Ash Keating
b. 1980 Melbourne, Australia
Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne-born visual artist Ash Keating has exhibited extensively in galleries and created numerous large-scale, site-responsive art projects in Australia and internationally since 2004.
Keating is most notably recognized for his impulsive and exuberant style, attributed to the repurposing of fire extinguishers to paint. His practice has attracted significant attention in Australia, winning the Incinerator Art Prize (2015), Guirguis New Art Prize (2013) and Substation Contemporary Art Prize (2012), and his works are held in many public and private collections including the NGV, NGA, MCA, AGNSW, MUMA and Artbank.
Since 2015 Keating has developed a specialized methodology for creating atmospheric compositions. He applies paint to the surface of linen through an airless sprayer, and augments areas by erasing or breaking down the paint through the application of water. The effect is not only that of running and dripping paint, but the replication of natural systems found in the environment.
Keating has undertaken numerous large-scale painting commissions in public spaces of significant scale and note. In 2013, he undertook a major public project for Peter Elliot Architecture and RMIT, creating an outdoor recreational centre in the CBD. That same year, he launched the NGV’s Melbourne Now exhibition by painting a billboard of the St Kilda Road premises. In 2015, he was commissioned by the City of Adelaide to create a temporary painting on the entire glass facade of the Adelaide Festival Centre. Keating was commissioned in 2019 by TarraWarra Museum of Art to create a live painting on a billboard installed on the museum grounds. In 2021, he was invited by John Wardle Architects to collaborate on an award-winning rooftop activation in the City of Melbourne for NGV Melbourne Design Week.
EDUCATION
2006
BFA Painting, Victorian College of the Arts (1st Class Honors)
2003
B.F.A. Painting, Monash University
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
NGV, NGA, MUMA, MCA Australia, AGNSW, MGA, LUMA, JAHM, PRG, AWM, ARTBANK
SELECTED AWARDS
2015
Incinerator Art Prize
2013
Guirguis New Art Prize
2012
Substation Contemporary Art Award
2011
Qantas Foundation Australian Contemporary Art Award
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS & PROJECTS
2021
Duality, Linden New Art, St Kilda, VIC, Australia
Gravity System Response, TW Fine Art, Brisbane QLD, Australia
2019
Hume Response Paintings, Ash Keating Studio, Coburg North, VIC, Australia
2018
Gravity System Response #81, commission for 2 Southbank Boulevard, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Gravity System Response, Fox Jensen McCrory, Auckland, New Zealand
2017
Gravity System Response, Blackartprojects, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2016
Response Paintings, Latrobe VAC, Bendigo, VIC, Australia
2015
Remote Nature Response, Cradle Mountain for MONA Dark Mofo, TAS, Australia
Selected Works 2005-2015, Benalla Art Gallery, Benalla, VIC, Australia
Gravity System Response, Blackartprojects, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2013
Painting the West Park Proposition, Latrobe VAC, Bendigo, VIC, Australia
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & PROJECTS
2021
Floating Land Biennale, Noosa National Park for Noosa Regional Gallery, Noosa, QLD, Australia
2018
ART21 and VOLTA Art Fairs with Yavuz Gallery, Basel, Switzerland and Shanghai, China
Sydney Contemporary (2018 and 2017) with Blackartprojects, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2017
Ramsay Art Prize 2017, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2016
Occupied, RMIT Design Hub, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2013
Melbourne Now, National Gallery of VIC, Australia
2012
Artist’s Proof #1, Monash University Museum of Art, Caulfield, VIC, Australia
SELECTED SITE-SPECIFIC SOLO ART PROJECTS
2021
Sunset Response, Wall painting on the facade of Warrnambool Art Gallery, VIC, Australia
2019
TarraWarra Response Painting, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville, VIC, Australia
2018
Gravity System Response, City of Sydney’s Domain, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2016
Coastal Horizon Response, Lorne Sculpture Biennale, VIC, Australia
Arch Tunnel Response, North Byron Parklands, Splendour Arts, NSW, Australia
2015
The Facade Project, Latrobe Visual Arts Centre, Bendigo, VIC, Australia
Adelaide Festival Centre, presented by CACSA, Adelaide, SA, Australia
2014
RMIT A’Beckett Urban Square, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
2013
NGV International Billboard for Melbourne Now, Melbourne, VIC, Australia