Mel O’Callaghan

Mel O'Callaghan (born 1975) is an Australian contemporary artist who lives and works in Paris, France, and Sydney, Australia.

Early life and education Mel O'Callaghan was born in Sydney, Australia in 1975.

She attained a Bachelor of Visual Arts with Honours from the Sydney College of Arts, University of Sydney, and a Masters of Fine Arts in Research from the College of Fine Arts (COFA), University of New South Wales, and a Bachelor of Science Architecture from the University of Sydney.

Centre of the Centre Centre of the Centre was O'Callaghan's first large-scale exhibition in an Australian public institution.

The video was a result of multiple cross-disciplinary collaborations, including one with Daniel Fornari from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. It is 20 minutes long, was projected 7 metres wide, and includes underwater shots of thermal vents in the Pacific Ocean as well as the coco worm. 2024: Live Echo, Cassandra Bird, Sydney, Australia 2023: Pulse of the Planet, Esker Foundation, Calgary, Canada 2022: All is Life, Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia 2017: Ensemble (video installation), National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Melbourne, Australia (previously shown at the Centre Pompidou, Paris; in Málaga, and the Institut d'Art Contemporain Villeurbanne/ Rhône-Alpes in Lyon, France in 2016 2017: Dangerous on-the-way, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France 2014: Ensemble, Osmos, New York, US 2014: L'acte Gratuit, Galerie Allen, Paris, France 2012: Move, Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida, Lisbon, Portugal 2012: Endgame, Galeria Belo-Galsterer, Lisbon, Portugal 2010: Each atom of that stone, Grantpirrie Offsite, Sydney, Australia 2007: Landslide, Galerie Schleicher Lange, Paris, France 2005: The Fall, M. David-Weill Galleries, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France 2005: Somewhere, Galerie Schleicher Lange, Paris and Sherman Galleries, Sydney 2004: The Fall, Salles E.M. Sandoz M. David Weill, Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France 2003: In the Half Light, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, Australia 2002: The Fly and the Mountain, Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney, Australia (with Nell) 2001: Vagari, Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague

Major group exhibitions O'Callaghan has been involved in group exhibitions in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. 2025: Direct Bodily Empathy, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Len Lye Centre, Aotearoa New Zealand 2024: The Charge That Binds, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne 2024: Undo The Day, NAS National Art School Galleries, Sydney 2024: Peace More Real, Galerie Allen, Paris 2023: Seeing the Invisible, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Toronto 2023: Zone de contact, Poush, Centre for Contemporary Creation, Paris 2023: Un lac inconnu, Bally Foundation, Lugano 2023: The Brightside of the Desert Moon, Noor Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2022: Seeing the Invisible, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Jerusalem 2021: (Un)learning Australia, Seoul Museum of Art (SEMA), Seoul 2019: Primary/ Secondary Score, Yo-Chang Art Museum, National Taiwan University of Arts 2018: 200 Videos, Museo D'Art Contemporanea di Roma, Italy 2018: International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands 2017: Lock/Route, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 2016: L'art de la re'volte (The Art of Revolt), Hors-Pistes, Centre Pompidou, Málaga, Spain 2015: Nature/Revelation, The Ian Potter Museum, National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne, Australia 2014: 19th Biennale of Sydney, You Imagine What You Desire, Sydney, Australia 2010: Dying in Spite of the Miraculous, Gurtrude Contemporary art Space and Melbourne International Arts Festival, Melbourne, Australia 2010: La Main Numerique, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan 2006: Videoformes, Prix de la Creation Video, Clermont Ferrand, France 2005: National Sculpture Prize, National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, Australia 2005 Videobrasil 05 15º, Internacional Video Art Biennale, São Paulo, Brazil 2003: Printroom, Gertrude Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia 2001: Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Award, Artspace, Sydney, Australia

Major grants, awards, residencies 2024: Laureate, Prix Carta Bianca, France and Italy 2020: Finalist, The Fauvette Loureiro Memorial Scholarship, University of Sydney 2019: Residency, Fondation National des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques (FNAGP) 2018: Residency, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; US National Science Foundation & US Navy 2017: Finalist, Prix Meurice pour l'art contemporain, France 2017: Finalist, ACMI / Ian Potter Moving Image Commission 2017: Fondation National des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques (FNAGP), Artist Studio, Nogent-sur-Marne, France 2017: Cité internationale des arts, Artist Residency, Paris, France 2016: Cité internationale des arts, Artist Residency, Paris, France 2015: Recipient, Prix SAM pour l'Art Contemporain, France 2014: Nominated finalist, Bernd Lohaus Prize, Belgium 2014: Finalist, Kaldor Public Arts Projects, Sydney, Australia 2005: National Sculpture Prize, Finalist, National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Australia 2004–2022: Awarded Project and Research Grants, Australia Council for the Arts/ Creative Australia 2004–2018: Cité International des Arts, Artist Residency, Paris, France 2004: Grant, Australian Film Commission, Australia 2001: Residency, Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague, Czech Republic 2001: Finalist, Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Award

Collections O'Callaghan's work is held in a various collections in Australia and France. Ensemble (2013) at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia Framework (2014) at FRAC Bretagne, Rennes, France Woods hole Oceanographic Institution, US UQ Art Museum Monash University Museum of Modern Art (MUMA), Australia Artbank, Australian Government Art Collection, Australia Attorney General's Department, Australian Government Musee National d'Art Moderne/Centre Pompidou, Paris, France