Born 1956, Brisbane, Australia
Lives and works in Sydney
Education
1975 Architecture, University of Queensland
1978 Brisbane College of Art, Brisbane
1981 Alexander Mackie College, Sydney
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
to wink at the cat, mother’s tankstation, Dublin
2023
Snow is dead, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Sleep my horse……..5 August 1956, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, New South Wales
Thoughts covered in moss, François Ghebaly, New York
2022
Boy with Red Hair Getting Hair Cut, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
2021
Idle, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
2020
The Night is Doubtful, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
The Moon is kinder than the Sun, mother’s tankstation, London
2019
End Street, Niagara Gallery, Melbourne
2018
Tied up dogs Rose Bay, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
2017
Landscape – Mapped, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
Not too hot, not too cold, mother’s tankstation, Dublin
2016
Cats That I Have Known, The Watermill Centre, Long Island
Noel McKenna, Ten Cubed, Victoria
1 August (1992 – ), Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
Seltzer, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
2015
Concealing the Spot, mother’s tankstation, Dublin
2014
Absurdia: Noel McKenna- A Focus, Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle
The Psychiatrist’s Dog, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
A Walk from One Tree Hill to Half Moon Bay, Two Rooms, Auckland, NZ
Art Basel Hong Kong, Discoveries, (solo) mother’s tankstation
2013
Animals and Men, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
Twelve old, Twelve new, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Polluting the Acid: A Selection of Etchings & Lithographs 1977 – 2013, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
2012
The piano of my brother, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
Travel Notes 2, Heiser Gallery, Queensland
2011
All That Heaven Allows, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
Homes 4 Sale NZ, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Works on Paper, Michael Reid at Murrurundi, New South Wales
2010
Drawings from the Bath, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
29cms Closer, Brett McDowell Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand
Clay Works, Heiser Gallery, Queensland
2009
News of the swimmer reaches shore, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Google Series, Men Smoking Pipes, Autumn, Men Fishing, Cats etc., Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
2008
Northland, mother’s tankstation, Dublin
The Weekly Bus-Rail Ticket: Noel McKenna, National Art School, Sydney
2007
The Democratic Potter, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
2006
From Watson’s Bay to Waterloo, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
2005
Merrylands, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Somewhere in the city, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane
Sheltered Life, City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand
Ceramics 1993–2005, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
Somewhere in the City: Noel McKenna, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane
Noel McKenna, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
Noel McKenna, Yamaki Art Gallery, Osaka, Japan
2004
Australia II including The Queensland Room, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
Noel McKenna: Animal Works 1977–2003, touring exhibition
2003
Australia, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Recent Work, 2003, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
Hermans Art Award, Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney
Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
2001
Found and Lost, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Hong Kong, John Batten Gallery, Hong Kong
SMH Watercolours, 1997-2001, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
2000
Southland, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
1999
Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, Australia
1998
Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
Bowen Galleries, Wellington, New Zealand
1997
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
1996
Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1995
Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1994
Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Dick Bett Gallery, Hobart
1993
Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Dick Bett Gallery, Hobart
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
‘ARS Multiplicata’, Sydney
1991
12 Sturt Street, Sydney
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1985
Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney
1983
Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
Darling Portrait Prize 2024, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Sir John Sulman Prize 2024 Finalist Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Wynne Prize 2024 Finalist exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2023
Wynne Prize Finalist Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2022
Dobell Drawing Prize #22 touring exhibition, Glasshouse Regional Gallery, New South Wales
Welcome Home, Rockhampton Museum of Art, Queensland
Sulman Prize Finalist Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Wynne Prize Finalist Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Archibald Prize Finalist Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing 2022 Exhibition of Finalists, PLC, Sydney
Making Place: 100 Views of Brisbane, Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane
2021
Still: National Still Life Award 2021 Finalist exhibition, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, New South Wales
Trustees’ Watercolour Prize 2021, Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2020
2020 National Works on Paper Finalist Exhibition, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
Sulman Prize Finalist Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Awards (JADA) Finalist Exhibition, Grafton Regional Gallery, Grafton, New South Wales
2019
Sulman Prize Finalist Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2018
From Here To There: Australian Art And Walking, Lismore Regional Gallery, New South Wales
The Wynne Prize 2018, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2017
Every Dog Will Have Its Day, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Casula, New South Wales
Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales
2016
The Popular Pet Show, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Wildthing: Animals in Contemporary Australian Art, Mosman Art Gallery, New South Wales
2016 Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award, Grafton Regional Gallery, Grafton, New South Wales
Outside, Karma, Long Island, New York
Fleurieu Art Prize, Anne and Gordon Samstag Museum of Art, University of South Australia, Adelaide
Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial 2016, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2015
Collector’s Space, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
2014
Living Rooms, Musée du Louvre, Paris
David Malouf and Friends, Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane
Spring 1883, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
Solitaire, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria
2013
Fourteen days in New York, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales
South of No North, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2012
New Work, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
Selected Works, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Korea International Art Fair, Niagara Galleries, Seoul
Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building
Gold Coast International Ceramic Award, Queensland
understated 2012 – NSW Parliament Collection, Fountain Court, NSW Parliament, Sydney
Revealed: Inside the private collections of South Australia, Anne and Gordon Samstag
ANIMAL/HUMAN, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane
Walking with Alice, SASA Gallery, UniSA, Adelaide
Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Volume One: MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
A View From Where I Was Sleeping, Wellington, NZ
Blue Chip XIV: The Collectors’ Exhibition, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
2011
Going where the weather suits my clothes…a fall of light on fabric, mother’s tankstation, Dublin
Noel McKenna – 29 centremeters closer, Brett McDowell Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand
2010
Fully Booked, Arts Project Australia, Melbourne
Basil Sellers Art Prize 2010, Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne
New Australian Art, Deloitte, Sydney
Twelve Degrees of Latitude, Regional Gallery & University Art Collections in Queensland, Perc Tucker RegionalGallery, Townsville, QLD
Minding Animals, John Paynter Gallery, Newcastle, NSW
2009
the non-grand, an exploration of intimacy in contemporary art, Wollongong City Art Gallery
avoiding myth & message: Australian artists and the literary world, MCA, Sydney
Blue Chip XI, The Collectors’ Exhibition, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Darren Knight Gallery at Auckland Art Fair, Auckland, New Zealand
2008
Who let the dogs out – the dog in contemporary Australian art, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery and Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, New South Wales
Look out Wembley Arena, MOP, Sydney
2007
Bloodlines – Art and the Horse, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW
Snap Freeze: Still Life Now, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville, Victoria
De Overkant/Down Under, Den Haag Sculptuur/The Hague Sculpture, The Hague
Art + Humour Too, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
Life is Sweet: Contemporary Australian Watercolours, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, Victoria
Artists’ Ink: Printmaking from the Warrnambool Art Gallery Collection, 1970 – 2001, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Victoria
Yours, mine and ours: 50 years of ABC TV, Penrith Regional Gallery and the Lewers Bequest, Sydney
Moist. Australian Watercolours, Araluen Galleries, New Territories; Perc Tucker Regional Art Gallery, Queensland; Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria; Riddoch Gallery, SA
2006
2006: The Year in Art, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Getting on Mother’s Nerves, mother’s tankstation, Dublin
2005
We are all animals, La Trobe University, Bendigo
MCA Collection: New Acquisitions in Context, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
The Sound of Painting, George Adams Gallery, Victoria
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
UnAustralian, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Art + Humour, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
2004
2004: National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
2004: The Year in Art, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
National Small Sculpture Prize, Woollahra Municipal Council, Sydney
The Visibility of Practice, National Art School, Sydney
Mind’s Eye, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, Sydney
Gambling in Australia: Thrills, Spills and Social Ills, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Home Sweet Home: Works from the Peter Fay Collection, touring, NGA
Fair Game. Art + Sport, NGV Response Gallery, Melbourne
Sport: More than heroes and legends, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
A Modelled World, McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park, Victoria
2003
National Sculpture Prize & Exhibition 2003, National Gallery of Australia
Art & About, College and George Streets, City of Sydney
2002
2002: The Year in Art, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Briefcase 50, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney
Nocturne: Images from night and darkness from colonial to contemporary, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
2001
Black/White & Grey, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
The Gambling Show, John Batten Gallery, Hong Kong
Wynne Prize for Watercolour, Wynne Prize and Sulman Prize, AGNSW, Sydney
The Melbourne Savage Club Art Prize, Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne
A Century of Collecting, 1902 –2001, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, College of Fine Arts, Sydney
2000
Parihaka – The Art of Passive Resistance, The City Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
Small Tapestries and Works on Paper, Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne
Pets, Prey & Predators – Introduced Animals in Recent Australian Art, Dubbo Regional Art Gallery
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Dobell Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
The Dog Show, King Street Gallery on Burton, Sydney
Re/Brand?, Wollongong City Gallery and Wollongong University
On The Road – The Car in Australian Art, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
1999
Pets, Prey & Predators – Introduced Animals in Recent Australian Art, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney
Wynne Prize for Watercolour, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Persuasive Humours, Mosman Region Art Gallery, Sydney
Cartoons and Caricature in Contemporary Art, touring exhibition, Geelong Art Gallery; Hamilton Art Gallery; Waverley City Gallery; Gippsland Art Gallery; Mornington Peninsula Art Gallery; Latrobe Regional Gallery
1998
Metamorphosis, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
Australian Contemporary Art, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
Sulman Prize, Wynne Prize and Watercolour Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
1997
A face in the crowd, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
1995
Muswellbrook Acquisitive Prize, Muswellbrook Regional Gallery
1994
Sulman Prize and Dobell Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Paint on the tracks: Australian artists and the railway, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
1993
Death, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
On the other hand, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
1992
The New Metaphysics, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1991
Moet & Chandon Touring Exhibition, Australian national tour
Correspondences, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Her story – images of domestic labour in Australian art, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
1990
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
1989
Scotchman’s Hill Vineyard Art Prize, Geelong Art Gallery
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
1987
Aberdare Art Prize for Landscape, Ipswich City Art Gallery, Queensland
1986
Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre, Western Australia
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1985
Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre, Western Australia
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Fremantle Print Award, Fremantle Arts Centre, Western Australia
1983
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1982
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1980
L. H. Harvey memorial prize for drawing, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Selected Bibliography
2024
Batchelor, Emma, ‘Winners announced: The 2024 National Photographic Portrait Prize and the Darling Portrait Prize for Painting’, Riotact, 21 June
McCaughan Spohia, ‘Unwilling participant’ helps secure major arts prize’, City Lismore News, 21 June
Gore, Charlotte, ‘Energetic and unexpected’ painting wins 2024 Darling Portrait Prize, ABC News, 21 June
Galvin Nick, ‘Adding an owl to this painting was a wise move, it just won a $75,000 prize’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 June
Song, Na-Ra, ‘Niagara Galleries: A Legacy of Contemporary Art and Personal Connections, The Korea Post, 28 May
2023
McKenna, Noel, ‘Sleep my horse……5 August 1956’, exhibition publication, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, 2023
‘Noel McKenna’, Art Now, MCA Magazine Issue #1, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Summer 2023 – 24
2021
McKenna, Noel, ‘Idle’, exhibition publication, Niagara Galleries, August
McKenna, Noel, ‘Salinger’, artist book on the writer Jerome David Salinger, July
2020
‘Living with Art: Noel McKenna’, Art Almanac, 24 July
Santeroni, Claudia, ‘Interview to the artist Noel McKenna’, The Blank, 4 July
MacMonagle, Niall, ‘What lies beneath: Calm by Noel McKenna’, Sunday Independent, 19 April
2019
Ellis, Justine, Rule, Dan, (Eds.) ’Noel McKenna End Street’, artist monograph, Perimeter Editions
O’Brien, Gregory, ‘Always Song in the Water’, Auckland University Press
Wang, YungLing, ‘The desire of recording what he sees on daily basis is even more urgent to create epic, magnified truth. — Interview Noel McKenna’, The Art Press Asia, January
2018
O’Dwyer, Rebecca, ‘How to tame a distance: On the recent work of Noel McKenna’, exhibition catalogue, Darren Knight Gallery, August
Mendelssohn, Joanna, ‘The 2018 Archibald, Sulman and Wynne prizes show a changing of the guard’, The Conversation, 4 May
Allen, Christopher, ‘Pictures Into Our Own Hearts’, The Australian, 25 February
Brown, Phil, ‘Off the charts vision’, Brisbane News, 17 January
Watson, Bronwyn, ‘Noel McKenna: Landscape – Mapped’, The Australian, 6 January
O’Sullivan, Jane, ‘Noel McKenna’, Art Collector, Jan-Mar 2018
2017
McKay, Peter; McKenna, Noel; Simsion, Graeme; ‘Landscape – Mapped’, exhibition catalogue, Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
O’Dwyer, Rebecca, ‘Noel McKenna: Not too hot, not too cold’, mother’s annual 2017
‘Sum of Its Parts’, Asian Art News, Volume 27 Number 4
Martin-Chew, Louise, ‘Landscape – Mapped: Noel McKenna’s quirky cartography’, Art Guide Australia, 18 December
2016
Ryan, Anne, ‘Noel McKenna’, Close to home: Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial 2016 exhibition catalogue, Art Gallery of New South Wales
‘Concealing the Spot’, artist monograph, essays by Jenny Bornholdt, Gregory O’Brien and David Godbold, Thinking Fisherman Publications
McDonald, John, ‘Review: Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial, Art Gallery NSW’, The Sydney Morning Herald, September
Hill, Wes, ‘Noel McKenna’, Critics’ Picks, Artforum, June
2015
Harbison, Isobel, ‘An Exact Tension’, mother’s annual 2015
2013
Allen, Christopher, ‘Remote sense of unease’, The Weekend Australian, 20-21 April
Rule, Dan, ‘Noel McKenna: 12 Old, 12 New’, The Saturday Age, 13 April
McDonald, John, ‘The southern lights’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 April
Barkley, Glenn, ‘South of No North: Laurence Abehart, William Eggleston, Noel McKenna’, Artist Profile, Issue 22
Clement, Tracy, ‘Curator Interview: Glenn Barkley’, Art Guide Australia, March/April
McKenna, Noel, Twelve old, Twelve new, exhibition catalogue, Niagara Publishing, Melbourne
Barkley, Glenn and McKenna, Noel, ‘South of no North’, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia Publishing, Melbourne
2012
Fortescue, Elizabeth, ‘MCA puts the focus on everyday details’, The Telegraph, 30 November
Sanders,Anne, ‘Revealed: Inside the private collections of South Australia’, exhibition catalogue, Samstag Museum, Adelaide
McKenna, Noel, Travel Notes 2, exhibition catalogue, Heiser Gallery Pty Ltd, Queensland
2011
O’Brien, Gregory, Homes 4 Sale NZ, exhibition catalogue, Niagara Publishing, Melbourne
O’Malley, Nick, ‘Drawn and watered’, The Sydney Morning Herald Summer, 27 December
2010
Bennett, Jennifer, ‘Prize backyard’, Wentworth Courier, 24 May
Drawings from the Bath, exhibition catalogue, Darren Knight Gallery
Hill, Peter, ‘Art and Sport’, Artlink, volume 30, no. 4
McKenna, Noel, ‘Australian Art History 1975 – 2008’, Art and Australia, volume 48, no. 1
‘A sporting chance for art’s sake’, The Age, 5 August
Hawthorne, Mark, ‘A fitting display of a spinner’s art’, The Age, 5 August
McAuliffe, Chris, ‘Art and goal’, Sport and Style, The Age, No. 16, August
Millar, Andrea, ‘Starting over’, Belle, April – May
2009
Chappell, Dan, ‘It just gets better…’, Art News New Zealand, Autumn
News of the Swimmer Reaches Shore, exhibition catalogue, Niagara Publishing, Melbourne
2008
Ryan, Anne, ‘Review exhibition: the weekly bus-rail ticket’, Art World, Issue 3, June – July
Pakula, Karen, ‘Open gallery: the weekly bus-rail ticket’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 – 19 March
Clement, Tracy, ‘Visitor from outer space’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 – 13 March
E. Moore, Padraic, ‘Northland’, mother’s annual 2008
Dyer, Katie , ‘The Weekly Bus-Rail Ticket: Noel McKenna’, exhibition catalogue, National Art School Gallery, New South Wales
‘Noel McKenna’, exhibition catalogue, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
Flynn, Barbara (ed.), ‘Emerge and Review: A look into the UBS Australian art collection’, UBS
2006
David, Ceri, ‘Walk of art’, McGrath the Weekly Magazine, 14 October
Ballard, Brett, ‘Ceramics to the challenge’, Australian Art Market Report, Issue 21, Spring
2005
Eccles, Jeremy, ‘The sound of visual art’, Art Monthly, # 185, November
Amery, Mark, ‘Is anybody home?’, The Dominion Post, 15 July
Chappell, Dan, ‘Love thy neighbour’, Art News New Zealand, Winter
McNamara, T J, ‘Sleight of hand for eyes’, The New Zealand Herald, 27 April
Barkley, Glenn, ‘Noel McKenna Ceramics 1993-2005’, Object Magazine, No. 46
Reid, Michael, ‘The art oracle’. The Age, 28 May
Cummings, Pip, ‘Clay dreams’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 April
Fortescue, Elizabeth, ‘Arty Laugh’, Daily Telegraph, 4 April
Walker, Wendy, ‘Capital eyes’, The Advertiser, 26 March
Radok, Stephanie, ‘ For lawn and repressed view’, The Adelaide Review, 18 March
Smee, Sebastian, ‘The shape of private memories’, The Australian, 17 March
Jones, Julia, ‘Animalia’, Australian Art Review, Issue 6
O’Brien, Gregory, ‘Sheltered Life – Noel McKenna’, Anne Loxley. ‘The light’s on but is anybody home?’, Sheltered Life, exhibition catalogue, City Gallery, Wellington
2004
Angeloro, Dominique, ‘State of origami’, The Sydney Morning Herald, Metro, 24 September
Chivas, Anne, ‘Quiet moments: the prints of Noel McKenna’, Antiques & Art in NSW
Ryan, Anne, ‘The value of things’, Art and Australia, Vol.42, No. 1, Spring
Web review, ‘State of Origin’, ARTLIFE, http://www.artlife.blogspot.com
Barkley, Glenn, ‘Horizontal eclecticism’, catalogue essay, Home Sweet Home: Works from the Peter Fay collection, National Gallery of Australia
Barkley, Glenn, ‘Op-Shop Aesthetics’, Lino, 01, March
Frost, A & Bokor, J, Artist’s Questionnaire Noel McKenna, A Public of individuals, no. 4, Feb-April
Ann Low, Lesley, ‘A houseful & more of works, & all have spoken out to their owner’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 October
Loxley, Anne & McKenna, Noel Open Gallery, Art & About, catalogue, City of Sydney, October
Loxley, Anne, ‘Mixed media in frame’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 December
Owens, Susan, ‘To canvas the racetrack moment’, Silks, Winter
Reid, Michael, ‘New quest for the most collectable a right resolution’, The Australian, 3 December
Small, S ‘Restrained menace’, The Advertiser, 23 April
Smee, Sebastian, ‘Australia’s champion of the outsider’, The Art Newspaper, no.141, November
2002
Barkley, Glenn, ‘Op-Shop Aesthetics’, catalogue essay, Noel McKenna, Darren Knight Gallery
McKenna, Noel, ‘Painting 101’, Australian Style, February
2001
Frost, Andrew, ‘Australia’s 50 Most Collectable Artists’, Australian Art Collector, Issue 19, Jan–Mar
Hynes, Victoria, ‘Just add watercolour’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 – 30 August
Ann Low, Lesley, ‘Juice gigolo’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 – 26 August
Loxley, Anne, ‘The drama of drawing from three different angles’, The Sydney Morning Herald, Aug
Plant, Simon, ‘More than meets the eye’, The Herald Sun, 1 August
2000
Kidd, Courtney, ‘Understated Power’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 August
Simpson, Peter, ‘Parihaka. A Very real Symbol’, Art New Zealand, No. 97 Summer
1999
Fenner, Felicity, ‘Noel McKenna: Artists’ Artist’, Australian Art Collector, Issue 9, July – September
James, Bruce, ‘Sacred Sights in Search of a Site’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 January
O’Brien, Gregory, ‘Changing The Light, Noel McKenna’, catalogue essay, Niagara Galleries
1997
Clabburn, Anna, Whimsey in the White Cube, ‘Cartoons and Caricature in Contemporary Art’, catalogue essay, Geelong Art Gallery
1996
McDonald, John, The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 March
Mendelssohn, Joanna, ‘Welcome to Done Place, Tim Storrier, Khovar Dreamings’, The Australian, June
Williams, A, ‘Exhibition’, The Domain, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 June
1995
Radok, Stephanie, ‘Viva la vida’, The Adelaide Review, July
1994
Fenner, Felicity, ‘Much ado about criticism’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 June
Gill, Raymond, ‘Diverse art bound by an unsettling melancholy’, The Age, 7 September
Heathcote, Christopher, ‘The thick and thin on show’, The Age, 7 September
Loxley, Anne, McKenna, Noel catalogue essay, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
Lynn, Elwyn, ‘Abstract form shows its hand’, The Australian, 11 – 12 June
Lynn, Elwyn, ‘Mixed metaphysics’, The Australian, 5 – 6 December
1992
Fenner, Felicity, The new metaphysics, catalogue, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Heathcote, Christopher, ‘Unassuming pictures from an alcove at an imaginary exhibition’, The Age, September
Rooney, Robert, ‘Figuring out fun of the fair’, The Australian, 10-11 October
1991
Rich, Phillip, Noel McKenna Drawings, catalogue, Garry Anderson Gallery, Sydney
1990
Catalano, Gary, ‘Two hemispheres from well-knit world’, The Age, 16 May
Rooney, Robert, ‘Is an artist’s stature based largely on size?’ The Australian, 26 – 27 May
1989
Allen, Christopher, The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 July
Thomas, Daniel, ‘Outlines in Australian Art,’ The Joseph Brown Collection, 3rd Edition, Macmillan
Watson, Bronwyn, Art and Australia, Winter issue
Residencies
2016
The Watermill Centre, Long Island, New York
Awards
2024
Winner, Darling Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Finalist, Sir John Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Finalist, Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2023
Finalist, Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2022
Finalist, Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Finalist, Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Finalist, Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Finalist, Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing, PLC, Sydney
2021
Winner: Trustees’ Watercolour Prize 2021, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2020
Finalist, National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
Finalist, Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Finalist, Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Prize (JADA) 2020, Grafton Regional Gallery, Grafton, New South Wales
2019
Finalist, Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2006
The Fleurieu Peninsula Vistas Prize 2006, Fleurieu Peninsula Biennale, South Australia
2005
Wynne Prize for Watercolour, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2003
Mosman Art Prize, Sydney, Australia
Finalist, National Gallery of Australia’s 2003 National Sculpture Prize and Exhibition
2002
Wynne Prize for Watercolour, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2001
Wynne Prize for Watercolour, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Melbourne Savage Club 2001 Art Prize for Painting, Melbourne
1999
Wynne Prize for Watercolour, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1997
Wynne Prize for Watercolour, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1995
Muswellbrook Acquisitive Prize, Muswellbrook Regional Gallery
1994
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Collections
Allen Arthur Robertson Collection, Sydney, Australia
Art Bank, Australia
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia, Australia
Brisbane City Council, Queensland, Australia
Campbelltown City Art Gallery, New South Wales, Australia
Chartwell Collection, New Zealand
Dubbo Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales, Australia
Gold Coast City Council, Queensland, Australia
Grafton Regional Gallery, New South Wales, Australia
Ipswich City Council Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia
Joseph Brown Collection, Melbourne, Australia
La Trobe Valley Arts Centre, Victoria, Australia
Logan TAFE, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Marguerite and Robert Hoffman Collection, Dallas
Manly Shire Council, Sydney, Australia
Macquarie Bank, Sydney, Australia
Mornington Peninsula Regional Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia
Muswellbrook Regional Gallery, New South Wales, Australia
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
Parliament House, Canberra, Australia
Ringier Collection, Switzerland
Rockhampton Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
Southern Cross University Artists Book Collection
State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Australia
Ten Cubed, Victoria
University of Tasmania, Australia
University of Western Australia, Australia
University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales, Australia
Warrnambool Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia
Western Mining Collection, Australia
Wollongong City Art Gallery, New South Wales, Australia