joanneritson.com
Born in Victoria, Australia. Lives and works in Melbourne/Naarm, Australia.
Joanne Ritson’s paintings re-creatively draw on the history of landscape painting, and the organic patterning of Modernist design, moving between terrain and abstraction. Her wax sculptures, referencing anatomical models, explore the space between the pathological and memento mori, reflecting on the body as structure, memory and form. Her work is represented in private collections around Australia.
QUALIFICATIONS
1986 Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting), Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
1983 Foundation Year Art, Prahran College, Melbourne
COLLABORATIONS
2026 Double – Eight wax sculptures by Joanne Ritson and eight paintings by Tony Clark. Annette Larkin Fine Art, Sydney May – June 2026
2022-2024 A series of wax and plaster sculptures by Joanne Ritson based on drawings by Tony Clark for his exhibition unsculpted at Buxton Contemporary, Melbourne November 2024 – May 2025.
INDIVIDUAL EXHBITIONS
2003 Waxen, PB Gallery Swinburne, Melbourne
1999 Wallwork 1998 to 1999, 1st Floor Artists & Writers Space inc., Melbourne
1997 Wallwork Sulphur, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne
1995 Wetware, 1st Floor Artists & Writers Space inc., Melbourne
1989 A Creation Landscape, MCA Gallery, Melbourne
1988 Site of Execution, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 Brandt McCook + Joanne Ritson, Works grouped by Michael Graf, Greenwood Street Project
2006 Open Studio, 1st Floor 62 Chapel Street Windsor. Joanne Ritson and Sarah Ritson
2005 Optus Centre foyer, Melbourne. Curated by Kirsten Rann
2002 1st Floor Final Exhibition, 1st Floor Artists & Writers Space inc., Melbourne
2001 Something for the Ladies…, Penthouse & Pavement, Melbourne
2001 1st Floor Fundraiser, 1st Floor Artists & Writers Space inc., Melbourne
2000 Episode, Patrizia Autore Gallery, Melbourne. Curated by Peter Robertson
2000 Microcosmos, PB Gallery, Swinburne College, Melbourne. Curated by Constanze Zikos
1999 1st Floor Fundraiser, 1st Floor Artists & Writers Space inc., Melbourne
1998 One Hour Photo,1st Floor Artists & Writers Space inc, Melbourne. Curated by David Rosetzky
1997 Julia, Sarah and Joanne Ritson, Temple Studio, Melbourne
1996 Swim 2, Project Space, RMIT, Melbourne. Curated by Kate Beynon and Megan Marshall
1996 Shifting Grounds, Moonee Valley Festival exhibition, Melbourne. Juried by Christopher McAuliffe
1995 Decadence: 10 Years of Exhibitons at 200 Gertrude Street, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne
1991 Artists Make Books, Linden St Kilda Arts Centre, Melbourne. Curated by Christine Johnson
1991 Swim Fundraiser, Linden St Kilda Arts Centre, Melbourne. Curated by Cathy Temin
1989 The Keith & Elisabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship Exhibition, Melbourn
1988 Vasari Revisited: A Kunstkammer in Melbourne, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne. Curated by Michael Graf
1987 Ormond College Welcomes New Art, Ormond College, Uni of Melb, Melbourne. Curated by Tony Clark
1986 The Gothic: Perversity and its Pleasure, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne; Chameleon Galleries, Hobart. Curated by Robyn McKenzie
RESIDENCIES
1998 Gunnery Studio at Artspace, NSW Ministry for the Arts, Sydney
1989 Parataio Studio, Australia Council, Italy
AWARDS
1998 New Work Grant, Australia Council
1996 First Prize, Contemporary Art, Shifting Grounds, Melbourne
1986 Hans & Sylvia Sumberg Acquisitive Prize, VCA, Melbourne
1985 The Dean’s Travel & Study Award, VCA, Melbourne
1984 Fred Williams family Prize, VCA, Melbourne
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ARTIST TEXT
Reviews regarding my collaboration with Tony Clark for his exhibition unsculpted at BuxtonContemporary 2025
- Ebony Maurice-Wilmott: Tony Clark unsculpted, Memo Magazine 12 April 2025
- Carolyn Barnes: Light reliefs, The Saturday Paper 9 November 2024
Joanne Ritson, text for catalogue regarding collaboration with Tony Clark for his exhibition unsculpted at Buxton Contemporary, Melbourne November 2024 – May 2025.
Nicole Tomlinson, Wallwork 1998 to 1999 Catalogue, 1st Floor, Melbourne, 1999
Tony Clark (signed A.J.C.), Joanne Ritson, Wallwork Sulphur Catalogue, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne, 1997
Sarah Tutton, Mixing Metaphors, Wetware Catalogue, 1st Floor, Melbourne, 1995
Michael Graf, Vasari Revisited: A Kunstkammer in Melbourne, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne Catalogue,1988
Robyn McKenzie, Peter Cripps Interviews, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, 1986
Heather Curnow, New Frame Work for Feminist Expression, The Mercury, Hobart, 1987
Gary Catalano, Surviving the Avalanche, The Age, Melbourne, 1987
Robyn McKenzie, The Gothic: Perversity and its Pleasure Catalogue, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne, 1986
Heather Kennedy, The Art of Tomorrow, The Age, Melbourne, 1987
JOANNE RITSON 