Faculty

Profile

Mel O’Callaghan is an artist living in Paris since 2007. Her film, performance, sculpture and installation work explores human behaviour and psychology in relation to notions of resistance, endurance and transformation.

Most recently her exhibition, ‘Centre of the Centre’, was co-commissioned and presented by Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers (2019); Artspace, Sydney (2019) and UQ Art Museum, Brisbane (2020/21). The exhibition was presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design MCAD, Manila (2019) and will tour to a further ten regional venues across Australia through to 2023 with Museums and Galleries of NSW. Previous commissions include, ‘Dangerous On The Way’ (2017), a solo exhibition, Palais de Toyko, Paris (2017); ‘Ensemble’, National Gallery of Victoria NGV, Melbourne (2018), Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016); Serralves Museum, Porto (2016) and ‘Parade’ (2014), 19th Biennale of Sydney; Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2016) and Gillman Barracks, Singapore SG (2017). Monograph’s of her work have been published by Palais de Tokyo and Sam Arts Projects, Paris (2017) and Artspace, Sydney and Perimeter Books (2020). Her work has also been included in solo and group exhibitions in the following institutions, Museo D’Art Contemporanea Di Roma MACRO, Rome; Centre d’Art Santa Mònica CASM, Barcelona; Museu Nogueira da Silva, Braga; National Gallery of Australia NGA, Canberra; Institut d’art contemporain IAC, Lyon; Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague; 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney; Yo-Chang Art Museum, Taipei; Kunstwerk Carlshutte, Budelsdorf; The Art Gallery of New South Wales AGNSW, Sydney; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei; Centre d’art Contemporain Les Tanneries, Amilly; Kunstverein Konstanz, Konstanz; The Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne; Musée d’Art Contemporain de Rochechouart, Rochechouart; Kunstmuseum, Ravensburg; Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art ACCA, Melbourne; Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, Paris; Le Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse; Biennale Videobrasil, São Paulo.

Mel holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts (honours) and a Bachelor of Science Architecture from The University of Sydney with a Masters of Fine Art in Research from The University of New South Wales. Since 2013 she has taught at Parsons Paris in Art, Media and Technology (AMT), First Year and Art and Design History and Theory (ADHT). Previously Mel lectured at the University of Technology, Sydney in the Bachelor of Visual Communication and Design Studies departments and at The University of New South Wales, Sydney in the Bachelor of Architecture and Interior Architecture programs.

She is the co-director of Galerie Allen, Paris.