Fiona Hall (artist) facts for kids

Fiona Margaret Hall is a famous Australian artist. She was born on November 16, 1953. Fiona is well-known for her amazing photographs and sculptures. In 2015, she was chosen to represent Australia at a huge international art show called the Venice Biennale. Many people say she is one of Australia's most creative modern artists. Her art often explores how nature, society, and how we use resources are all connected.

Early Life and Learning

Fiona Hall grew up in a place called Oatley, near Sydney. Her mother, Ruby Payne-Scott, was a brilliant scientist who studied radio waves. Her father, William Holman Hall, worked with telephones.

Fiona's family lived close to the Royal National Park. Her parents often took her on walks in the bush. This helped her love nature, which later became a big part of her art. Her older brother, Peter Gavin Hall, became a famous scientist who studied numbers and chances.

Fiona went to Oatley West Primary School and Penshurst High School. When she was 14, her mother took her to an art exhibition. This made Fiona very interested in art. She first thought about studying architecture, but then decided to study painting at the East Sydney Technical College (ESTC).

While studying, Fiona became interested in photography. Even though her college didn't have a main course in photography, her painting teacher helped her learn. She even showed her photos in a student exhibition in 1974. When she finished college in 1975, her final art show was all about photography.

Artistic Journey

Starting Out in the 1970s

After finishing college, Fiona lived in London, England, for a few years. She traveled around Europe and even showed some of her photos at a famous library in Paris. She also worked for a British photography magazine called Creative Camera. This job helped her meet other photographers.

In 1977, Fiona had her very first solo art show in London. She came back to Australia in 1978 and had her first solo show here too. Later that year, she moved to the United States to study photography even more.

Growing as an Artist in the 1980s

The 1980s were a big time for Fiona. She became a well-known artist in Australia. In 1981, she was an "artist-in-residence" at a school in Tasmania. This meant she lived and worked there as an artist. During this time, she made a series of artworks called The Antipodean Suite. She used everyday things like banana peels and power cords to create beautiful art. This showed how she could turn ordinary objects into something special.

Also in 1981, the Art Gallery of New South Wales bought five of her photographs. This was the first time her art was added to a public collection. In 1982, she finished her studies and also took part in the Biennale of Sydney, a big art event.

From 1983, Fiona taught photography at the South Australian School of Art in Adelaide for many years. Between 1984 and 1986, she was asked to take photos of the new Parliament House in Australia. She took 44 photos for this important project.

During the 1980s, she made many art series from everyday items. For example, she used photocopies of old medical pictures to make puppets called Morality Dolls - The Seven Deadly Sins. She also used painted aluminum cans to create human figures for her Illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy. In Paradisus terrestris, she turned sardine tins into amazing sculptures of plants. In 1989, a TV show called Visual Instincts featured her work.

Art in the 1990s

In the early 1990s, Fiona continued to be an artist-in-residence at different places. From 1992 to 1993, the National Gallery of Australia held a special exhibition of her work called The Garden of Earthly Delights: The Art of Fiona Hall. This show included her early photos, studio photos, sculptures, and ceramic art.

In the late 1990s, Fiona stopped focusing on photography. Her last photo shown in an exhibition was part of a large artwork in 1996 called Give a Dog a Bone.

In 1997, Fiona worked at the Australian National University. While there, she planned a special artwork for the sculpture garden of the National Gallery of Australia. Instead of a sculpture, she created Fern Garden in 1998. This was a large, permanent garden artwork. That same year, she 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 traveled to Sri Lanka for an art residency. Her art from this time explored ideas about history and moving things from one place to another.

The 2000s and Beyond

In 2000, Fiona was asked to create a public artwork for the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. She designed A Folly for Mrs Macquarie. In 2005, two major art galleries, the Queensland Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of South Australia, held big shows looking back at her work.

From 2008 to 2009, another big show called Force Field was displayed in Sydney and New Zealand.

In 2015, Fiona Hall represented Australia at the 56th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Her artwork there was called Wrong Way Time. It included pieces made with the Tjanpi Desert Weavers, an Indigenous art group. These works, like Kuka Irititja (Animals from Another Time), talked about important topics like death and animals disappearing. The next year, Wrong Way Time was shown at the National Gallery of Australia. Fiona continues to show her amazing art 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 from the National Gallery of Australia.
• 1999: Clemenger Art Award from the 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 is a very high honor given for great service to the visual arts as a painter, sculptor, and photographer, and for her work in art education.

What People Say

Betty Churcher, a famous art curator, once said about Fiona Hall: "With great care, like a scientist, and the skill of a jeweler, she made each plant and its matching human part. Her goal is very serious, but she always has a sense of humor ready to show."

Famous Artworks

Here are some of Fiona Hall's most well-known 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 (a special artwork she was asked to create)
• Global Liquidity, 1998 (exhibition)
• Fieldwork, 1999 (exhibition)
• Paradisus terrestris Entitled/Paradisus terrestris Sri Lanka, 1999 (series)
• A Folly for Mrs Macquarie, 2000 (a special artwork she was asked to create)
• 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

Important Exhibitions

Fiona Hall has been part of over 150 art shows! 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.
• 1991 - Australian Perspecta. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
• 1996 - Art across oceans. Copenhagen, Denmark.
• 2003-4 - Face Up: Contemporary Art from Australia. Berlin, Germany.
• 2013 - Australia. Royal Academy of Arts, London.
• 2014 - Adelaide Biennial of Art. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.