Rachael Robb paints in oils on wood panel. Working on a small scale and drawing from Northern European old master techniques, her paintings explore the intersection of the ordinary and the otherworldly.
After completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at RMIT in Melbourne, Robb lived in Europe and London for 28 years before returning to Australia in 2020. In 2024, she received the Maire Ragnhild Hollingsworth Prize at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the Barton Family Foundation Installers Award at the Lester Prize.
In 2023, Robb held her first solo exhibition in a public institution at the Warrnambool Art Gallery. She has exhibited internationally and has been a finalist in the 2024 Geelong Contemporary Art Prize, the Darling Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, the Mosman Prize, the Len Fox Painting Prize, and the Portia Geach Memorial Award.
1990 Received Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting) RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
2024 B-Side Fundraiser Auction, Blindside, Melbourne
2024 2024 Geelong Contemporary Art Prize, Geelong Gallery, Geelong, finalist
2024 Portia Geach Memorial Award 2024, National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, finalist
2024 The Lester Prize, Western Australian Museum, Boola Bardip, Perth, finalist
2024 2024 Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney, finalist
2024 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2024, Royal Academy of Art, London
2024 Light Duty, solo show, Blindside, Melbourne
2023 Portia Geach Memorial Award 2023, National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, finalist
2023 I have been here before, solo show, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Warrnambool
2023 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2023, Royal Academy of Art, London
2022 Cosmic Coincidences, group show, French Riviera, Bethnal Green, London
2022 Darling Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, finalist
2022 Len Fox Painting Prize, Castlemaine Art Museum, Castlemaine, finalist
2021 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, semi-finalist
2019 Entre Amis Deux, group show, French Riviera, Bethnal Green, London
2019 Group Show, M. Goldstein, Hackney, London
2015 Hundreds and Thousands, group show, Angus-Hughes Gallery, Hackney, London
2015 Look No Further, group show, Mother Project Space, Hackney Wick, London
2010 Stolen, group show, L-13, Farringdon, London (& curated)
2008 Fresh Air Machine, group show, Calvert 22, Shoreditch, London
2008 Re-Working Old Masters, group show, Square Art, Golden Square, Soho, London
2008 Stolen, L-13, group show, Farringdon, London (& curated)
2006 Paintings, solo show, Barbican Library, Barbican Centre, London
2006 Stolen, Aquarium, group show, Euston, London (& curated)
2004 ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
2004 Paintings, Solo show, The Poetry Society, Covent Garden, London
2003 Artexpo, Javits Convention Centre, New York
1998 Paintings, solo show, Vexed Generation, Berwick Street, Soho, London
1997 PAPERworks, group show, Sightings Gallery, San Francisco
1996 One Night Only II, group show, Patterson Building, Collingwood, Melbourne (& curated)
1996 One Night Only, group show, Patterson Building, Collingwood, Melbourne (& curated)
1995 Saints and Sinners, two person show, Sightings Gallery, San Francisco
1995 Recent paintings, solo show, Obecni Dum (Municipal House) Prague
1995 Residency, Obecni Dum (Municipal House) Prague
Awards
2024 The Maire Ragnhild Hollingsworth Prize for Oil Painting, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London
2024 The Barton Family Foundation Installers Award, The Lester Prize, Western Australian Museum, Perth
Bibliography
2024 Artinsquare, issue 6, print
2024 ArtMaze Mag Collective Edition 34-37, print and online (two pages and back cover)
2023 John McDonald, Sydney Morning Herald, Review: Portia Geach Memorial Award
2023 Victorian Women Lawyers annual Portia magazine
2022 Sasha Grishin, Canberra Times, Review: Darling Portrait Prize
2022 Helen Musa, Canberra City News, Review: Darling Portrait Prize
2019 Hero Magazine, 'Mix It Up', Group Show review
2019 Wylde Magazine, 'Aesthetically Pleasing' Group Show review
2008 Phil Hebblethwaite, Stool Pigeon, ‘Musical Loot’
The Groucho Club Art Collection, London
Private collections, Australia, UK, USA, Sweden, Japan, and the Czech Republic
Photo: Lachlan Mcleod