Elvis Richardson was born in Sydney in 1965. Currently residing in Melbourne, Richardson works in a variety of media including photograpy, sculpture and video.
Richardson was awarded a BFA from the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales in 1992 and in 1996 obtained a Master of Arts, before gaining a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University, New York, in 2002.
Richardson's work is primarily concerned with the mediation of social relations via technology. Bastard Love Child (2006/2008) gave form to personal experience and memory through the residue of defunct media. The work, comprising of hundreds of home recorded VHS tapes built into a twisting DNA-like column, allowed the viewer to read the hand-written labels prompting personal recollections through a vast array of pop cultural refrence points. Her contribution to the group show Reality Check (2009) — which examined the social and historical memory of a once-controversial reality TV program — juxtaposed billboard images of TV listings with VHS tapes with anagrams of the words "Sylvania Waters" (the program's original title).
Richardson's Televisuals: Salute Elvis (2008) reproduced test patterns once used by broadcast TV stations to calibrate signal and colour information as animated hand-drawn versions that contained an anagram of the word “televisuals”. In 2008 and 2011 Richardson presented iterations of the work NOW 7 YEARS LATER which examined the experience and aftermath of 9/11 as it was witnessed via television. Richardson herself was in New York when the attacks took place. Her direct experience of 9/11 lay in contrast to those she interviewed, who watched the events unfold on television. “I was struck by how people’s collective emotions were mediated by technology”, Richardson says. “By speaking to people who watched 9/11 from afar with distance and objectiveness, it made me rethink my own memory of the events”. – Elvisrichardson.com
Because I did it first, Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide, 2012.
It's about time, DEATH BE KIND, Melbourne; The fall before the fall (with Daniel Mudie Cunningham), UTS Gallery, Sydney, 2011.
Because I am Different, Hugo Michell, Adelaide; The Memorial (with Claire Lambe), DEATH BE KIND, Melbourne; Because I'm Lucky, Stigma Research Laboratory (with John Vella), Conical, Melbourne, 2010.
VCA Margaret Lawrence Gallery; Illume, Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2009.
NOW 7 Years Later, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle; Televisuals / Salute Elvis, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2008.
The impossibility of losing in the eyes of someone winning, James Dorahy Project Space; Slide Show Land, Canberra Contemporary Artspace, 2007.
Hoddle Street Massacre, Ocular Lab, Melbourne, 2005.
Welcome to Slide Show Land, University of Alabama Gallery, Birmingham, USA, 2004.
Call, Call Me Now Sox 36 (collaboration with Deej Fabyc), BackFabrik, Berlin, Germany, 2003.
Slide Show Land, Room 35, Sydney; Slide Show Land, The Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand; Slide Show Land, curated by Raimundas Malasauskas, Bi-Fi Screening Room, New York; The impossibility of losing in the eyes of someone winning, curated by Brett Levine, The Brookwood Art 2002 Invitational, Birmingham, USA, 2002.
The impossibility of winning in the mind of someone losing, elastic, Sydney, 2000.
151 Regent Street Gallery, Sydney; 2nd 151 Regent St Gallery, Police Radio 01/12/97–31/12/97, The Downing Centre Windows, The Performance Space, 1998.
2 Walls West, University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, Sydney; Pendulum Gallery, Sydney-Ache, 1996.
Ocular Lab Inc., VCA Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne, 2012.
Trophy Wife, curated by Sarah Jones, DEATH BE KIND, Melbourne; Have you ever, Hotel Lincoln, Art Projects in partnership with the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2011.
Hobart Art Prize, Tasmania Museum and Gallery, Hobart; Monumental Effect, DEATH BE KIND, Melbourne; Time Lapse Mega Mix, Next Wave Festival Melbourne, 2010.
Walk the Line: Australian Drawing Now, curated by Christine Morrow, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Photographer Unknown, curated by Kyla Macfarlane, Monash University Museum of Art; Reality Check, curated by Daniel Mudie Cunningham, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney; Come Hither Noise, curatred by Jasmin Stephens, Fremantle Arts Centre; The Gift, Ocular Lab at Institute of Contemporary Art, Newtown; SuperDeluxe@Artspace, curated by Scott Donovan, Artspace, Sydney, 2009.
Basil Sellers Art Prize, Ian Potter Museum of Art; Melbourne Rooms, curated by Mary Pridmore, Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart, 2008.
Ocular Notes, George Patton Gallery, University of Melbourne; An Edge meets and edge, Spectrum Project Space, Edith Cowan University; Clip Art, curated by Daniel Mudie Cunningham, Firstdraft, Sydney, 2007.
DOMAIN 2006, Temporary Public Art Project, Canberra; If You Leave Me Can I Come To, curated by Bec Dean, Australian Centre for Photography, Paddington, Sydney; Continuous, Design Gallery, University of Canberra; Shelf Life, curated by Daniel Mudie Cunningham, MOP Gallery, Sydney; Cones of Zontact — Loose Bienalle Project, Sydney; Lucky 7, James Dorahy Project Space, Sydney; Tomorrow Again, curated by Scott Donovan, Artspace, Sydney, 2006.
Predictive TXT, curated by Hany Armanious, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand; Popcorn, Canberra Contemporary Artspace; Elastic: An Archive Project, Cross Art Projects, Sydney; Body of Work, Design Gallery, University of Canberra; First Degree, curated by Daniel Mudie Cunningham, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Sydney; Don't Look Now!, Scott Donovan + Mori Gallery, Sydney; Room 35, Gitte Weise Gallery, Sydney, 2005.
Buy It Now, Black+White Gallery, Brooklyn, New York; Elastic, Elastic Gallery, London; After Hours, Design Gallery, University of Canberra; Free Time, curated by Philip Watkins, CAST, Hobart; Mummy, curated by Philipa Veitch, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Sydney, 2004.
Word, Enzio's Project, Columbia University, New York; Faculty Biennale, Anthony Girordano Gallery, New York; Anita and Beyond, Penrith Regional Gallery, Sydney; Ladies Night, Bi-Fi Screening Room, NY; Brewster Project 2003; Changing Channels, London Biennale Cross Pollinations; BackFabrik, Berlin, 2003.
Escape, Enzio's Project, Columbia University, New York; MFA Thesis Show, Mink Building, New York; Eye Witness Frenzy, The Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand; Layer Immaterial, curated by Alex Lee and Julie Barnanes, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, New York; Attention Span, curated by Lisa Andrews, Freespace, Sydney, 2002.
Ok computer, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, New York; Temporary Fixtures, Artspace, Sydney; Caravan, Freespace, Sydney, 2001.
Big Deal, curated by Lea Donan, Herringbone Gallery, Sydney; Depot - Kunst und Diskussion, Vienna, Austria; Sydney!Vienna!, curated by Anita Fricek, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne; Perfect Strangers, curated by Blair French, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Canberra, 2000.
