Ruth O'Leary Hidden Mothers
11 Oct.—15 Nov. 2025
Ruth O'Leary (b.1990 Naarm), currently based in Dja Dja Wurrung Country.
- 2021
- Birthed third son.
- 2019
- Birthed second son.
- 2016
- Birthed first son.
Education
- 2015
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours), Monash University, Melbourne
- 2010
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drawing), RMIT University, Melbourne
Selected works
Exhibitions
CV
Solo Exhibitions
- 2026
- The Sitters, Solo presentation at the Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne
- 2025
- Hidden Mothers, Mary Cherry Contemporary, Melbourne
- 2024
- Drawings for Maeve, 138 Gallery, Melbourne
- A women’s right to make poor choices, BUS Projects, Melbourne
- 2017
- MILF, c3 Contemporary Art Space, Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne
- 2016
- The Transit Lounge, TCB Art Inc, Melbourne
- 2015
- Little Windows, BUS Projects, Melbourne
- I used to do my hair with rollers now I use a spray can and pliers, Seventh Gallery Night Screen
- 2011
- Internal, First Site Gallery, Melbourne
Selected Group Exhibitions
- 2026
- MOTHER: Stories from the NGV Collection, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Groundswell, Castlemaine Art Museum, Castelmaine
- 2025
- Castlemaine Experimental Print Prize, Castlemaine Art Museum
- Auto Photo: A Life in Portraits, CCP Exhibition/RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
- Protest is a Creative Act, Museum of Australian Photography
- SPRING1883 Art Fair, (Room 120) Mary Cherry Contemporary, Melbourne
- Decade, Caves Gallery, Melbourne
- Object Theatre, with Georgina Cue, TCB Gallery Inc, Melbourne
- 2024
- Katherine Hattam & Ruth O'Leary, LON Gallery, Melbourne
- Love, Labour, Lost, Mary Cherry, Melbourne
- Feeling, Drawing, Thinking. MEJIA Gallery, Melbourne
- Women on Women, Central Goldfields Gallery, curated by Annabel Brown
- 2023
- Linden Postcard Show, 2023/24, Linden Gallery, St Kilda, Melbourne
- Disguises, MEJIA, organised by Ruth O’Leary, Melbourne
- 2018
- Unfinished Business: Perspectives on art and feminism, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
- 2017
- Real Life Fantasies, curated by Patrice Sharkey, West Space, Melbourne
- I Love Pat Larter, Neon Parc, Melbourne
- INSIDE, Paddington Town Hall, Sydney
- 2016
- Chin Chin Wall of Art Projection Space, Flinders Lane, Melbourne
- Wink, supervised by Donald Holt, Greenwood Street Projects, Melbourne
- The Joke, Neon Parc, Melbourne
- Westspace Fundraiser Auction, Melbourne
- Debut, BLINDSIDE Artist Run Initiative, Melbourne
- 2015
- As if: Small Print, Mailbox Art Space, Melbourne
- Control, Merry Crisis Art Space, Sydney
- What Would a Feminist Methodology Sound Like?, West Space, Melbourne
- Boulevard, curated by Matthew Linde, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne
- 2014
- The Artist interprets Highpoint, Fort Delta, Melbourne
- Benglis 73/74, Sutton Projects, TCB Arts Inc, Neon Parc
- Made and Found, Group Show, TAKT A.I.R. Berlin, Germany
- 2013
- Dual, New Low Gallery, Melbourne
- 2012
- Drawing Twenty Twelve, BFA Graduate Exhibition, RMIT drawing, Melbourne
- Living Art, Aalto University Project Space Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
- 2010
- New Collectables, First Site Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- 2009
- Cancer Council Victoria Arts Awards travelling Exhibition, 120 Collins, Shepparton Art Gallery, LaTrobe Regional Gallery, Kyneton Arts Festival, Gippsland
2008: Top Arts, The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Residencies
- 2014
- TAKT Artist in Residence, Berlin, Germany
- 2012
- Exchange at Aalto University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland
Awards and Grants
- 2026
- William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize Finalist
- Lorne Community Connect Arts Hub Photography Prize Finalist
- Punctum x La Trobe Art Institute, Artist-in-Residence
- 2025
- Regional Arts Victoria Quick Response Grant Recipient
- Woollongong Art Prize Finalist
- Castlemaine Exoerimental Print Prize Finalist
- Maldon Portrait Prize Finalist
- 2017
- BalletLab McMahon Contemporary Art Award Finalist
- 2015
- Monash University, Fine Art Honours Prize
- 2014
- Studio resident, TAKT Artist in Residence, Berlin
- 2012
- RMIT Travel Grant
- John Storey Junior Memorial Scholarship
- 2011
- Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Link Arts Union Grant Funding (new video work)
- 2009
- Outstanding Young Artist Prize, Cancer Council Victoria, Australia
Selected Bibliography
- 2026
- McDowell, Tara. "MOTHER: Stories from the NGV Collection." Memo Review, 2026.
- 2025
- Taylor Schmitzer, Lucy. “Auto Photo: A Life in Portraits.” Memo Review, 2025.
- Port, Jenny. “Performance Art (The Body as Brushstroke).” Satellite Projects Blog, 2025.
- 2024
- “Interview.” Howl Magazine, no. 3, chap. 1, 2024.
- 2023
- Siemienowicz, Rochelle. “Strikes at Victorian Universities: Anger, Exhaustion and a Sense of Injustice.” ArtsHub, 2023.
- “Enterprise Bargaining Takes the Next Steps: Students Join the Strike.” The Swanston Gazette, no. 2, October 2023.
- Knezic, Sophie, and Lisa Radford. “Surviving the Gigiversity.” The Saturday Paper, no. 468, 2023.
- 2016
- Dissect Journal, no. 3, 2016. Photographic collaboration with Phebe Schmidt.
- French, Jessie. “Worth Their Weight in Gold: Young Australian Artists to Invest in Right Now.” i-D Magazine, 2016.
- The Lifted Brow, no. 29, 2016. Front cover design.
- Schmidt, Audrey. “Life Drawing’s Unexpected Revolution.” i-D Magazine, 2016.
2015
: Rule, Dan. “Lynda Benglis’ Provocative Art Inspires Trio of Exhibitions.” Sydney Morning Herald, October 3, 2014.
- 2014
- Endless Lonely Planet, no. 3, 2014. Poem published in “Internetemotions.”
- The Lifted Brow, “Sex Issue,” 2014. Photograph.
- 2013
- Crazy in Love Magazine, 2013. Photograph and online GIF page.
Collections
National Gallery of Victoria
Art Bank
MECCA
Private collections