Stephen Ormandy
Stephen Ormandy is an Australian artist, whose paintings combine geometric and lyrical forms. His graphic planes of colour primarily operating as purely abstract schemas while occasionally bordering on recognisable iconography and figuration.
Ormandy is inspired by the natural world and informed by a strong design aesthetic based on colour and form. There is a discernible dialogue between his large-scale oil paintings and sculptural work, with line, shape and surface each informing the other.
His use of colour combinations set his work apart, bringing together light and dark, bright and muted, he forces the viewer to look at the shapes and colours in comparison to those around them; appreciating how they change when placed next to one another. The artist explains:
"I’m looking for vibration and rhythm, the play of line creating positive and negative space, searching for tonal balance through contrast or harmony, while developing chroma relationships that hug or repel."
The artist also crafts twisting geometric sculptures, textile works, and jewellery. Ormandy has exhibited in New York, London, Milan, Sydney, and Seoul. His works are in the collections of Artbank in Australia, the Powerhouse Museum, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
Born in Melbourne, Stephen Ormandy graduated from The City Art Institute (now known as UNSW Art and Design) in Sydney in 1985. During his time at the college, he met Louise Olsen and Liane Rossler and in their final year of study they established the design company Dinosaur Designs.
Ormandy was a finalist in the Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2015. In 2016 Stephen Ormandy and Louise Olsen published The Art of Dinosaur Design that coincided with a travelling exhibition which has shown at Bega Regional Gallery and Hazelhurst Art Gallery. His work is in public collections across Australia including Artbank, The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, The Powerhouse Museum, The National Gallery of Victoria and The Art Gallery of Western Australia.
Education
1985 Bachelor of Fine Arts, City Art Institute now College of Fine Arts, University of New
South Wales 1886 Post Graduate year, City Art Institute now College of Fine Arts, University
of New South Wales
Select Exhibtions
2021 Symbology, Olsen Gallery Sydney
Symbology, Olsen Gallery New York
2019 Olsen Ormandy, Glass House Gallery Port Macquarie
Intertwined, Joshua Liner Gallery New York.
Gallerie Bessieres Paris
Olsen Ormandy, Olsen Gallery Sydney
2018 Olsen Ormandy: A Creative Force, Art Gallery of Newcastle.
Only Dancing, Olsen Gruin New York
2017 Survey Exhibition Olsen Ormandy Hazelhurst Regional Gallery
2016 Olsen Gallery Sydney. Ideography
Olsen Ormandy Bega Regional Gallery
Sydney Contemporary art fair Olsen Irwin gallery
2015 Olsen Irwin Gallery Art15 London
2014 Digital Organic, Olsen Irwin
Olsen Ormandy, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne
Small works- A group exhibition, Olsen Irwin Gallery Sydney
On the table: Still lives, Olsen Irwin Gallery, Sydney
2013 Sydney Contemporary Stand D103, Olsen Irwin
Regroup, Olsen Irwin Works on paper, small paintings and sculpture
2012 Polychromatism, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Tim Olsen Gallery at the Melbourne Art Fair
2011 'Series 8' Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland
2010 Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
2009 UNSW Alumni Award for outstanding achievements of UNSW alumni in the area of
Arts
2008 Tim Olsen Gallery Annex, Sydney.
2x2, Tim Olsen Gallery Annex, Sydney
Leading Lights, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Freestyle: New Australian Design for Living, La Triennale di Milano Design Museum
2007 Smartworks, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Freestyle: New Australian Design for Living, Object Gallery
2006 Freestyle: New Australian Design for Living, Melbourne Museum
2005 Survey exhibition toured to National Museum, Taipei & Art House, Singapore
2004 Survey exhibition toured to Cairns Regional Gallery & Gallery of Art & Design,
Bangkok
2003 Survey exhibition toured to Melbourne Museum, Craftwest, Perth, & Craft Queensland
2002 Major survey exhibition at Object Gallery as part of Sydney Festival
Objects of Desire, Object Gallery Tokyo Designers Block, Sputnik
2001 Design House, Felissimo, New York
Ecologic, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Cloning Craft, Craft Victoria
2000 Bejewelled, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne & Geelong Regional Art Gallery,
Geelong
1999 Accessory, Gallery 4A, Sydney
4 + 1, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
1998 Personal Effects/The Collective Unconscious, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
1997 Cloning Craft, Craft Victoria
1992 Local Heroes, Ipswich Regional Art Gallery
1989 Australian Fashion: The Contemporary Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The exhibition then toured to Japan, South Korea & Australia
1987 Galaxy Gallery, Balmain
1986 Post Graduate Show, Ivan Doughty Gallery, Sydney
1985 Graduation Show Ivan Doughty Gallery Sydney
Arthaus Gallery, Sydney
Collections
Artbank, The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, Powerhouse Museum, National Gallery of Victoria, Western Australian Art Gallery, Bega Regional Gallery Collection. Newcastle Art Gallery.
