CONTEXT fringe event

Left: portrait of Ham Darroch by Andrew Sikorski. Right: Fairground, 2022, photo by Brenton McGeachie. Both images courtesy of the artist and Onespace

HAM DARROCH | WALKING TOUR

Starting at the National Gallery, Canberra based artist Ham Darroch will speak about his working relationship with Bridget Riley before taking delegates to view an installation of his own work. The tour will then wrap up at Ham's studio at the Gorman Arts Centre where he will continue to expand on his projects and practice. Approximately 4km of walking is involved.

HAM DARROCH

Ham Darroch is a contemporary visual artist based in Canberra, Australia. He works across a range of media including painting, sculpture, and performance. He holds a Master of Fine Art from the University of New South Wales (2006) and a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Hons) from the Canberra School of Art (1997).

Spanning more than two decades, Darroch’s practice strongly reflects on 20th century modernism and 21st century life, driven by an unwavering intellectual curiosity, rich use of colour and masterful technical ability. His large-scale paintings resonate with the perception of space while his sculptures are created from altered and discarded existing objects, conceptually redirected using optical effects of geometric colour to reveal new meanings, influenced by the vernacular and art history.

Darroch is recognised for his large wall paintings. Since 2015, the artist has realised a number of site-specific wall pieces in Australia, such as Counter Attack (2020). At 12 metres long and 3.5 metres high, Counter Attack is his largest gallery wall painting, produced for the artist’s solo exhibition at Canberra’s Drill Hall Gallery in that year. In December 2023 Darroch completed a 96-metre public artwork for the green energy company Neoen Pty Ltd on the Capital Battery Project in Canberra.

Darroch’s recent solo exhibitions include Uplift at Woollahra Gallery Sydney (2024), Kestrel at Benjamin Parsons Gallery United Kingdom (2022), and Propeller at the Drill Hall Gallery ANU (2020). Darroch is part of several notable collections including the Kerry Stokes Collection, Canberra Museum + Gallery, The Kirkland Collection UK, the Brazilian and Columbian Embassies, Bundanon Trust Collection, and the Bridget Riley Art Foundation. In April 2024 Darroch will present Fairground, his first solo exhibition in Brisbane at Onespace.

Note: this fringe event is available to holders of a CONTEXT full event ticket. Delegates should register for an additional ticket for the purpose of managing numbers.

EVENT INFO

Exchanging Ideas in CONTEXT - Colour | Growth | Form

DATES March 20-22 2025

LOCATION Canberra, Ngunnawal (Ngunawal) and Ngambri Country. Friday main seminar day will be at Ainslie Arts Centre located at 30 Elouera Street, Braddon.

CPD 6 formal points available on the Friday