Bern Emmerichs


Born 1961
Lives and work in Melbourne


EDUCATION

1979 - 1980 Foundation Year Art, Prahran College of Advanced Education, Melbourne
1980 - 1982 Diploma of Fine Art, Phillip Institute of Technology, Melbourne


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2019 Kids Own Publishing, Workshop, Abbotsford Convent
2018 M is For Mutiny Workshop, Melbourne Writers Festival, NGV
2018 Whittlesea Shire, Arts Project
2018 Glamorgan, Toorak, Artist in Residence Program
2018 NGV, Colony Exhibition 'Education Workshop'
2017 Geelong Grammar School, Artist in Residence Program
2014 'Lalor Conversation', painted tile mural
2012 Northern Hospital Tapestry Design, Aust. Tapestry Workshop
2004 Artists in Schools Project, Altona West P.S.
2000- 02 Studio residency in Kamp-Lintfort, Germany
1996 Winner of the 'Conwarr Contemporary Clay Award'
1995 Australia Council Artist Development Grant
1991- 97 Co-Winner of the annual 'Sidney Myer Fund - Australia Day Ceramics Award', Shepparton Art Gallery
1987 Founding member of the Collective Workshop for Applied Arts, 'Whitehall Enterprises', in Melbourne
1986 Gasworks Art Centre, Melbourne, 'Logo Award' Winner
1982 onwards Freelance artistic career working on commissions and exhibition pieces.


SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2021 'Between the Devil 'N the Deep Blue Sea', Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
2018 So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
2018 Sydney Contemporary, Scott Livesey Galleries
2018 New Works, Caroline Simpson, Living Hist. Museum, Sydney
2018 ‘Reimagine’ Geelong Gallery
2018 ‘Mainly Macquarie’ Scott Livesey Galleries
2017 ‘Macquarie’, Maunsell Wickes, Sydney
2016 Ceramic Paintings, Scott Livesey Galleries, Art Fair, Melb
2015 Book launch and Exhibition, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melb.
2015 Ceramic Paintings, Maunsell Wickes, Sydney
2014 Twenty Fourteen, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
2014 Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
2013 What’s Your Story?, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
2013 Seachange, Maunsell Wicks, Sydney
2012 Ceramic Paintings, Maunsell Wicks, Sydney
2011 Blood, Sweat & Fears, Scott Livsey Galleries, Melbourne
2011 Ceramic Paintings, Maunsel Wickes at Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney
2010 Ceramic Paintings, Maunsel Wickes at Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney
2010 First Contact, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
2010 Playing Field, Craft Victoria, Melbourne
2009 Ceramic Paintings, Maunsel Wickes at Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney
2009 White Heat, Manly Art Gallery, Sydney
2009 Dog Exhibition, Adelaide Artroom 5
2009 Facing History, Melbourne Style Gallery, South Melbourne
2008 First Contact, Maunsel Wickes at Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney
2008 Australian Stories, Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo, NSW
2008 New Under The Sun, Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne
2006 Ceramics, Maunsell Wickes at Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney
2005 - 2006 Transformations, The Language of Craft, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
2004 Masters Exhibition, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne
2003 Sofa Chicago '03, Chicago, USA
2002 Baroque Exhibition, Despard Gallery, Hobart
2001 Zwischenstation Heimat, Ordensmuseum Abtei Kamp, Germany
2001 Manu Factum, Niederrheinisches Museum für Volkskunde undKulturgeschichte e.V., Kevelaer, Germany
2001 Transformacion / Verwandlung, Galleria L'Unico,Palma De Mallorca, Spain
2000 Australien - Keramische Kunst der Gegenwart,Gallerie Marianne Heller, Heidelberg, Germany
1996 Sofa Chicago '96, Chicago, USA
1995 - 1996 Bern+Gerhard Emmerichs - Ceramic, Glass and Design,Craft Victoria, Melbourne - Craftspace Gallery, Sydney
1995 Delinquent Angel - Australian Ceramic Art, Museo Internationale DelleCeramiche, Faenza, Italy
1994 Colin & Cecil Rigg Craft Award, National Gallery of Victoria,Melbourne
1993 Fresh Clay Australia, Meat Market Craft Centre,North Melbourne
1992,'93,'94 '96,'97,'99 Sidney Myer Fund - Australia Day Ceramics Award,Shepparton Art Gallery, Shepparton
1991 Decorated Clay, Queensland Art Gallery,Brisbane
1990 Whitehall at the Adelaide Arts Festival, Festival Centre, Adelaide
1989 International Crafts Triennial, Art Gallery of Western Australia,Perth
1988 Bicentennial Art / Craft - Awards, Showgrounds, Melbourne
1988 Whitehall Enterprises, Linden Gallery, Melbourne
1988 Stuart Devlin Award Exhibition, Meat Market Craft Centre,North Melbourne
1987 Bern Emmerichs - Paintings,Mosaic,Glass, Devise Gallery, South Melbourne
1985 The Romps, Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne
1984 Bern Emmerichs - Paintings, Adelaide Arts Festival Fringe
1983 Bern Emmerichs - Paintings, Graham Cornell Gallery,Melbourne
1983 Australian Printmakers Association Touring Exhibition,West Coast USA


SELECTED COMMISSIONS

1995 - 2009 Bjork, Janet Jackson, Paul Kelly, Michael Gudinsky, Deborah Conway, Mel C, Ben Harper, Rachel Griffith, Lee Kournagahan, Ben Elton, Li Cunxin, Spike Jonze, Katherine Keener, Lindsay Fox ......(commemorative pieces)
2005 Bula Residence (tile murals), Carlton (Melbourne)
2004 Syme Residence ( mosaic garden sculpture), Toorak (Melbourne)
1999 Platform M.B. - Espresso Bar & Gallery (mosaic, tiles), Brighton (Melbourne)
1998 Christmann Residence (tiles), Kamp-Lintfort (Germany)
1995 Hornery Residence (mosaic), Darling Point (Sydney)
1994 The Food Gallery (mosaic, tiles), Daylesford (Victoria)
1991 Villa Parma (mosaic), Hepburn Springs (Victoria)
1988 Wine Victoria (mosaic), World Trade Centre, Melbourne
1987 Crabtree & Evely (mosaic), Block Arcade, Melbourne
1987 Scanlan & Theodore (mosaic), South Yarra (Melbourne)


COLLECTIONS

Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne
Museum of Hobart
Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra
Artbank Collection, Melbourne
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Sydney Casino Collection
Kyneton Collection
Meatworkers Union Collection, Melbourne
Shepparton Art Gallery
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
The Elliot Wyes Collection, NSW
Macquarie University
City of Sydney Collection
Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne, Herbarium


PUBLICATIONS

2017 ‘M Is For Mutiny, A History By Alphabet’, Berbay Publishing
2016 ‘The Startling Story Of Lachlan Macquarie’, Berbay Publishing
2015 ‘ William Bligh A Stormy Story Of Tempestuous Times’, Berbay Publish.
2014 ‘ The Unlikely Story Of Bennelong And Phillip’, Berbay Publishing
2013 ‘What’s Your Story?’ Berbay Publishing
2012 The Art Of Being Melbourne’ Maree Coote
2010 Vogue Living, April issue (scheduled)
2009 Australian Ceramics, July issue
2008 500 Plates, Platters & Chargers, Lark Books
2007 Australian Ceramics, April issue
2006 Handmade in Australia - Geoff Slattery Publications
2005 Australian Ceramics, Volume 44#2 2005
2004 Australian Ceramics, Volume 43#2 2004
1997 INSIDE Australian Interiors, Janne Faulkner
1994 International Crafts, Thames & Hudson
1993 Australian Arts Diary, Maria Prendergast
1992 Crafts Movements in Australia, Grace Cochrane
1992 Ceramic Art & Perception, Issue 9
1990 Australian Arts & Crafts Book of Days, Bow Press

AWARDS

2018 C.B.C.A. Nominated Finalist
2017 C.B.C.A. Nominated Finalist
2016 Swiss Italian Festival Daylesford, Landscape Award, 2nd Prize
1991-1997 Co Winner Sydney Myer Fund Aust.Ceramics Award, Shepp. Art Gallery
1996 Winner Conwarr Contemporary Clay Award





Bern Emmerichs
Bern Emmerichs / Winter Salon

2024

installation image

Bern Emmerichs
Stepping Way Over the Line

2023

painted ceramic (fired) and seashells

"Stepping Way Over the Line"

The Tasmanian Tiger, estimated killed 3,500.
The Tasmanian Tiger, often described as a 'shy’ and semi-nocturnal creature. They were granted protection status on the 10th of July 1936, 59 days before the last known tiger died at Hobart Beaumaris 200 on the 7th September 1936 with cause of death being suspected neglect.

Premium (meaning price paid for protection from a loss or harm).

Lager (Glare - a focus on public attention; Large - in a boastful manner and Regal - of notable excellence magnificent)

Cascade (a mass of something that falls or hangs in copious quantities)

$8,500.00

Bern Emmerichs
No Smooth Sailing

2024

painted ceramic (fired) and seashells

60.00 x 47.00 cm

Duncan Campbell (1726-1803) was the influential lynchpin and overseer of the Thames convict prison hulks at Woolwich, and the transportation to Australia between 1776-1801. 
His niece, Elizabeth Betham was married to Captain William Bligh, who regularly sailed on Campbell’s ships to Jamaica, to assist in Campbell’s family sugar and rum estate, ‘Saltspring’.
His two ships Justitia and Censor were used as hulks. Campbell being a private contractor was subject to little regulation. Reports of bad food, hulk fever, and few religious services provided were common and cause for one in four prisoners falling gravely unwell in 1778. In 1802 his contract was not renewed. 
After which the system moved to more direct government control and continued till 1857.

$8,500.00

Bern Emmerichs
Stiff Competition for Justice and Fortitude

2021

painted ceramic (fired) and frame embellished with seashells

30.00 x 90.00 cm

The two female bushrangers at the top are:
1. Mary Ann Bugg (1834-1936), A bold Worimi woman, born in Berrico near Gloucestor in New South Wales. A mother of fifteen children, with relationship to the bushranger Fred Ward who’s alias was Captain Thunderbolt.
 
2. Jessie Hickman (1834-1905), Known as The Lady Bushranger. Jessie established herself as a leader of a gang of cattle duffers in the 1920s. She lived also in New South Wales in the area that is now known as the Woolemi National Park.

The male bushrangers depicted below the women were operating in that same area at that time.

$12,500.00

Bern Emmerichs
The Drover's Wife with the Man from Snowy River N Feral Brumbies

painted ceramic (fired)

90.00 x 60.00 cm (overall, diptych)

Inspired after seeing the award winning movie by Leah Purcell, The Drover's Wife: The Legend Of Molly Johnson. This piece is all about the high country, the controversial issues with brumbies vs the vulnerable and delicate landscape of Australia, along with the culture of the high country cattle men.
Referenced also, Banjo Paterson's famous poem The Man from Snowy River. This poem has always been considered a story portrayed as a white man. However many claims suggest that he was based on events surrounding an Indigenous stockman.

Bern Emmerichs
New and News

2023

painted ceramic (fired)

30.00 x 60.00 cm

North East West South... News and events from all directions.

Featured is Louise Seguin, she was the first European woman to travel to the Antarctic region. Beginning at the age of 14, she disguised herself as a boy in order to travel on the 1772-1773 voyage of Captain Yves Joseph de Kerguelen, on the Roland Ship. It has been suggested that Louise and Yves were lovers. Eventually it was discovered that Louise was a woman and this is said to have contributed to de Kerguelen's 1776 court martial.

Bern Emmerichs
Equine Love

2021

30.00 x 90.00 cm

"Equine Love"

Elizabeth Jessie Hickman and Mary Ann Bugg were both incredible horsewomen. Horses have always been a passion of mine, from a very early age. My self-made red horse stamp is reminiscent of my favourite childhood book, Robert The Rose Horse.
The poem featured is by Joe Pascoe.

Bern Emmerichs
Sea For Yourself

2021

30.00 x 90.00 cm

"Sea For Yourself"

Inspired by the famous Bushranger painting, (1852 St Kilda Rd Elwood reimagined event) by William Strutt, along with the iconic 1950s poster for the Blue Mountains by Jules Henry Roy Rousel 'See For Yourself'. The landscape and way of life in which these two incredible horsewomen called home.
'Sea' not 'See’ is referring to the sea shell frame and sea shells found deep in remote caves after the devastating bushfires of 2019-2020.

Bern Emmerichs
Nothing Succeed Like Success

2020

painted ceramic (fired)

30.00 x 120.00 cm (overall, diptych)

Bern Emmerichs
The Old Lysander

2020

painted ceramic (fired) and mixed media

30.00 x 90.00 cm

Bern Emmerichs
The Ineffable Hulk, The President

2020

painted ceramic (fired)

30.00 x 90.00 cm

Bern Emmerichs
Poking and Thrusting on Lon

2020

painted ceramic (fired) and mixed media

30.00 x 60.00 cm

sold 

Bern Emmerichs
Hidden History

2020

painted ceramic (fired) and mixed media

90.00 x 90.00 cm (overall, triptych)

sold 

Bern Emmerichs
Golden Boy Alias Olsen

2020

painted ceramic (fired) and mixed media

30.00 x 90.00 cm

sold 

Bern Emmerichs
Ruffles on the Rajah

2018

painted ceramic (fired) and seashells

60.00 x 270.00 cm (overall, triptych)

sold 

Bern Emmerichs
Cross Stitched

2018

painted ceramic (fired)

sold 

Bern Emmerichs
Family

2017

painted ceramic (fired) and mixed media

120.00 x 90.00 cm (overall)

sold 

Bern Emmerichs
Ms, Mrs and Miss Demeanours

2018

painted ceramic (fired)

Bern Emmerichs
A Grave Injustice at Boulogne

2017

painted ceramic (fired)

30.00 x 120.00 cm

Bern Emmerichs
Father of Australia

2016

painted ceramic (fired) and mixed media

30.00 x 60.00 cm

sold 

Bern Emmerichs
Bligh's Wiff of the Wattles

painted ceramic and mixed media (fired)

30.00 x 120.00 cm (overall, diptych)

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HOURS

Monday
By Appointment
Tuesday - Friday
11:00AM - 5:00PM
Saturday
11:00AM - 4:00PM
Sunday
Closed

CONTACT

Scott Livesey Galleries
610 High Street, Prahran
Victoria, Australia, 3181
© 2024 SCOTT LIVESEY GALLERIES MELBOURNE