Del Kathryn Barton was born in 1972 in Sydney, Australia. Barton is known for her characteristic expressionism and indelible iconic painting style. Her work explores the symbolic lan­guage of femininity, interweaving references to traditional folklore and the cos­mos. Barton’s practice is grounded in self-referentiality, drawing from a euphoric, emotional inner world. Apart from her visibility as one Australia’s leading female artists she has participated in many solo and group exhibitions across Australia and internationally.

Her significant group shows include CODED BLOOMS | flowers have never been innocent, Museum of Australian Photography (2026); Frieze, Seoul (2025); Sanctuary: 25 Years of Hazelhurst Arts Centre, Hazelhurst Arts Centre (2025); Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Thessaloniki Cinema Museum, Thessaloniki, Greece (2022); Australian Love Stories, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra (2021); The Archibald Prize (2018, 2013, 2011) Art Gallery of New South Wales; mad love, ARNDT, Singapore (2017); Hong Kong International Art Fair, Roslyn Oxley9/ARNDT, Hong Kong (2016); Like-ness, Albertz Benda, New York, USA (2016); Dark Heart, Adelaide Biennale of Australian Art, Adelaide, Australia (2014); Theatre of the World, Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, Australia (2012); Lightness and Gravity, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (2012); Freehand: Recent Australian Drawing, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia (2010/11); 2009 Wynne Prize for Landscape, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (2009); Half a World Away: Drawings from Glasgow, Sao Paulo and Sydney, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Centre, Buffalo, New York, USA (2002).

Notable solo exhibitions include the more human world, Albertz Benda, New York, (2025); Art Basel Hong Kong, Solo Booth with Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Hong Kong (2025); Art Singapore, Solo Booth, Albertz Benda, Singapore (2024); of her own nature, Arndt Agency, Crowell Place, London (2023); In the company of Morris, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat (2023); love wants to give, Albertz Benda, Los Angeles (2022); the women who fell to earth, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney (2022), sing blood-wings sing, Albertz Benda, New York (2019), UNTITLED, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami (2018); Asia Now Paris Asian Art Fair, Paris (2018); the highway is a disco, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (2017); r u a bunny, Albertz Benda, New York, USA (2017), Del Kathryn Barton: The Nightingale and the Rose, The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne (2016); the highway is a disco, ARNDT, Singapore (2015); electro orchid, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, Australia (2014); The Nightingale and the Rose, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia (2012); the stars eat your body, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney, Australia (2009) and the whole of everything, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne, Australia (2008).

Her motion works are critically acclaimed, including her debut feature film Blaze, Causeway Films, in addition to short films, RED, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (2017); The Nightingale and the Rose, ACMI, Melbourne, Australia (2016); and The Human Dress, Adelaide Biennale of Australian Art, Australia (2014).

Barton was a two-time winner of The Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2013 and 2008). She was also awarded Best Short Animation at the AACTA Awards (2016), Best Direction in an Animation at the Australia Directors Guild (2016) and the Film Victoria Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film at the Melbourne International Film Festival. In addition, she has been nominated for a range of awards that include the Dobell Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2007) and The Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (1995).