Lisa Roet
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
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For the past 25 Years Lisa Roet has been working with the image of the ape and monkey. Environmental issues, genetic discoveries and the evolving place of humanity within nature are themes addressed in her art practice.
Through an interdisciplinary approach to her practice Lisa has worked consistently with primatologists, geneticists, zoologists and taxonomists to research and gather the information needed to make the works. This has included research at zoos, laboratories and museum archives worldwide, as well as field research in Borneo to produce art using a wide range of mediums.
Lisa’s work has awarded numerous prizes including the prestigious McClelland Survey award, The National Sculpture Award, The Deakin University Small Sculpture Award, The National Works on paper Prize to name a few. She has received many grants with more recently being awarded an The Australia Council Creative Partnerships with Asia Grant to work on a large scale collaborative project with internationally acclaimed Chinese Artists, Shen Shaomin.
Her work is found in many collections within Australia and overseas including the National Gallery of Australia.
Born 1967, Melbourne, Australia
Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia
Education
1985-1987 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne
Solo Exhibitions
2014 HEART, White Night arts Festival Melbourne, Forum Theatre, Melb.
2014 HUMANZEE, PO8 Gallery, Melbourne
2013 Monkey Grip, Deakin University Art Gallery, Burwood Campus, Melbourne, Benalla Regional Gallery, Vic
2012 Lisa Roet, New Albion Gallery, Sydney
2011 Lisa Roet, Hugo Michell Gallery at The Adelaide Zoo, Adelaide
2011 The Mark Of No Human Hand, Australian Print Workshop, Melb.
2011 Lisa Roet, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2009 In-Sight, The Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2008 Mugsy, 24 HR Art, Darwin
2004 Lisa Roet: Finger of Suspicion, McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park, VIC
2004 Pri-Mates, Perth Arts Festival, Lawrence Wilson Gallery, University of Western Australia, Perth
2003 Pri-Mates Drawing, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne
2001 The Shadow, National Gallery of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2000-2001 Pri-Mates, Hands, LeibmanMagnan Gallery, New York
2000 Shaded Man, Kuala Lumpur National Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
2000 Sebrechts-Park, Brugge Kunst Halle, Brugge, Belgium
1999 That’s Entertainment, Artspace, Sydney
1998-99 Ape and the Bunnyman, Liebman Magnan Gallery, New York
1998 Primates, Tent Temporary-con Temporary, Brussel
1997 Primate, Atlanta Zoo, Arts Festival of Atlanta, Georgia, USA Selected Group Exhibitions
2013 Chengdu Fortune Global Forum 2013, XLY MOMA, Chengdu, China, Curator Wei Yan
2013 Collective Identities, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, NSW
2013 The World Below, White Night Festival, Lisa Roet/Charlie Owen
2012 Small room with animals, MARS, centre for ideas, VCA, Melb.
2012 Controversy, The Power of Art, Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery, Vic
2012 WOW! Four decades of collecting, Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery, Vic
2011 Australian Print Workshop, Australian Prints, Australian Embassy, Washington, USA
2011 Australian Print Workshop, Group Exhibition of recent Prints, Melb.
2010 Carnival, Lake Macquarie City art Gallery,NSW
2009 Darwin’s bastards, Verge Gallery, The University of Sydney, Sydney
2009 Darwin's Cornucopia, Charles Darwin in Australia, Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne
2008 Thou Shalt Not Destroy, Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne
2007 Den Haag Sculptuur 2007/The Hague Sculpture 2007, The Hague, The Netherlands
2006 Satellite Project (12 Australian Artists), 2006 Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China
2006 Idea of the Animal, Melbourne International Arts Festival, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
2005 Kiss of the Beast, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisba
2004 Instinct, Monash Museum of Art, Monash University, Melbourne
2004 Nature Machine Exhibition, Queensland Gallery of Art, Brisbane
2002 Culture Centrum, Group Exhibition, Brugge
2002 Eve and the Snake, Kunstverein Bad an Salvenbein, Germany
2002 Zoo, Antwerp Culture Centrum, Antwerp
2001-2002 Bootylicious, The Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne
2001 Melamide and Kormer, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2001 Information Days, Agros Video Museum, Brussels
2001 Sheroes, Clairefontaine Gallery, Luxemburg
2001 Primavera, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Grants and Awards
2013 Geelong Gallery Print Award
2013 Arts Victoria, Vic Arts Grants
2013 Arts Victoria, Cultural Exchnage
2012 Deakin University Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University, Melbourne
2011 Fremantle Print award, Fremantle Art gallery/ Centre, Perth, WA
2011 Collier Trust Fellow, Australian Print Workshop
2005 McClelland Sculpture Survey & Award, McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park, VIC
2005 The Kedumba Drawing Award, Kedumba Gallery, Wentworth Falls, NSW
2003 Mornington Peninsular Drawing Award, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
2003 National Sculpture Prize, National Gallery of Australia and Macquarie Bank
Major Publications
Ape Lady, ABC documentary, 2010. Producer, Klaus Toft.
Uncommon Observations, author Alexi Glass, 2004, Thames and Hudson
ARTIST'S REASON FOR PARTICIPATING
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I think it is very important to be as vocal as possible about the problems facing the preservation of orangutan populations in the wild.
This exhibition is a step towards making people aware of deforestation and habitat degradation in south Easy Asia as well as supporting the survival of the Orangutans, displaced within the Orangutan "refugee" camps of Borneo.
PATRICK
Cheeky, Clever, and Growing Wild
Patrick arrived at International Animal Rescue’s (IAR) Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Ketapang in December 2010, after spending about a year as a pet of a Buddhist monk in Pontianak. Fortunately, unlike many orangutans rescued from captivity, Patrick was in relatively good health and spirits on arrival—a rare and welcome start to his journey.
At around four years old, Patrick showed an immediate zest for life, quickly becoming known as the centre’s resident prankster. Volunteers trying to photograph other orangutans have learned the hard way that Patrick insists on being the centre of attention. One memorable incident saw him poking a volunteer with a stick to disrupt their photo shoot of orangutan Peni—only to retreat with a grin, branch in hand, when they tried to stop him.
This playful, attention-loving behaviour hasn’t stopped Patrick from making progress. At the Ketapang centre—located within secondary and peat swamp forests—he’s surrounded by a naturalistic environment that allows him to develop key survival skills, like foraging, nest-building, and navigating the canopy. Under the careful guidance of IAR staff, Patrick continues to build the behaviours needed for a possible future in the wild.
He may be mischievous, but he’s also smart, social, and full of heart. Whether poking with sticks or learning the ropes of jungle life, Patrick is well on his way to becoming the orangutan he was born to be.
