unnatural Selection, Peter Walker Fine Art, Adelaide
2007 The Spoils, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2006 Familie Kapitaal, Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney
2005 The Lift, Spacement, Melbourne
2005 The Longed for Departure, Bus Gallery, Melbourne
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 Lie of the Land: New Australian Landscapes, Embassy of Australia, Washington DC, USA
2011 Imagining the Future, RMIT Gallery, RMIT University, Melbourne
2011 Unknown Pleasures, Gipplsand Art Gallery, Sale
2011 The Rapture of Death, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale
2011 The New Arcadia, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore
2011 First Life Residency in Landscape, Xin Dong Cheng Space for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
2011 Together in Harmony, Korean Foundation Cultural Centre, Seoul, South Korea
2011 SSFA11, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2011 Art Stage Singapore, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
2010 ARTHK10, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
2010 SSFA10, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2010 Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2010 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2009 Horror – Come Darkness, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney
2009 The Shilo Project, Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne, Melbourne
2009 Nature ID, Jan Manton Gallery, Brisbane
2009 Australia Now, Bedfordbury Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2009 Surveying the Field, Moreland City Art Gallery, Melbourne
2009 Mute Relics and Bedevilled Creatures – Constructing an Antipodean Curio Cabinet, Moreland City Art Gallery, Melbourne
2009 SSFA09, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2008 Contemporary Australia: Optimism, Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
2008 The Year of the Bird, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Sydney
2008 Heat: Art and Climate Change, RMIT Gallery, RMIT University, Melbourne
2008 Neo Goth: Back in Black, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
2008 Melbourne Art Fair, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Royal Exhibition Centre, Melbourne
2008 Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2008 SSFA08, Sullivan+Strumpf Fine Art, Sydney
2008 Bal Tashchit: Thou Shat Not Destroy – The Environment in Biblical and Rabbinic Sources, Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne
2007 Momento Mori, Blkmrkt, Brisbane
2007 Sincerity of Detail, Wardlow Studios, Melbourne
2007 Metro 5 Finalists, Metro Gallery, Melbourne
2007 Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2006 Metro 5 Finalists, Metro Gallery, Melbourne
2006 Melbourne Reign, Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney
2004 RMIT Honours Graduate Show, Area Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne
2004 8, RMIT Gallery, RMIT University, Melbourne
2004 Melbourne Commonwealth Games Village, Melbourne
2003 Thread, RMIT Graduate Show, Melbourne
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Craven, Owen. ‘Sam Leach: The Science of Painting’, Artist Profile, Issue 16, 2011, p 56 - 63
Pys, Pavel. ‘Sam Leach’s Platonia’, Art Monthly Australia, no. 237, March 2011, p 38 -39
Johnston, Andrew. Empty Magazine, Issue 19 August 2010, Cover Image and p 1 - 5
Lau, K. ‘Open Gallery: Present at hand’, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 – 17 October 2010
Taylor, Andrew. ‘Painting the True Picture’, The Sun-Herald, 3 October 2010
‘Talent: Paint Storm’, Vogue, November 2010, p 168
Christopher, Lissa. ‘Open Gallery: The Next Billion Years’, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 – 16 August 2009
‘On Sam Leach @ Sullivan + Strumpf Fine Art’, Artkritique 2, August 2009
ABC TV, Sunday Arts, 16 August 2009
Davies, Kerrie. ‘Sam Leach – Time and Space’, Artworld, Issue 9, June/July 2009, p 102 -105
Miller, Carrie. ‘The Primacy of Progress’, Australian Art Collector, Issue 48, April – June 2009, p 114 - 121
Harris, Cerentha. ‘Shining Stars’, Belle, April/ May 2009, p 90-92
‘100 Most Influential Melburnians’, The Age, Melbourne Magazine, 12 December 2008
Clarke, Suzanna. ‘Beautiful Obsession’, The Courier Mail, 27 – 28 December 2008
Miller, Carrie. ‘Join the Queue’, Art Collector, Issue 45, 2008 p 96 – 98
Crawford, Ashley. ‘Sam Leach: Ghost in the Machine’, Art Monthly Australia, no. 211, July 2008, p 42 – 44
Flanagan, Martin. ‘Lessons from the Old Testament’, The Age, 26 April 2008
Cooke, R. ‘Sam Leach: Negentrophies’, Time Out Sydney, 2-8 April 2008
McDonald, John. ‘There’s Magic in These Spectacular Works’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29-30 March 2008
Strickland, Katrina. ‘Not Many Well-suited to This Year’s Archibald’, The Australian Financial Review, 29 February 2008
Smee, Sebastian. ‘Put on a Happy Face’, The Australian, 29 February 2008
Higson, Rosalie. ‘Finn’s the Pick of the Crowded Packing Room’, The Australian, 29 February 2008
Pearce, Alyosha. ‘A Packer’s Eye on the Prize’, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 February 2008
Schwartzkoff, Louise. ‘Smart Money on the Finn Review’, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 February 2008
ABC TV, Sunday Arts, March 2008
Llewellyn, J. ’50 Most Collectable Artists’, Australian Art Collector, Issue 43, January – March 2008, p154-158
Strickland, Katrina. 'Animal Focus is Dead Right', The Australian Financial Review, November 2007
McDonald, John. ' A Palette of Local Colour', Sydney Morning Herald, November 2007
'Introducing Sam Leach', Adelaide Advertiser, November 2007
Kylie, Annemarie. ‘Paint it Black’, Vogue Living, September 2007
Crawford, Ashley. ‘Freeing the Corpse from the Corporate’, The Age, June 2007
Ellis, Peter. ‘The Spoils’, Catalogue Essay, June 2007
Lloyd, Tony. ‘The Spoils’, Artinfo.com.au, June 2007
Makin, Jeff. ‘High Five for Artists’, Herald Sun, February 2007
Crawford, Ashley. ‘50 Most Collectable Artists’, Art Collector, January 2007
Barclay, Alison. ‘Hang them High’, Herald Sun, December 2007
Crawford, Ashley. ‘Melbourne Reign’, Catalogue Essay, September 2006
Makin, Jeff. ‘Art of Death Takes Flight’, Herald Sun, February 2006