Neon Parc acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung as the Traditional Owners and sovereign custodians of the Country on which we operate. We pay our deepest respects to their Elders past and present. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
John Spiteri was born in 1967 in Warrane/Sydney, Australia. Lives and works in Warrane/Sydney, Australia.
Tones and textures in the works of John Spiteri evoke a myriad of associations; archeological and modernist tropes convey overarching sentiments of mystery and reverence. Using a limited palette of earthy colours, and an archetypal delineation of forms, his work is visually poetic, drawing in the viewer through the chief strategy of seduction Spiteri’s technique involves a process of continual building up and paring back: oil and enamel paint is layered onto canvas and then lyrically scratched to create gestural marks. Like the Surrealists, portions of his technique are unscripted automation (what André Masson called ‘pure scrawl’) employed alongside conscious decision-making. Spiteri's paintings are abstract yet their titles pull them into the present through referencing the land, the sea, and the social world, suggesting bruises of memory rendered abstract by time and distance.
John Spiteri, Celebrity Chef, 2016, Oil and enamel on canvas, 68 x 87 cm
‘India before Humans’, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
2016
‘Trophy Wife’, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
2014
‘Faceless Men’, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
2013
‘Mascara Memories’, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
2012
‘Still Life Social Climber’, Neon Parc, Melbourne
2011
‘The House of Hair’, Chert, Berlin
2010
‘Aquaria Humanistica’, Neon Parc, Melbourne
2009
‘Paint a Rumour’, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
2007
‘Taster of Tastes’, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
2006
‘New Paintings’, Michael Lett, Auckland
2004
‘New Paintings’, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney
2003
‘Black is Black’, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney
‘Ommm’, Front Room, Sydney & NRG, Newcastle, Australia
2001
‘Chapelle’, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
1999
‘A New Life’, Sali Gia Gallery, London Six Pictures – Project 11, Sydney Three Places – Artspace, Sydney
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
‘Underfoot’, Te Uru, Tamaki Makaurau. New Zealand. Curated by James Gatt
‘Back when tigers used to smoke’ – Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
2023
‘Living Patterns’, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane. Curated by Ellie Buttrose
‘Thin Skin’, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne. Curated by Jennifer Higgie
2021
‘Group Show 46’ – Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
2019
‘Silver Jubilee’, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
‘Chaperone’, Koji Ryui & John Spiteri, Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney
2015
‘Casual Conversation, Verging on Harassment’, Minerva, Sydney
‘Façade’, Artreal, Sydney. Curated by Sophia Kouyoumdjian and Liz Chang
‘Che Cosa’, Wollongong City Gallery. Curated by David Capra
2014
‘The Blake Prize’, CoFA Gallery, Sydney
‘Learning to Leave’, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne Curated by Jonathan Nichols
2013
‘Negotiating this world’, The National Gallery of Victoria. Curated by Jane Devery
‘Drunk vs Stoned Xlll’, Neon Parc, Melbourne
2012
‘When you drink the water, remember the spring’, Ryan Renshaw Gallery, Brisbane
‘Daydream Believers: David Noonan, Francis Upritchard, Jason Grieg, John Spiteri’, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. Curated by Robert Leonard
‘No Relation’, Ican, Sydney
‘Janet Beckhouse, John Spiteri - 30th Art Brussels’, Belgium. C/- Neon Parc
‘Cool World’, Alaska Projects, Sydney. Curated by Mitch Cairns
2011
‘Three Imaginary Boys’, Neon Parc, Melbourne
2010
‘There’s no time’, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne. Curated by Bala Starr
‘Drinnen & Draussen’, Chert, Berlin. Curated by Jennifer Chert
‘Sydney Painters’, Verge Gallery, Sydney. Curated by Christine Morrow
‘Paint(h)ing’, Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide. Curated by Domenico de Clario
‘Twenty/20’, UTS Gallery, Sydney. Curated by George & Ron Adams
‘Television Eyes’, Penrith Regional Gallery, Sydney. Curated by Susan Gibb
(close)John Spiteri, Celebrity Chef, 2016, Oil and enamel on canvas, 68 x 87 cmJohn Spiteri, Vagabond, 2016, Oil and enamel on canvas, 168 x 122 cmJohn Spiteri, Fontana, 2011, Oil and enamel on canvas, 56 x 46 cmJohn Spiteri, A Chance Lost, 2004 , Oil, pencil and acrylic on linen, 96.5 x 71 cmJohn Spiteri,
The Cave Of Hands,
2006,
Acrylic and enamel on glass with artist's frame,
56 x 56 x 6 cmJohn Spiteri,
Instruction,
2004,
Watercolour on paper & artist's frame,
39 x 34 cmJohn Spiteri,
The Morning Tide,
2009,
Oil on linen,
38 x 46cmJohn Spiteri,
Today Tonight,
2007,
Oil on linen, artist's frame,
86 x 41.5cmJohn Spiteri, Sea foam, 2015, Oil and enamel on canvas,
51 x 35.5 cmJohn Spiteri, Bambi Upside Down, 2010, Oil and spray enamel on linen, 198 x 137 cmJohn Spiteri, Teenage talk, 2015, Oil and enamel on canvas,
41 x 31 cmJohn Spiteri, Three stone, 2015, oil and enamel on canvas, 31 x 20.5 cm
