Jonathan Crowther is a Melbourne based visual artist and curator. He was the founder of Crowther Contemporary, an artist run project space based at the Docklands and part of a Renew Australia and City of Melbourne creative partnership. He served as the Curator and Collections Manager at The Dax Centre and is currently the Cultural Collections Curator at the City of Whittlesea.
Crowther’s art practice stems from traditional painting methods and themes seen through a contemporary lens. His work raises questions about systems of value and social hierarchies concerned with the status of objects. Crowther is a multi award winning artist, having won the Churchie National Emerging Art Prize and the Eutick Memorial Still Life Prize. He has been finalist in several national artprizes inlcuding the Geelong Contemporary Painting Prize (2017 & 2021), the Bayside Acquisitive Prize (2017 & 2022) and the Substation Art Prize. He is currently collaborating on a new work with his toddler son Quinn.
Born Goondiwindi, Queensland
Lives and works Melbourne, Victoria
EDUCATION
2014 Masters of Contemporary Art, (First Class Honours), VCA, Melbourne
2003 Diploma in Fine Art- Brisbane North Institute
2000 Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy and Religion Majors-University of
Queensland
AWARDS AND PRIZES
2015 Winner, Eutick Memorial Still Life Prize (EMSLA), Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery
ArtStart Grant, Australia Council for the Arts
2014 Postgraduate Creative Scholarship, Victorian College of Art
2009 Winner, Churchie National Emerging Art Award
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Extravagant Charm, M. Contemporary, Sydney
2018 Recent Work, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, Coffs Harbour
2017 Feed, Palmer Art Projects, Sydney
2016 Signs of Life, James Makin Gallery, Melbourne
2015 Anything but Ordinary, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane
2014 Open Narratives, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, The Gallery @BACC, Melbourne (Finalist)
2021 Geelong contemporary art prize, Geelong Gallery (Finalist)
2019 Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Project Contemporary Art Space, Wollongong (Finalist)
2016 Geelong contemporary art prize, Geelong Gallery (Finalist)
Still Life – Reanimating the Inanimate, Pine Rivers Art Gallery
2015 Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery (Finalist)
Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, The Gallery @BACC, Melbourne (Finalist)
2014 VCA School of Art Masters Exhibition, VCA Southbank, Melbourne
Substation Contemporary Art Prize, The Substation, Melbourne (Finalist)
The Windsor Prize, The Hotel Windsor, Melbourne (Finalist)
2012 Northern Rivers Portrait Prize, Lismore Regional Gallery (Finalist)
Wilson River Art Award, Trinity College, Lismore (Finalist)
Clayton Utz Art Award, Brisbane (Finalist)
2011 Northern Rivers Portrait Prize, Lismore Regional Gallery (Finalist)
Wood for the Trees, Lismore Regional Gallery
Lethbridge 10000, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane (Finalist)
2009 Churchie National Emerging Art Award, Brisbane (Finalist)
Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery (Finalist)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2013 ‘Emergency Ward’, Edward Colless, Art Monthly Australia , March, p23
‘Interview’, Linsey Rendell, The Weekend Edition , Feb 20, theweekendedition.com.au/the- interviews/jonathan-crowther
‘Snapshot’, Stephanie Bennet, Brisbane News, Feb 20, p 3
2010 ‘Artist goes with flow’, Ronnie Girdham, The Sunday Mail, Sept 19, p 16
2009 ‘Award Winners’, Courtney Kidd, The Australian Art Collector. July, p 205
‘National’, Louise Tegart, Art Monthly Australia, July, p52
2004 ‘Back home is where his art is’, Cameron Atfeild, The Courier Mail, Dec 18,p16