Danie Mellor (AU)

Born 1971, Mackay, Australia
Lives and works Bowral, Australia

Danie Mellor is a contemporary artist whose multidisciplinary research and practice explore intersections between contemporary and historic culture, and the legacies of cultural memory and knowledge. Born in Mackay, North Queensland, his maternal family heritage is Aboriginal with Scottish and Irish settler ancestry from the Atherton Tablelands and Cairns region, and his father’s family emigrated to Australia from California in the early 1900s.

Mellor’s work is held in regional, state, and national collections, including the NGA and MCA Australia, and international museums including the National Gallery of Canada, The British Museum, and National Museums Scotland. His work has received major awards, acquisitions, and commissions including the MCA Australia’s Sculpture Commission in 2019, the National Gallery of Australia Member’s 2019 Acquisition Fund, and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2009. He was awarded his PhD from the Australian National University in 2005 and held positions of lecturer and senior lecturer at the National Institute of the Arts, ANU and then Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney.

In 2010 he was appointed to the Visual Arts Board at the Australia Council for the Arts and subsequently served as Chair of Artform until 2015. In 2020 he was appointed to the Board of MCA Australia and the Visual Arts Board of Create NSW.