Daniel Boyd draws on his heritage as a Kudjla/Gangalu man from North Queensland and North Pentecost Island in Vanuatu to interrogate legacies of colonisation. Traversing an archaeology of lost and suppressed histories, Boyd reinterprets artistic and archival material across art, science, history and geography in order to challenge Eurocentric perspectives and romanticised notions that dominate the historical canon. His work acknowledges the multitude of collective, cultural and personal memories at the core of historical imagery, and seeks to create a context for a diaspora of meaning to exist.
Considered one of Australia’s leading artists, Boyd has been exhibiting nationally and internationally since 2005. Significantly, Boyd was the first Indigenous Australian to win the prestigious Bulgari Art Award, in 2014. He has participated in major biennales and exhibitions, including: All the World's Futures, the 56th Venice Biennale (2015), curated by Okwui Enwezor; The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed, 20th Biennale of Sydney (2016); Mondialité, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist & Asad Raza at the Boghossian Foundation, Villa Empain, Brussels (2017); Defying Empire: National Indigenous Art Triennial, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2017); and Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Divided Worlds, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (2018). His major survey exhibition Treasure Island opened at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, in 2022.
Untitled (ToVR)
2018
oil, charcoal, pastel, pencil and archival glue on canvas
201.0 x 450.0 cm
Untitled (LSHFOW)
2019
oil, acrylic, pastel, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
179.0 x 117.0 cm
Untitled (LAFTAL)
2021
oil and archival glue on canvas
56.0 x 51.0 cm
Untitled
2013
oil, acrylic, glitter and archival glue on canvas
94.0 x 94.0 cm
Untitled
2012
oil and archival gel on linen
137.0 x 102.0 cm
Untitled
2012
oil and archival gel on linen
93.0 x 66.0 cm
Up in smoke tour #7
2011
archival glue on photocopy in Natural History Museum skull box
25.0 x 18.0 x 5.0 cm
Up in smoke tour #13a + b
2011
watercolour and archival glue on photocopy in Natural History Museum skull box
25.0 x 18.0 x 5.0 cm
Up in smoke tour #5
2011
archival glue on photocopy in Natural History Museum skull box
25.0 x 18.0 x 5.0 cm
Installation view
2013
Untitled
2014
oil, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
183.0 x 183.0 cm
Untitled
2014
oil, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
107.0 x 122.0 cm
Untitled
2014
oil, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
198.0 x 168.0 cm
Untitled (TTOTSOTO)
2021
oil, acrylic and archival glue on canvas
3 panels, each: 198.0 x 170.0 cm; total: 198.0 x 510.0 cm
Untitled (TGRTMA)
2021
oil, acrylic and archival glue on canvas
245.0 x 215.0 cm
quiver
2021
single channel digital video, colour, sound
Sandpiper Dance
2020
Untitled (BCIHMP)
2021
oil, acrylic and archival glue on canvas
108.0 x 67.0 cm
Untitled (COTU)
2016
oil pastel, acrylic, gouache and archival glue on canvas
183.0 x 137.5 cm
Untitled (WHTTROMN)
2021
oil, charcoal and archival glue on decommissioned Natural History Museum, London, skull box
55.0 x 82.0 cm (dimensions variable)
I build my language with rocks
2016
Installation view
Untitled (OLSD)
2020
oil, arcylic and archival glue on canvas
153.0 x 122.0 cm
Untitled (IATPIP)
2021
oil, pencil, acrylic and archival glue on decommissioned Natural History Museum, London, skull box
55.0 x 82.0 cm (dimensions variable)
Untitled (VAW)
2016
oil, ink and archival glue on linen
168.0 x 138.0 cm
Untitled
2016
oil, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
81.5 x 66.5 cm
Untitled (LBCP) #13
2016
oil pastel and archival glue on paper
32.0 x 25.0 cm
Sandpiper Dance
2020
Sandpiper Dance
2020
Untitled (IAHFAAIWTGBT)
2021
oil, ink and archival glue on decommissioned Natural History Museum, London, skull box
55.0 x 82.0 cm (dimensions variable)
Untitled (IITCTAIOAP)
2021
oil paint, archival glue on board
60.0 x 60.0 cm
Untitled (KSIABFL)
2021
oil, acrylic, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
24.0 x 18.0 cm
The Green Room
2016
Installation view
PANORAMA: Selected works from the Eva and Marc Besen Gift to TarraWarra Museum of Art
2016
Installation view
Daniel Boyd: Bitter Sweet
2017
Installation view
The Green Room
2016
Installation view
Untitled (OBD)
2020
oil, acrylic, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
213.0 x 198.0 cm
No Ordinary Love
2008
oil on canvas
162.0 x 122.0 cm
Thar She Blows
2008
oil on canvas
120.0 x 81.0 cm
Sir No Beard
2008
oil on canvas
256.0 x 165.0 cm
Untitled (LBCP) #4
2016
oil pastel and archival glue on paper
32.0 x 25.0 cm
Untitled (BAT)
2020
oil, acrylic, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
213.0 x 198.0 cm
Untitled (TBOMB)
2020
oil, acrylic and archival glue on canvas
245.0 x 396.0 cm (overall)
Untitled (GNKLASD)
2021
oil, acrylic, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
66.0 x 102.0 cm
Untitled
2014
oil, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
213.5 x 168.0 cm
Untitled
2014
oil, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
168.0 x 122.0 cm
Sandpiper Dance
2020
Untitled (TRISATSAG)
2020
oil, acrylic and archival glue on canvas
190.0 x 350.0 cm
Untitled (INYIM)
2021
oil, charcoal and archival glue on canvas
87.0 x 87.0 cm
Auckland Art Fair 2021
2021
installation view
Untitled (TSATSAG)
2020
oil, acrylic and archival glue on canvas
122.0 x 153.0 cm