Lisa Roet

The work of Australian artist Lisa Roet focuses on her interest in the relationship between humans and primates. Although based in Melbourne Roet has spent considerable time observing primate behaviours both in their natural environments and in captivity.  Her field observations form the basis of her drawings, bronze sculptures, film and photography and the exhibition Lisa Roet at Gow Langsford Gallery, brings together a collection of bronze works and charcoal drawings. 

Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1967, Lisa Roet graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 1987. Roet currently lives and works in Melbourne. Over the past ten years, she has also supplemented her studies with residencies at ape research centres and major international zoos in Berlin and Atlanta, as well as field observation of apes in the forests of Borneo, Malaysia.

Since her first show at Querhause Gallery, Berlin in 1992, Roet has held more than twenty-five solo exhibitions around the world. Particularly acclaimed are Aping, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne and The Depot Gallery, Sydney (2008); Simian Line, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne (2006); Lisa Roet: Finger of Suspicion, McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, Melbourne (2004); Pri-Mates, Lawrence Wilson Gallery, University of Western Australia, Perth (2004); Pri-Mates Drawing, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne (2003); The Shadow, National Gallery of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2001); Pri-Mates: Hands, LiebmanMagnan Gallery, New York (2000-2001); and Sebrechts-Park, Brugge Kunst Halle, Brussels.

She has also participated in more than fifty group exhibitions including Den Hagg Sculptuur 2007/The Hague Sculpture 2007, The Hague, the Netherlands (2007); Satellite Project (12 Australian Artists), Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China (2006); McClelland Sculpture Survey & Award, McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park (2005 and 2003); Kiss of the Beast, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane (2005); Instinct, Monash University Museum of Art, Monash University, Melbourne (2004); Nature Machine Exhibition, Queensland Gallery of Art, Brisbane (2004);Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award, Werribee Park, Victoria (2003); National Works on Paper Award, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria (2003); National Sculpture Prize, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2003); and Primavera, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2001).

Her various awards and achievements include the prestigious McClelland Sculpture Survey & Award (2005); The Kedumba Drawing Award (2005); the National Works on Paper Award (2003); and the National Sculpture Prize (2003). She has also been the recipient of several important grants, including an Asia Link Residency at the National Gallery of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2000).

Roet has featured in the Australian Art Collector's "Most Collectible Artists" (2001& 2007) and is the subject of an impressive monograph by Alexie Glass, Lisa Roet: Uncommon Observations, Thames & Hudson, Sydney, 2005. 

Further reading on Lisa Roet's work:
A Clown and His Chimp by Ashley Crawford in Australian Art Collector (Issue 44, 2008).

Reviews
Listen to Kim Hill and Mary Kissler talk about Lisa Roet's exhibition during White Night. Radio NZ 26.03.2011