Julie Rrap

Biography

Julie Rrap has been a major figure in Australian contemporary art for over 25 years. Since the mid-1970s, she has worked with photography, painting, sculpture, performance and video in an ongoing project concerned with representations of the body.

Her work has been selected for numerous international and national exhibitions, including the 1986, 1987, 1992 and 2008 Sydney Biennales, and more recently the 2007 Auckland Triennale, the 2009 Clemenger Contemporary Art Prize, NGV, Melbourne and in 2010, the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Korea.

She has won the Hermann's Art Award for her photograph 'Overstepping' in 2001, the Redlands Art prize for a combined sculpture and photographic work in 2008 and the University of Queensland National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize for her video work, '360 Degree Self-Portrait', in 2009.

In 2007, a publication and 25-year survey exhibition, 'Body Double', was curated at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney by Victoria Lynn.

Rrap's works are held in every major public collection in Australia as well as in many corporate and private collections in Australia and overseas. She currently exhibits with Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney and Arc 1 Gallery, Melbourne.

Research

A central focus in Rrap's research has been the human body and its representations, with a particular emphasis on the female body within western art history. Over a 30-year period this interest has been explored through a variety of media that challenge the conventions of content and of form. Photography has been a particular focus because as a medium it bridges fine art and popular imagery, allowing the artwork to dialogue with broader concerns about the body. The use of digital techniques has allowed the exploration of the surrealism of the image in a world gone surreal with medical interventions into the body.

Rrap has utilised numerous media, including sculpture, painting, drawing and video, often combined as installations. A pivotal work, 'Body Double' (2007), combined silicon body casts, projected video, sound and interactive elements and created an immersive environment for the viewer. The audience has always played a central role in Rrap's investigations of the body, allowing 'their' bodies to become entangled in these representational questionings.

Recent Exhibitions

Body Double (Survey 1982–2007) MCA, Sydney, July 2007–January 2008

The Trickster Gyeonggi Museum of Art, Korea, September 2010

Auckland Triennale Auckland Museum, Auckland, NZ, February–June 2007

Sydney Biennale MCA, Sydney, May–August 2008

Body AGNSW, Sydney, 1997

Photography is Dead! Long Live Photography MCA, Sydney, 1996

Snare (Survey) ACCA, Melbourne, 1995

The Australian Show Frankfurter Kunstverein, Germany, 1988

Sydney Biennale The Bond Store, Sydney, 1992

Systems End Hakone Open Air Gallery, Japan, 1996

Publications

12 Australian Photo Artists, Piper Press, 2009

Body Double, Piper Press, 2007

Julie Rrap, Piper Press, 1998

Bill Viola, Art and Text, 1994

Gabriel Orozco, Art and Text, 1994

Ricardo Brey, Art and Text, 1993

Awards & Grants

University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, National Artists' Self-Portrait Prize Professional Memberships, 2009

Redlands Art Prize, Mosman Gallery, 2008

Project Grant, Australia Council for the Arts, 2007

Fellowship Grant, Australia Council for the Arts, 2002

Hermans Art Award, 2001

Project Grant, Australia Council for the Arts, 1999

Cite des Arts, Paris and AGNSW Studio, 1997

Multi-Year Fellowship, Australia Council for the Arts, 1995

Fellowship Grant, Australia Council for the Arts, 1989

Cité des Arts, Paris and Power Institute, University of Sydney, 1986

Professional Memberships

Artspace

Museum of Contemporary Art

Sydney Biennale