Julie Rrap

Julie Rrap (also known as Julie Parr, Julie Brown or Julie Brown-Rrap, born 1950) is an Australian contemporary artist who was raised on the Gold Coast in Queensland. She was born Julie Parr, and reversed her name to express her sense of opposition. Since the mid-1970s she has worked in photography, painting, sculpture, video and performance. Julie's work expresses her interest in images of the body, especially the female body.

Biography Julie was born in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. Her family relocated to a small town, Nerang, in the Hinterlands off the Gold Coast, Queensland, which is where she grew up with her sister and brothers who included Mike Parr—an artist with whom she has often collaborated.

In 1971, she completed her Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University of Queensland, Brisbane Australia. In 1974 she continued studies in painting and drawing at the National Art School, East Sydney Technical College (later the City Art Institute), at the University of Sydney. In 1975 she studied at the Power Worksheds in the Fine Arts Department of the University of Sydney. In 1976 she studied photo media at the City Art Institute in Sydney.

In Julie Rrap's early career she was running a photographic business with John Delacour who is also a photographer. The business mainly specialised in reproductions of magazines, catalogues, and fine art books.

In 1975 Rrap worked with members of a performance art group (Alex Danko, Mike Parr, Noel Sheridan, Joan Grounds and Tim Burns) from the University of Sydney. This helped to ground her work in a more international context, and she exhibited widely during this period. In 1994. Julie returned to Australia.

In 2010, Rrap completed her PhD at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Artist career In 2018, The University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Art published interviews with three Creative Women of Sydney. In her interview, Rrap noted that "As a very young artist I was very influenced by the writings of Simone de Beauvoir but as art history did not foreground the work of many women artists it was hard to think at the time of women artists who might influence my work." She continued "this ‘lack therefore influenced my decision to make art as I felt there was so much missing from that history that could represent female sensibilities." Rrap's artistic career began in the 1970s where she explored painting, performance, photography, sculpture and video.

In her early works, Rrap superimposed photos of herself on images by Manet, Degas and Rembrandt. In this way she imposed her own image as an artist to disrupt the given models.

Julie Rrap is represented by Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney and Arc One Gallery, Melbourne

Awards and honours

Rrap has been awarded a number of fellowships, residencies and other recognition, including: 1986, Cité internationale des arts, Paris, and Power Institute of Fine Arts, University of Sydney 1989, Fellowship Grant - Australia Council for the Arts 1995, Multi-Year Fellowship - Australia Council for the Arts 1997, Cité Des Arts, Paris, and AGNSW Studio 1999, Project Grant - Australia Council for the Arts 2001, Hermann's Art Award 2002, Fellowship Grant - Australia Council for the Arts 2007, Project Grant - Australia Council for the Arts 2008, Redlands Art Prize - Mosman Gallery 2009, Clemenger Contemporary Art Award - National Gallery of Victoria 2009, National Artists’ Self-portrait Prize - University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane 2004 Soft Targets, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney 2005 Soft Targets, ARC One gallery, Melbourne, Australia 2005 Gallery, Victoria, Australia 2006 Fall Out, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney 2007 Embodied, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Newcastle 2007 Body Double, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney 2009 Escape Artist: Castaway, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney 2010 OuterSpace, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne 2010 360° Self-Portrait, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney 2011 Julie Rrap: Off Balance, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lismore, NSW 2012 Loaded, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney 2014 Rrapture: Julie Rrap, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle 2024 Past Continuous, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

Collections Images of works by Julie Rrap can be seen at a number of art gallery websites. The following collections all hold works by the artist.

Art Gallery of New South Wales https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/search/?q=Julie+rrap Art Gallery of South Australia https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/collection-publications/collection/creators/julie-rrap/5932/ Art Gallery of Western Australia (no images available) National Gallery of Australia https://artsearch.nga.gov.au/search.cfm National Gallery of Victoria https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/artist/1369/ Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (no images available. University of Melbourne, Vizard Foundation Art Collection https://www.vizardfoundationartcollection.com.au/the-nineties/explore/julie-rrap/