Name and surname: Jenny Davis
Place of birth: Melbourne. Australia.
Notable exhibitions:
NGV. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Switchback Gallery, Monash University Gippsland Victoria Australia Can Serrat International Arts centre, El Bruc, Barcelona, Spain
Carteret Contemporary Gallery, NC. USA
TPTP Space, Montmartre, Paris. France
Collected by:
Rydges Hotel Group Australia Museum of Shenandoah Valley and California Center for the Arts, Escondido,USA
Can Serrat International Arts Center Barcelona, Spain
Various private collections in Australia, UK, USA, Canada & Europe
Participated in:
Artist residency Can Serrat International Arts Centre, El Bruc, Barcelona, Spain John Baldessari: Name up in Lights, Monnaie de Paris, Seine River. Paris, France John Leslie Art Prize. Sale Regional Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia
Landfill Art Project USA. Travelling exhibition, USA
Venice Biennale 57. The Biennale Project. Venezia, Italy
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For almost four decades, abstraction has been the foundation of Jenny's practice. It is not simply a visual language, but a way of understanding and engaging with the world. Whether working with paint, sculpture, textiles, found materials, artist books, collage, or assemblage, she is drawn to process, intuition, and the discoveries that emerge through making.
Jenny's work explores memory, place, material histories, inheritance and transformation. She is interested in the traces left behind by people, objects, and environments, and in how time becomes embedded within surfaces and materials. Weathered textures, salvaged objects, inherited books, textiles, fragments, and layers often become starting points for an investigation into what remains, what is remembered, and what is re-imagined.
Rather than describing the world literally, Jenny seeks to uncover its essence. Through layering, erosion, reconstruction, and abstraction, she investigates the spaces between presence and absence, memory and forgetting, loss and renewal. The process itself is central to the work. Meaning is not imposed but discovered through an ongoing dialogue with materials, allowing intuition, chance, and experience to guide the outcome.
Across a diverse range of mediums, a consistent thread runs through Jenny's practice: a fascination with the stories embedded in people, places, and materials, and a desire to reveal the connections that exist beneath the surface of things.
A significant development in her practice emerged with the Wallmatter and Rustmatter series (2016), which combined textiles, concrete, and paint and marked a breakthrough in technical exploration. Another formative moment occurred during an artist residency at Can Serrat International Arts Centre in Barcelona, Spain 2005, where Jenny collaborated with and was mentored by a master artist whose approach expanded her understanding of art beyond the physical object—encouraging a practice in which any action, material, or idea present in the moment could become part of the work.
Jenny Davis has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia), Switchback Gallery at Monash University Gippsland (Victoria, Australia), Carteret Contemporary Gallery (North Carolina, USA), Can Serrat International Arts Centre (El Bruc, Barcelona, Spain), and TPTP Space (Montmartre, Paris, France) Berlin. Germany and New York, USA. Her work is held in collections including Can Serrat International Arts Centre (Barcelona, Spain), Rydges Hotel Group (Australia), the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley and the California Center for the Arts, Escondido (USA), as well as private collections across Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Europe. Davis has participated in projects and exhibitions including the Landfill Art Project (USA), the John Leslie Art Prize at Sale Regional Art Gallery (Victoria, Australia), John Baldessari: Name in Lights at Monnaie de Paris (Paris, France), and the 57th Venice Biennale through The Biennale Project (Venice, Italy).
CV - Jenny Davis
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Wallmatter & Rustmatter. Waterwheel Gallery, Warburton, Victoria, Australia
2018 Spaces Below. Yering Station Gallery, Curator Dr. Ewen Jarvis. Yarra Glen, Victoria, Australia
2016 Wallmatter. The Memo, regional gallery, curator Jade Bitar Regional Exhibitions, Victoria, Australia
2011 Abstraction & Beyond. Burrinja Cultural Center, Victoria, Australia
2009/10 Jenny Davis 12 Photographs, 12 Months, Asnieries sur Seine, Paris, France
2009 Outlook8 Virtual Gallery Malt Village. Digital online installation, Secondlife
2008 Jenny Davis Malt Virtual Gallery. Digital online installation, Secondlife
2007 Jenny Davis 12 paintings, 12 months. Asnieries sur Seine, Paris, France
2007 Ausgallery. Travelling, international representation and exhibitions, Australian government Incentive
2007 Parisgrit. Tilt Contemporary Art Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2006 Can Serrat Project. Tilt Contemporary Art Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2005 Project Can Serrat. Upper Yarra Arts Center, regional gallery, Victoria, Australia
2005 Open Studio Exhibition Can Serrat Arts Centre, El Bruc, Barcelona, Spain
2005 Jenny Davis. Beale on Auburn Gallery, Auburn Road Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
2004 Didja. Tilt Contemporary Art Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2004 Jenny Davis at Loft Art Space. Rochford Winery, Victoria, Australia
2003 Jenny Davis Recent Paintings. Tilt Contemporary Art, Melbourne Australia
2002 Jenny Davis. Whereartis@ Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia
Group Exhibitions
2023 Woman. Yava Gallery & Waterwheel Gallery, Warburton, Victoria, Australia
2022 Door to Door Berlin Lite. Hause Gallery 4H, Berlin, Germany
2022 Abstractions. YAVA Art Gallery. Healesville, Victoria, Australia
2022 Transformation. Textile, sculpture, exhibition, online exhibition & publication
2021 Door-to-Door Project. No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2020 Door-to-Door Project. Virtual online exhibition. Artaviso
2020 Quite Complexity. YAVA Gallery & Arts Hub, Victoria, Australia
2019 Members exhibition. YAVA Gallery & Arts Hub. Healesville, Victoria, Australia
2019 Yarra Glen Art Show. Victoria, Australia
2018 Hit Me With Your Best Shot Project. BOAA installation, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
2017 Second Time Around. Environmental installation, California Center for the Arts, Escondido Museum, USA
2017 The Biennale Project Wallmatter 17. Digital Image Projection, Venice Biennale 57, La Biennale di Venezia, Italy
2017 From This Place Exhibition – Inspiring Women Artists of the Yarra Valley. Warburton regional gallery, Victoria, Australia
2017 Exhibition & Book Launch. Lindy Schneider, Angela Rivas, 14 Artists, Victoria, Australia
2014/15 Second Time Around. Environmental installation, Museum of Shenandoah Valley, USA
2014 Art+Mel Interactive Arts Event. Federation Square + Laneway, Melbourne, Australia
2014 Times Square Show Building Projection. Times Square, New York, USA
2013-14 Snap to Grid Exhibition. Los Angeles Center For Digital Art, USA
2013 Creatives Rising Exhibition. 30 story tall Projection mapping event, New York, USA: MoMA, Guggenheim, Gagosian Gallery, Sotheby’s, Christie’s Auction House
2013 The Story of the Creative. See Me exhibition space, N Y City, Digital Installation
2013 Artfuly. Pop up exhibition, Somedays Gallery, Surrey Hills, Sydney, Australia
2013 Xtinction Three Stories Artspace, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
2012 Land to Light. Jenny Davis, Charles Farrugia, Mark Story, John Martin, Switchback Gallery. Curators, Charles Farrugia, Rod Forbes, Monash University, Gippsland, Australia
2010 Room of Reference. TPTP Space, Montmartre, Paris. France
2010 Sebel Show. Heritage Country Club, Melbourne, Australia
2010 Artisans Show. Upper Yarra Arts Center, Victoria, Australia
2009 Art For Life. Bushfire Appeal Art Auction. Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne, Australia
2009 Landfillart Project. Ongoing, travelling exhibition and Publication. USA
2009 Mont De Lancy Show. Wandin, Victoria, Australia
2009 Artisans Exhibition. Upper Yarra Arts Center, regional gallery, Victoria, Australia
2008 Strazz n Oz. Jenny Davis & Jerry Osadczuk. Upper Yarra Arts Center, regional gallery, Victoria, Australia
2008 Tilt Christmas Show. Tilt Contemporary Art Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2008 March ’08 Hills Artists. Tilt Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia
2008 Australia Day Exhibition. Upper Yarra Arts Center, regional gallery, Victoria, Australia
2007 Melb 5 Bob Curtis Contemporary Movement Gallery. Berlin, Germany
2006-7 Abstraction X Four. Carteret Contemporary Gallery, NC, USA. Curator NY artist, Amy Ernst
2006 Finalist, John Leslie Art Prize. Sale Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia
2005 Discovery Art Show. Gasworks Art Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2005 Urbantide. Toyota Spirit Gallery, Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
2005 Soundscape. Fresh Gallery Space, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2005 Affordable Art Fair. Exhibition Buildings Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2005 Tilt Collectors Show. Tilt Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia
2005 Tilt Retrospective. Tilt Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia
2005 Abstract2. Art-Domain.com gallery, Leipzig, Germany. Curator Ulrich Goette Himmelblau
2004 Out from Down under and Beyond. Soho, New York, USA
2004 Abstract 1. Art Domain.com gallery. Port D’ andratx, Balearic Islands, Spain
2004 Artiade Olympics of Visual Arts. Exhibition Olympic Games Athens, Greece
2004 Tilt Collectors Show. Tilt Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia
2004 Tilt Retrospective. Tilt Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia
2003 The Postcard Show. Linden Gallery. St Kilda, Victoria, Australia
2003 Differing Visions. Upper Yarra Arts Center, regional gallery, Victoria, Australia
2003 Summer Salon. Gallery 314, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
1999 International Women’s Day Show. Healesville, Victoria, Australia
1998 International Women’s Day Show. Healesville, Victoria, Australia
1997 Coming up for Air. Caulfield Art Complex, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
1996 Recovery NGV. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
1968 Winner, Momba Art Competition. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Public Commissions - Projects & Collaborations
2022/23 Public Art Installation. Rydges CBD Hotel, Melbourne, Australia
2017 From This Place – Inspiring Women Artists of the Yarra Valley. Exhibition & Book Launch, Writer, Lindy Schneider, Photographer & writer, Angela Rivas & Artists. Yarra Valley, Victoria. Australia
2014/17 International Union of Mail Artists. Collaborative mail - art projects. Worldwide
2014 Limited Edition, Artist Book Publications. Jenny Davis, Jack Oudyn, Australia
2014 John Baldessari: Name up in Lights, Monnaie de Paris, Seine River. Paris, France
2011 John Baldessari: Name up in Lights. Kaldor Public Art Projects, Sydney Festival, NSW, Australia
2009-2017 Landfill Art Project USA. Ongoing travelling exhibition, USA
2007/9/10/16 Meet the Tenant Project. Research and document underground spaces in Paris, France. Photography, video and book publication
1994 Public Art Project. Sculpture, Redgum Art Center, collaboration with artist Lazlo Biro. Lilydale, Victoria, Australia
Awards & Grants
2018 Selected artist, The Other Art Fair Melbourne. Selection panel, Saatchi Art London
2015 Featured Artist, Issue 16 Upstairs at Duroc Literary and Arts Magazine, Paris, France
2012 Featured Artist, Aesthetica Creative Works Annual. England & Wales
2012 Selected Cover Artist, Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual. England & Wales
2013 Featured Artist, Rothko Red, Moods & Appetites, New York, USA
2012 Featured Artist Upstairs at Duroc Literary and Arts Magazine. Montmartre, Paris, France
2010 Featured Artist Abstractions 2010. New Art Review Magazine, N.Y. USA
2011 Awarded 2nd. Prize. Abstracts exhibition Light, Space & Time, Gallery. USA
2010 Winner Tyrrell’s Wine Label Award. Heritage Country Club, Victoria, Australia
2008 Awarded EMDG Australian Trade Commission Grant. Australian Export Award, Australia
2006 Certificate of Honour for Excellence in the Arts. Palm Awards, Leipzig, Germany
2005 Awarded Artist In Residence. Can Serrat International Art Center, Barcelona, Spain
2003 Award for Artistic Excellence. Camille Claudel, Peter Harper Art Award, USA.
Education & Professional Experience
2023 Perfectly Imperfect. Lorna Crane, NSW Australia
2022 Transformation. Clarissa Callesen, fibre/textile sculpture. Online exhibition & publication
2020 The Bookmaker. Artist book workshop. Roxanne Evans Stout, USA
2018 Victory Shields and Wisdom Keepers. Mixed media workshop, Roxanne Evans Stout, USA
2017 Weaving Workshop. Ruth Woods, Craft School Oz, Alywon Gardens, Yarra Glen, Victoria, Australia
2016 Art Business Strategies Coaching Course. 11-weeks, Maria Brophy
2016 Creativity and the Business of Art. Alexis Castillo.
2016 Textile Workshop, Indigo Shibori & Slow Stitch, Boro. Craft School Oz, Ruth Woods, Victoria, Australia
2008-19 Badger Creek Art Group. Old school house, Badger Creek, Victoria, Australia
2015 100 Days of Creative Courage. Stephanie Levy, Berlin, Germany
2015 InstaSavvy. Social Media Business Workshop, Dotty Media, Byron Bay, Australia
2015 CreativeArtsbiz. Business course, online
2015 Encaustic Art Workshop. Dawna Richardson-Hyde, 3 Stories Gallery Space, Healesville, Victoria. Australia
2013- 30 Days of Collage, Stephanie Levy. Berlin. Germany
2012 Find Your Own Freedom & the Business Model Right for You Online Workshop
2011 Creative Souls Telesummit Online Workshop
2011 Business Branding Workshop Etsy Labs.
2006-18 Design Branding and Art Blogger Workshop.
2004-5 Alternative Arts, Drawing & Painting. Richard-Granville- Smith, HLLC, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
2000-4 Professional Development for Artists. Shane Merry, HLLC, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
2001 Further Education Art Studies. Art foundation studies, cross media application, cultural perspectives, contemporary arts practice, painting studies, Ruth Woods. Victoria, Australia
1998/9/0 Therapist Training. Australian Institute of Professional Councillors, Australia
1998 Small Business Training. Swinburne University, Lilydale, (off campus), Victoria, Australia
1995 Women as Artists. Dr Annette Iggulden, HLLC, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
1995 Folio Prep Workshop. Dr Annette Iggulden, HLLC, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
1995 Cert. of Arc, Mig, Oxy Welding. Box Hill TAFE, Victoria, Australia
1995 Associate Diploma of Visual Arts Yr. 2. Oil Painting. Dr Annette Iggulden, HLLC, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
1994 Associate Diploma of Visual Arts. Dandenong TAFE. Year 2. Dandenong, Victoria, Australia
1994 Associate Diploma of Visual Arts. Swinburne TAFE Year 1, Wantirna, Victoria. Australia
1993 Adv. Cert. Art and Design. Dawna Richardson-Hyde, HLLC, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
1993 Adv. Cert. Ceramics Dawna Richardson-Hyde, HLLC, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
1993 Creative Art Class. Dr Annette Iggulden, HLLC, Healesville, Victoria, Australia
1993 Oil Painting. Marg Payne, East Warburton, Victoria, Australia
1992 Acrylic Painting. Marg Bell, Gladysdale, Victoria, Australia
1992 Textile Art Workshop. Patchwork Haven, Yarra Junction, Victoria, Australia
1985/6 Starting a Craft Business. Lilydale School of Horticulture, Lilydale, Victoria, Australia
1980/79 Creative Arts Course. Stott’s College, Sydney, Australia
1974-9 Experiments in B/W Photography & Darkroom Techniques. Seaford, Victoria, Australia
1977 Short Story Writing. Stott’s College, Sydney, Australia
Work & Research
2022/23 Public Art Project. Abstract, textile & collage installation, Rydges Hotel (CBD), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2018 London & Surrounds. Research & studio project, United Kingdom
2001-24 Outlook8studio. Owner, Manager, Artist, Professional Studio Work, Victoria, Australia
2010-19 Fitzherbert Studio. Professional studio work with artist Jane Fitzherbert, Victoria. Australia
2003-24 Art Blogger. Blog writer, manage and maintain online websites and art sales
2010 Street Noir Project Paris. Video and night photography series, Paris, France
2007/9/10/16 Meet the Tenant Paris. Research Arts Project & Network. Paris, France.
2007 Melb 5. Oversee exhibition, Bob Curtis Contemporary Movement Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2005 Artist In Residence Spain. Studio work, public presentation. Can Serrat International Arts Center, Barcelona, Spain
2005 European & UK Research Project. England, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Amsterdam, Venice, Switzerland, Austria, Zurich and Spain
2005 Research Project. Video, photography & research project, Maidstone, England
2002-3 Teaching. Outlook8studio, abstraction & creative arts
1994 Creative Fence Sculpture. (public art project) Lilydale, Victoria, Australia
1994 Mentor-ship & Studio Practice, Art assistant to Lazlo Biro, sculptor & mentor, Mt. Evelyn, Victoria, Australia
1993 Curator. TAFE student exhibition, Swinburne, Wantirna campus, Australia
1990-99 Drug/Alcohol Counsellor, Art Therapy. Doctors Suites, Mooroolbark & Freelance, Victoria Australia
1987/88 Jenny's Porch. Art /Craft business, Sole Trader Jenny Davis, Donald, Victoria, Australia
1987/88 Jennys Porch. Teaching arts/crafts, Jenny's Porch. Donald, Victoria, Australia
Publications/Artist Books
2023 Visual Artist Jenny Davis - The Artist’s Journey. Vol. 1, 2,3,4. Published books by Jenny Davis
2022 Transformation - Textile sculpture exhibition, Creating with Courage publication, Clarrisa Callesen
2016 Rustmatter. Limited edition artist books, 10 books in vintage cigar tins, Jenny Davis
.2016 Vintage Pulp. Featured artist, Sew Somerset Magazine Stampington & Company, California, USA
2008 Meet the Tenant. Jenny Davis, self published hard cover book. What lurks? Beneath the City of Paris
2008 Odd Feeling. Featured artist, Midnight Echo magazine, internal photograph.
2014 No/Yes Book. Limited Edition Artist Book. Collaborative project, Jenny Davis & Jack Oudyn, Australia
2014 Artist Book Publication. Collaborative project, Jenny Davis & Jack Oudyn, Australia
Media/Reviews
2024 The everyday artist: how life’s small moments spark big creativity. Ruth Woods, Craft School Oz
2024 Long - time friends unite for August exhibition. Upper Yarra Star Mail, Seren, Howells
2018 Spaces Below Review. Curator, Dr. Ewen Jarvis
2016 Wallmatter - Jenny Davis Explores Neglected Spaces. Feature artist, Bluethumb Art, Bek Possingham
2011 Hidden Spaces Exposed. Upwey Show Leader Newspapers, Victoria, Australia
2010 Collecting Going Green. Invited artist blogger, USA
2009 Jenny Davis, Artist Interview, Design Style Guide, USA
2009 Jenny Davis Art Review. Hong Kong. Online
2008 Art from Rubbish. Mountain Views Newspapers, Victoria, Australia
2008 Heart put into Art. Leader Newspapers, Victoria, Australia
2007 Paris work on Show. Leader Newspapers, Victoria, Australia
2006 Cover Art, Fuel4artists Sydney, Australia. Online
2005 Immersing in the Spanish Culture. Leader Newspapers, Victoria, Australia
2005 A Culture Fused in Art. Fairfax News, Melbourne, Australia
2005 Cover-Art, Art Calendar Magazine Washington DC. USA.
2004 Didja & Artiade Leader Newspapers, Victoria. Australia.
2004 Artiade Athens Olympic Games. Leader Newspapers, Victoria, Australia
2004 Art Collector Magazine. Article Australia
2004 The World of Antiques and Art. Article Australia.
2003 Lawrence Downes Gallery & Studio Magazine. New York, USA, review
2004 Out from Down under and Beyond. New York Art Guide, New York, USA
1996 My Art and Life Vogue Magazine, Sydney, Australia
1994 Creative Fences - Public Art. Leader Newspapers, Victoria, Australia
Public - Corporate - Private Collections
2022/23 Rydges CBD Hotel Group. Melbourne, Australia
2009 - Landfillart Collection - Second Time Around. Travelling environmental exhibitions. Museum of Shenandoah Valley Virginia & California Center for the Arts, Escondido Museum, USA
2005 Can Serrat International Art Center. Barcelona, Spain
1994 Creative Fence Sculpture. Redgum Arts Center, Lilydale, Victoria, Australia
Various private collections in Australia, UK, USA, Canada & Europe
Memberships
NAVA Australia
Arts Law Australia
Women's Art Register Australia
Copyright Agency Australia & World Collecting Agency
IUOMA International Union of Mail Artists