EDUCATION
2006-7
Master of Fine Art, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
1996-97
Post-Graduate Diploma in Fine Art, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
1988-9
Certificate of Illustrative Photography, Photography Studies College, Melbourne
1982-85
Bachelor of Arts, University of Melbourne
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
Photoglyphic, MARS Gallery, Melbourne
2021 Plastic, MARS Gallery, Melbourne. Sea-change (site-specific 5th iteration), Gippsland Regional Gallery, Sale. Sea-change (site-specific 6th iteration), Glass Cube, Frankston Arts centre, Melbourne
2018
Sea-change (site-specific 4th iteration) Arup Gallery, Arup offices, Sydney
2018
Sea-change (site-specific 3rd iteration) Installation Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary, Sydney
2018
Sea-change (site-specific 2nd iteration) Art Central Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2017
Reverse Photography, Rupert Bunny Fellowship Exhibition, St Kilda Town Hall Gallery, Melbourne
2017
Sea-change, MARS Gallery, Melbourne
2012
Phototropic, Academy Gallery, Uni of Tasmania, Launceston
2011
Smack, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2008
Fiction-Non-Fiction, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2008
Index, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2007
Index, Postgraduate Gallery, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
2005
Tissue Issue. Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2003
Heavy Light, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2000
Penumbra, Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne
1998
Proof, Talk Gallery, Melbourne.
1996
Photoelastic, Temple Studios, Melbourne.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Photography : Real and Imagined, The Ian Potter Centre:NGV Australia
City of Wyndham Art Prize, Wyndham Art Gallery, Melbourne
2022
Art and Gender, Justin Arthouse Museum, Melbourne
City of Wyndham Art Prize, Wyndham Art gallery, Melbourne Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, Gordon, NSW
2021 Spring 1883 Art Fair, online at MARS Gallery due to COVID restrictions, Melbourne Telling Tales, Glen Eira City Gallery, Melbourne Four x Four, McClelland Gallery, Melbourne Christmas Exhibition, MARS Gallery, Melbourne
2020. Wyndham Art Prize, Wyndham Art gallery, Melbourne
2019 Drowning Not Waving, Wyndham Art Gallery, Melbourne Pop-up in a Penthouse, Ovolo 1888, Sydney
2018
Recent Acquisitions: Port Phillip City Collection 2016-2018, Carlisle St Arts Space, Melbourne Material Memories, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston
Co-Curator (with Andy Dinan) Staying Power, MARS Gallery, Melbourne
Antipodean Emanations: cameraless photographs from Australia and New Zealand, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne
Speed: Mobility and Exchange, MonaFoma Festival, Academy Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania
2017
St Kevins Art Show, St Kevins College, Melbourne
2016
Divine Abstraction, Justin Art House Museum, Melbourne
2015
Unintended Refrains, George Paton Gallery, Melbourne
2014
Ex-libris – the book in contemporary art, Geelong Gallery, Victoria
Perceptions of Space: Justin Collection, Glen Eira City Gallery, Melbourne
2013
Missing Presumed Dead, Geraldton Regional Gallery, WA
2012
Missing Presumed Dead, Devonport Regional Gallery, & Cast Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania
Chromogenic, Fairfax Building, Melbourne
The Art of Collecting, George Paton Gallery, Melbourne
St Kilda Bowlling Club Studio Artists, The Gallery: St Kilda Town Hall, Melbourne
A Hand Up: fundraising exhibition for Prahran Mission, Deutscher and Hackett, Melbourne
2011
Recent Acquisitions: City of Port Phillip, St Kilda Town Hall Gallery, Melbourne
2010
Interieur-Exterieur, Lumas Galleries, Paris
The Apple Project, AC Institute, New York, USA
St Kilda Bowlling Club Studio Artists, The Gallery: St Kilda Town Hall, Melbourne
Nellie Castan Gallery @ the Depot Gallery, Sydney
2009
Josephine Ulrich and Wynn Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast City Gallery, Queensland
Selected Works, Lumas Galleries, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart, London, Paris, Vienna, Zurich,
New York
Linking: St Kilda Bowlling Club Studio Artists, The Gallery: St Kilda Town Hall, Melbourne
2008
Order & Disorder: Archives and Photography, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
When You Think About Art, George Paton Gallery, Melbourne
Artists for Kids Culture Annual Exhibition and Auction, Brightspace, Melbourne
2007
Penelope Davis, Stephen Haley, Joyce Kohl, LA Artcore, Los Angeles, USA
Josephine Ulrich and Wynn Schubert Photography Award, Gold Coast City Gallery, Queensland
ANZ Visual Arts Award, VCA, Melbourne
Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre, Western Australia
William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, MGA, Melbourne
2006
Light Sensitive: Contemporary Australian Photography from the Loti Smorgan Fund, The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia,
Federation Square, Melbourne
20/20, 18th Street Centre for the Arts, Los Angeles, California, USA
Linden Postcard Show. Linden Gallery, Melbourne
2005
Julie Millowick Photography Award, Castlemaine, Victoria
Recent Acquisitions City of Port Phillip, Linden Gallery, Melbourne
Paper Chase, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
A4 Art, Westspace, Melbourne
Fundraiser, Ocular Lab, Melbourne
2004
Floranova, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Foundation for the Arts Photography Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise
Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne Art Fair, Exhibition Buidings, Melbourne
2003
First Impressions, The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Federation Square, Melbourne
2nd Sight, The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Federation Square, Melbourne
Boogy, Jive and Bop, Academy Gallery, University of Tasmania, Launceston
2002
White and Black Photography, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
2001
31st Alice Art Prize, The Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
City of Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
Salon Exhibition, Penthouse and Pavement, Melbourne
2000
The Hutchins Art Prize, The Long Gallery, Salamanca Place, Hobart
'F’: Divergent Abstraction and the Photographic Project, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney
A4 Art 2000, Westspace, Melbourne
1999
Moet and Chandon Touring Exhibition, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; National
Gallery of Australia, Canberra; RMIT Gallery Storey Hall, Melbourne.
‘F’: Divergent Abstraction and the Photographic Project, Glen Eira City Gallery, Melbourne
BAab/ talk exchange, Hanover Gallery, Liverpool, Britain.
1998
Focus #4: Click, Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne
Deacons Graham and James/ Arts 21 Award and Exhibition, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
taken, Project Space, RMIT, Melbourne
Post-Postcard Show, Linden Gallery, Melbourne
Anniversary, Talk Gallery, Melbourne
taken, Project Space, RMIT, Melbourne
3rd Exhibition, Pin Oak Gallery, Melbourne
Talk Artist’s Initiative @ Platform 2, Platform 2, Melbourne
'F’: Divergent Abstraction and the Photographic Project, Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart
1997
“Disclosure”: new photo artists ‘97, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney
Introduction, talk artist’s initiative, Melbourne
Christmas Fundraiser, talk artist’s initiative, Melbourne
ANZ Fellowship Exhibition, ANZ Bank, Melbourne
Work, Westspace Gallery, Melbourne
Victorian Campus Art Prize and Exhibition, George Paton Gallery, Melbourne
Proud, VCA Student Union Exhibition and Award, VCA Gallery, Melbourne
A4 Art, Westspace Gallery, Melbourne
VCA Graduate Show, VCA Gallery, Melbourne
Ashton, Raggert, McDougal Exhibition, Ashton, Raggert, McDougal Studios, Melbourne
1996
times five, First Site, Storey Hall, Next Wave Festival, Melbourne
Some Slips Don’t Show, VCA Gallery, Melbourne.
A4 Art, Westspace Gallery, Melbourne
Agfa Summer Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
1994
Four Photographers, Linden Gallery, St.Kilda, Melbourne
A4 Art, Westspace Gallery, Melbourne
Agfa Summer Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
1993
Graduate Show, Photography Studies College, Melbourne
AWARDS / GRANTS / RESIDENCIES
2017
Winner, Brother McCarthy Memorial Award, St Kevin’s Art Show
2016
City of Melbourne studio residency, Carlton Connect Lab-14
2015
Winner, Rupert Bunny Foundation Visual Arts Fellowship, City of Port Phillip
2009-12
Studio residency, City of Port Phillip Shakespeare Grove Artist’s Studios
2007
Winner, ANZ Fellowship Award
2005-07
Melbourne Research Scholarship, University of Melbourne
2001
Tokyo Studio Residency, Australia Council for the Arts (Feb-May 2003)
1999
Finalist, Moet and Chandon Touring Exhibition
1998
Finalist, Deacons Graham and James/ Arts 21 Award and Exhibition
1997
Victorian Campus Art Prize and Exhibition, Award for Innovation
VCA Student Union Exhibition and Award, VCA Student Union Award
COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Victoria
Heide Museum of Modern Art
Artbank, ANZ Bank
City of Port Phillip
City of Wyndham. BHP Billiton
University of Melbourne Student Union
Victorian College of the Arts
Charles and Leah Justin Collection
Private collections within Australia, China, Europe, Japan and the USA
ASSOCIATED PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
2007
Lecturer, Sculpture and Spatial Practice, Victorian College of the Arts
2004, 2008
Final Year Assessor, Photography Studies College, Melbourne
1997-2002
Founding Member, Talk Artists Initiative, artist-run space, located Melbourne CBD
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sagrabb, Karl, “Exhibition review: Telling Tales, Glen Eira City Council Gallery”, Arts Hub, https://www.artshub.com.au/news/reviews/exhibition-review-telling-tales-gen-eira-city-council- gallery- 2527624/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Winning+memoi r+about+racism%2C+best+tabletop+games%2C+and+are+arts+boycotts+justifiable%3F&utm_ca mpaign=AHAU-Weekly+Wrap-040222+-+newsletter. Leake, Rose of Sharon, “Previews”, Art Collector, #98 Oct-Dec ’21, pp.30-31
Hoffman Fishman, Susan, “The Last Ones Standing”, Artists and Climate Change, 30/08/2021,https://artistsandclimatechange.com/2021/08/30/the-last-ones-standing/
https://cms.gruene.de/uploads/documents/2019-03_Magazin_Gruene.pdf. , pg 12 http://artradarjournal.com/2018/04/06/seismic-surveys-art-basel-art-central-hong-kong-2018-fairs-round-up/
Jellyfish: Where art meets Science, Pursuit by the University of Melbourne, May 2017,
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/jellyfish-where-art-meets-science
Sea-change: Penelope Davis, Assemble Papers, 21/4/2017, http://assemblepapers.com.au/2017/04/21/sea-change-penelope-davis/
Interview with Penelope Davis, LAB-14 Artist-in-Residence, Creative Spaces Blog, City of Melbourne Creative Spaces, http://www.creativespaces.net.au/blog/669/creative-spaces-open-studios-in-december
MacDowell, Belinda, Art + Climate = Change 2017, The Culture Concept Circle, https://www.thecultureconcept.com/artclimatechange-2017-belinda-mcdowall-reports
Vogue Living Australia, May/June 2016, image, pg. 58
Attridge, Derek, The Work of Literature, Oxford University Press, 2015, front and back cover image
Stephens, Andrew, “Inspiration by the book”, The Saturday Age, 8/2/14
Gellatly, Kelly (ed.), 101 Contemporary Australian Artists, National Gallery of Victoria, 2012, pp. 58-59
Williamson, Geordie, The Burning Library, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2012, image on front cover
Machen, Mary, “A cutting-edge vision”, The Examiner, Launceston, 5/5/2012
Snell, Paul, Missing presumed dead (the loss of the referent?), catalogue essay
Le Monde Diplomatique, No. 682-58, Paris, France, January 2011, image on front page
Bunyan, Marcus, 'Penelope Davis: Smack at Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne', Artblart, 31/5/11, http://artblart.com/tag/penelope-davis-fluther/
Fereday, Susan, “Stretched Skin”, catalogue essay, March 2011, accompanying exhibition Smack, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne
Marsh, Anne, Look: Contemporary Australian Photography since 1980, Macmillan, Melbourne, Australia, 2010, p. 197
Dander, Heike, Heinemann, Julia and Ullrich, Marc, Collecting Fine Art Photography, Volume 1: Highlights of the Lumas Portfolio, teNeues Publishing Group, Kempen, Germany, 2008
Finch, Maggie, Order & Disorder: Archives and Photography, National Gallery of Victoria, 2008, pp. 25-27, pls. 18-19, also front cover image
For the exhibition, Order & Disorder: Archives and Photography, National Gallery of Victoria, work featured on exterior promotional banner and
exhibition poster
Haynes, Janet, “Stephen Haley and Penelope Davis: saturated visions”, Two Up, Australian Art Review, Nov-Jan 2008/2009 Issue 17, pp. 56-59
Crawford, Ashley, “Penelope Davis: Fiction-Non-Fiction”, Photofile 84 Summer 08, p. 67
Stephens, Andrew, “Grasping the Past Imperfect”, A2, The Age, 18/10/08
Universite du Luxembourg, Service de la biblioteque pamphlet, front cover image
Haley, Stephen, “Double Exposure: Post-photographic practice”, Photofile 84 Summer 08, p.47
Crombie, Isobel, Light Sensitive: Contemporary Australian Photography from the Loti Smorgan Fund, National Gallery of Victoria, 2006, pp. 17, 107, pls. 2-3
McAuliffe, Chris, catalogue essay for Recent Acquisitions, City of Port Phillip, 2005
Nelson, Robert, “It’s a Wrap”, Sightlines Critical Guide, The Age, 2/9/05
Haley, Stephen, Tissued, exhibition essay for Tissue Issue, Nellie Castan Gallery
Crawford, Ashley, Preview, Australian Art Collector, #33, July-September 2005
Stephens, Tony, “Ulrick Schubert Photography Award”, Photofile, #72, Spring 2004
Backhouse, Megan, “Camera-ready Artworks On Display”, Around the Galleries, The Age, 4/10/03
Haley, Stephen, Transparent Things, Catalogue essay for Heavy Light, Nellie Castan Gallery
Van Wyke, Susan and Lindley, Paula, Second Sight Educational Resource, National Gallery of Victoria, 2003
Nelson, Robert, “Elusive signs of the real in primitive photography”, The Age, 16/4/03
Day, Charlotte, First Impressions: Contemporary Australian Photograms, Photofile, #69, 8/03
Crombie, Isobel, First Impressions Catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, 2003
Crombie, Isobel and Van Wyk, Susan, 2nd Sight: Australian Photography in the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, 2002, p. 112, and front cover image
Ennis, Helen (ed), Photofile 66, September 2002, Traces, front cover image
Nelson, Robert, “A Strong Showing”, The Age, 27/12/00
Nelson, Robert, “Unravelled Layers”, The Age, 30/8/00
Nelson, Robert, “Pushing the right buttons”, The Age, 5/4/00
Williamson, Claire, “Mirrors and Windows”, Art Monthly, No.124, 10/99, pp.4-7, work reproduced
Nelson, Robert, “Focus on photographers who click as artists”, The Age, 27/10/99
Brown, Scott, “Give Me Something to Believe In”, 1999 Moet and Chandon Exhibition Catalogue, 1999
Marie Claire Lifestyle, Marie Claire, April 1999, work reproduced
Artbank Promotional Pamphlet, 1998, work reproduced
Klaosen, Diana, “Divergant Abstraction and the Photographic Object”, Artlink, Vol. 18, #4, December 1998, p.84
French, Blair, “Reticent thoughts on ‘dumb’ theory”, Photofile, #55, November 1998, pp.28-31, work reproduced
Cuthbert, Simon, ‘F’: Divergent Abstraction and the Photographic Project, exhibition catalogue, September 1998
Kent, Rachel, Deacons Graham and James/ Arts 21 Award, finalists exhibition catalogue, 8/98
Cattapan, John, Taken, exhibition catalogue, July 1998
Clabburn, A., “Getting it together for a little showing off”, The Age, 11/2/98
Parker, K. and French, B., “Disclosure”, Disclosure: new photo artists ‘97, exhibition catalogue, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney
James, B., “Galleries”, Sydney Morning Herald, 19/12/97, work reproduced
“Dress Circle: A Critical Guide to What’s On”, Sydney Morning Herald, 30/12/97
Bridie, Sandra, Photoelastic, interview accompanying exhibition, Temple Studios, 1996
Bridie, Sandra, Penelope Davis, interview accompanying exhibition, Fictional and Actual Artists Space, 199