Fiona Hall (artist) facts for kids

Fiona Margaret Hall (born 16 November 1953) is a famous Australian artist. She is known for her amazing photography and sculptures. In 2015, Fiona Hall represented Australia at a big international art show called the Venice Biennale. People say she is one of Australia's most creative modern artists. Many of her artworks look at how nature, society, and how we use resources are connected.

Early Life and Art Education

Fiona Hall was born in 1953 in Oatley, Sydney, Australia. Her mother, Ruby Payne-Scott, was a pioneer in radio science. Her father, William Holman Hall, worked with telephones. Fiona grew up near the Royal National Park. Her parents often took her hiking, which helped her love for nature grow. This love has greatly influenced her art.

Fiona went to Oatley West Primary School and Penshurst High School. When she was 14, her mother took her to an art exhibition. This sparked Fiona's interest in art. She first wanted to study architecture. However, after high school, she decided to study art instead. She earned a Diploma of Painting at the East Sydney Technical College (ESTC).

Discovering Photography

In the early 1970s, Sydney had an exciting art scene. Artists were trying new things beyond traditional painting and sculpture. Fiona became very interested in photography. Even though ESTC did not have a photography major, her painting teacher, John Firth-Smith, helped her learn. She also studied photography as a minor subject.

While still a student, Fiona showed her photographs in a group exhibition in 1974. When she graduated in 1975, her final exhibition only featured photography.

Fiona Hall's Art Career

After graduating, Fiona Hall lived in London, England, from 1976 to 1978. She traveled around Europe and visited many art museums. She even gave two of her photographs to the Chief Curator of Photography at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

When she returned to London, Fiona worked for Creative Camera, a British photography magazine. This job introduced her to Fay Goodwin, a famous photographer, whom she assisted. Fiona had her first solo art show in London in 1977.

In 1978, Fiona returned to Australia to visit her mother. She then had her first solo exhibition in Australia. Later that year, she moved to the United States. She studied for her Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Photography in Rochester, New York.

Art in the 1980s

The 1980s were important for Fiona Hall. She became a well-known artist in Australia. In 1981, she was an artist-in-residence at the Tasmanian School of Art. There, she created The Antipodean Suite. This work used everyday items like banana peels and power cords. It showed her talent for turning ordinary things into beautiful art.

Also in 1981, the Art Gallery of New South Wales bought five of her photographs. These were the first of her works to join a public art collection. Fiona earned her MFA in 1982. That same year, she participated in the Biennale of Sydney, a major art event.

From 1983, Fiona taught photography at the South Australian School of Art in Adelaide. She taught there until 2002. Between 1984 and 1986, she was asked to photograph the new Parliament House of Australia. She created 44 photographs for this project.

During the 1980s, she made several art series from everyday objects. For example, in Paradisus terrestris, she used sardine tins to create beautiful sculptures of plants. These sculptures often showed human body parts that matched the plant's features.

Art in the 1990s

In 1991, Fiona Hall was an Artist in Residence in Victoria. From 1992 to 1993, the National Gallery of Australia held a special exhibition of her work. It was called The Garden of Earthly Delights: The Art of Fiona Hall. It included her early photographs, studio photos, sculptures, and ceramics.

In the late 1990s, Fiona stopped working with photography. Her last exhibited photograph was in 1996. It was part of her large artwork called Give a Dog a Bone.

In 1997, Fiona became the Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University. While in Canberra, she designed a special artwork for the sculpture garden of the National Gallery of Australia. Instead of a sculpture, she created Fern Garden. This was a large, permanent outdoor art installation that opened in 1998.

She also spent time in London and then returned to Australia. She was an Artist in Residence at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and the South Australian Museum. In 1999, she spent time in Sri Lanka. Her art from this period explored ideas about history and moving things from one place to another.

Art in the 2000s

In 2000, Fiona Hall was asked to create a public artwork for the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. She designed A Folly for Mrs Macquarie. In 2005, major exhibitions of her work were held at the Queensland Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of South Australia. She also created a piece for the new Chancellery Building at the University of South Australia.

From 2008 to 2009, another big exhibition called Force Field was shown. It traveled to Sydney, Wellington (New Zealand), and Christchurch (New Zealand).

Art in the 2010s

In 2015, Fiona Hall represented Australia at the 56th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Her artwork was called Wrong Way Time. It included pieces made with the Tjanpi Desert Weavers, an Indigenous art group. These works focused on themes of death, extinction, and loss. In 2016, Wrong Way Time was also shown at the National Gallery of Australia. Fiona Hall continues to show her work at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in Sydney.

Awards and Recognition

Fiona Hall has received many important awards for her art:

• 1997: Contempora 5 Art Award, National Gallery of Australia.
• 1999: Clemenger Art Award, National Gallery of Victoria.
• 2011: Artist Award in the National Awards for the Visual Arts.
• 2013: She was made an Officer (AO) of the Order Of Australia. This award recognized her great service to visual arts as a painter, sculptor, and photographer, and for her work in art education.

What Critics Say

Famous art curator Betty Churcher AO once said about Fiona Hall: "With infinite care, the patience of a scientist and the skill of a jeweller, she fashioned each plant and its corresponding human part. Her purpose is very serious but her sense of humour is always ready to bubble to the surface." This means Fiona is very careful and precise in her work, often with a serious message, but she also has a fun side.

Notable Artworks

• The Antipodean Suite, 1981
• Genesis, 1984
• The Seven Deadly Sins, 1984
• Illustrations to 'The Divine Comedy', 1988
• Paradisus terrestris, 1989–1990
• Words, 1990 (series)
• Historia Non-Naturalis, 1991 (series)
• Fruiting Bodies, 1992 (series)
• The Syntax of Flowers, 1992 (series)
• Cargo Cult, 1993
• Medicine Bundle for the Non-Born Child, 1993-1994
• The price is right, 1995
• Occupied Territory, 1995
• Fern Garden, 1998 (commissioned work)
• Global Liquidity, 1998 (exhibition)
• Fieldwork, 1999 (exhibition)
• Paradisus terrestris Entitled/Paradisus terrestris Sri Lanka, 1999 (series)
• A Folly for Mrs Macquarie, 2000 (commissioned work)
• Gene pool, 2000
• Leaf Litter, 2000-2003 (series)
• Understorey, 2001-2004 (series)
• Cell Culture, 2001-2002 (series)
• Tender, 2002-2005 (series)
• Snowdomes, 2002-2004 (series)
• Cross Purpose, 2003
• Earth Tones, 2003 (series)
• Scar Tissue, 2003–04
• Mire, 2005
• Fly Away Home, 2010-2012
• Fall Prey, 2012
• Wrong Way Time, 2015

Notable Exhibitions

Fiona Hall has been part of over 150 solo and group exhibitions. Here are some of the most important ones:

Group Exhibitions

• 1974 - Thoughts and Images: An Exploratory Exhibition of Australian Student Photography. Sydney.
• 1975 - Six Australian Women Photographers. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; and Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney.
• 1987 - Pure invention. Tokyo.
• 1991 - Australian Perspecta. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
• 1991 - Second nature. Tokyo.
• 1996 - Art across oceans. Copenhagen, Denmark.
• 2003-4 - Face Up: Contemporary Art from Australia. Berlin.
• 2013 - Australia. Royal Academy of Arts, London.
• 2014 - Adelaide Biennial of Art. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
• 2018 - Earth/Sky. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.