Dean Cross is an artist primarily working across installation, sculpture and painting. Interested in the collisions of materials, ideas and histories, Cross is motivated by an understanding that his practice sits within a continuum of the oldest living culture on Earth – and enacts First Nations sovereignty through expanded contemporary art methodologies. His cross-disciplinary practice often confronts the legacies of modernism, rebalancing dominant cultural and social histories.
Dean has exhibited widely across the Australian continent and beyond and his work is held by major institutions including The Art Gallery of South Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. Cross has shown his work extensively across Australia, this includes the FREE/STATE, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, curated by Sebastian Goldspink (2022), Sometimes I Miss The Applause: Dean Cross, Heide Museum of Modern Art, curated by Melissa Keys (2022), LaTrobe Art Museum, Bendigo, curated by Karen Annett-Thomas (2022). Bus Projects, Melbourne, Carriageworks, Sydney (2022), Monuments, 4A Gallery, Sydney, curated by Bridie Moran (2022), Primavera 2021 #29, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, curated by Hannah Presley, (2021) We Change the World, National Gallery of Victoria: Ian Potter Centre, Melbourne curated by Hannah Presley (2021), Absorption, Asad Raza & Kaldor Public Projects, The Clothing Store, Sydney (2019).
sad state
1962–2022
timber, steel, brass, wire, felt, graphite, lacquer, iron and plastic
dimensions variable
To be Clever - To be Posh
2023
installation view
Photo: Simon Strong
To be Clever - To be Posh
2023
installation view
Photo: Simon Strong
T.B.C
2022
oil on poly cotton canvas
45.5 x 35.5 cm
I think it’s funny that you’re scared
2022
natural pigment (Ngunnawal/Ngambri), binder and oil stick on linen
50.0 x 61.0 cm
somehow, somewhere
2022
oil stick on linen
45.5 x 35.5 cm
words are easy, words are cheap
2022
oil stick and Australian wool on linen
61.0 x 50.0 cm
Chainsaw
2022
oil, synthetic polymer and ink on canvas
205.0 x 136.0 cm
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