Alison Alder facts for kids

Alison Alder (born 1958) is an amazing artist from Australia. She mostly creates art using screen-printing. She also makes art with technology and special "constructed environments." Her art often explores important social issues in Australia. This includes topics related to Indigenous Australians and different groups of people. In 1980, she helped start the Megalo International Silkscreen Collective. She founded it with other activists, like Colin Little. Colin Little was the person who started the Earthworks Poster Collective.

Alison Alder's Art Career

Alison Alder was born in 1958. She uses many different art forms in her work. These include screen-printing, animation, and art installations. Her art has been shown all over Australia. It has also been shown in the United States and Asia since 1982. Many public and private art collections around the world own her work. For example, the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art has 13 of her pieces.

Her Education and Teaching

Alison Alder studied art at the Australian National University: School of Art and Design in Canberra. She received a Diploma of Arts in 1980. Later, she continued her studies at Monash University in Victoria. She earned a Graduate Diploma of Arts in 2002. In 2007, she completed her Masters of Fine Art at Monash University: Monash Art Design & Architecture.

Today, Alder is a professor at the Australian National University in Canberra. She is also the Head of Printmedia and Drawing there.

What Her Art Is About

Alison Alder's art often focuses on helping communities. She aims to "empower communities" by showing their shared goals. Her work involves researching these communities. This includes places like the Museum of Australian Democracy. It also includes Indigenous Australian communities.

In 1982, Alison Alder talked about why she made political posters. She said that as a printmaker, she could make art that was cheap to produce. This meant her art could reach many people. It was more accessible than television at that time.

Famous Artworks by Alison Alder

Alison Alder has shown her art in group exhibitions since 1982. She has also had 16 solo exhibitions. Her art is held in collections worldwide. These include the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art. Her work is also in the National Gallery of Australia. The New York Public Library Print Collection also owns her art.

• "When they close a pit they kill a community" (1984) is one of Alder's early works. She made it for the KCC Women’s Auxiliary at Redback Graphix. It is a bright poster using collage. It shows a woman holding a sign. The sign says the title and "Support the K.C.C Women’s Auxiliary Community Action will Save our Jobs." Many activists and writers used Alder’s posters. They used them in protests and newspapers. This helped fight against women being unemployed in the 1980s.

• "Intervention" (2008) was made in response to government actions. The Howard Government made changes in Indigenous Australian communities. This happened especially in Tennant Creek. "Intervention" shows what happened because of these changes. One change was "Income Management." This meant a large part of welfare payments was held back. The money could only be spent at special stores. This rule was put in place in Tennant Creek. "Intervention" shows Alder’s view of these government actions. It is a series of nine screen prints. You can find them in the Cruthers Collection of Women's Art.

• "Carcass" (2009) is a series of screen prints. They show distorted and exaggerated animal carcasses. This art came from her experience living in outback Australia. In 2010, "Carcass" won the Alice Prize. Alder was inspired by Sidney Nolan’s 1953 work about droughts. She created art that commented on government policies. She felt these policies showed an inability to move "past a use and destroy mentality."

• Alison Alder's work was shown in the exhibition "Making it New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art" in September 2009. This exhibition was at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. It featured artists who had worked for over 10 years. The exhibition showed art with themes of tradition, history, and politics. It explored how artists create their work. At the time of this exhibition, Alder had been making art for more than two decades.

Solo Exhibitions

1990s

• 1991: A Country Show. aGOG, Australian Capital Territory.
• 1995: Florals. aGOG, Australian Capital Territory.
• 1997: Kujurra Mampaly Nyirrila. with Peggy Jones, aGOG and Telegraph Stn, Tennant Creek Northern Territory.
• 1998: Kujurra Mampaly Nyirrila. with Peggy Jones, Araluen Centre, Northern Territory.

2000s

• 2000: Road to Somewhere. Helen Maxwell Gallery, Australian Capital Territory.
• 2004: Drink. Helen Maxwell Gallery, Australian Capital Territory.
• 2007: Outback. Helen Maxwell Gallery, Australian Capital.
• 2009: Carcass. Helen Maxwell Gallery, Australian Capital Territory.
• 2009: Cutting History. Helen Maxwell Gallery, Australian Capital Territory.

2010s

• 2010: Cutting History: 2. Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, California, USA.
• 2011/12: Dirty Water. Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Australian Capital Territory.
• 2013: Cutting Out Stories of Lanyon. Lanyon Homestead, Australian Capital Territory.
• 2014: Carcass. Canberra Museum and Gallery, Australian Capital Territory.
• 2015: Death of a Broadsheet. Megalo Gallery, Australian Capital Territory.
• 2017: One to Eight. Museum of Australian Democracy. Old Parliament House, Australian Capital Territory.
• 2018/19: Newscrap. Canberra Contemporary Art Space, ACT.