Dean Bowen is a multidisciplinary practice spanning painting, sculpture and printmaking. He has held over sixty solo exhibitions in Australia, France, Switzerland, Japan and the United Kingdom, is the recipient of numerous awards and his work is currently on display across metropolitan and regional galleries.

Artworks for sale
Big Smoke, Mt Lyell
Dean Bowen
Argy-Bargy Hard Cover Book
Dean Bowen
Blue Bird with Ladybird Army
Dean Bowen
Small Pleasures
Dean Bowen
Cairo Cat II
Dean Bowen
Balancing Toucan
Dean Bowen
Meteor Tempest
Dean Bowen
Bird Searching for Worms
Dean Bowen
Echidna with Playful Birds
Dean Bowen
Bird Wall
Dean Bowen
Man with Small Ears
Dean Bowen
Biography
Born: Maryborough Victoria 1957
Lives in Melbourne Victoria
Dean Bowen’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture and printmaking, with a prolific creative output consistently evolving through ‘a prism of humour and optimism’.
In the past 20 years, much of Dean’s work has been connected by one reoccurring motif – the bird. Originally inspired by the ‘tic tack sound’ of birds running and dancing across his metal studio roof, Dean’s fascination with birds is boldly rendered in a naive, vibrant, heavily textured style.
Awards
National
- 2007 The Inaugural Macarthur Cook Art Awards 2007 (3rd Prize)
- 2003 Popular Choice Award, Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award, Werribee Park, Victoria
- 1999 Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery (Acquisitive Sculpture)
- 1998 Bathurst Art Purchase, Bathurst Regional Gallery (Acquisitive Sculpture)
- 1997 Boyne Smelters Ltd Award (Sculpture)
- Nillumbik Art Award (Acquisitive Print and Sculpture)
- 1996 Mornington Peninsula Art Centre (Acquisitive Print)
- 1996 Toowoomba Biennale, Toowoomba Regional gallery (Acquisitive Sculpture)
- Silk Cut Award (Acquisitive Print)
- Arts 21, International Export and Touring Program Grant
- Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award, Grafton Regional Gallery
- 1995 Murwillumbah Print Prize
- 1994 Monash University, Graduate Scholarship
- Fremantle Print Award
- Martin Hanson Memorial Art Award, Works on Paper, Gladstone Regional Art Gallery
- 1992 Australia-France Foundation Grant
- Collie Trust Award
- Dyason Bequest Grant (Art Gallery of New South Wales)
- City of Logan (Acquisitive Print)
- City of Richmond (Acquisitive Print)
- Mornington Peninsula Art Centre (Acquisitive Print)
- 1991 Henri Worland Memorial Print Award (Acquisitive Print)
- 1988 Mornington Peninsula Art Centre (Acquisitive Print)
- 1978 Maryborough Arts Centre Award
International
- 2003 Tai-he Award, 1st International Print Biennial of Beijing, P.R.China
- 2002 12th Space International Print Biennial, Seoul, Korea
- 1998 Sponsors prize, 4th Sapporo International Print Biennale, Japan
- 1997 Daikin Industries Company Prize, Osaka Print Triennale, Japan
- 1994 Mainichi Broadcasting System Prize, Osaka Print Triennale, Japan
Exhibitions
Commissioned Sculptures and Public Artwork
2019 City of Wodonga, bronze commissions
2018 City of Wodonga, bronze commissions
2017 Pt. Leo Estate Sculpture Park, Merricks, Victoria
2014 Lavington Library Commission, Albury City
2014 Grimwade House, Melbourne Grammar School, bronze commission
2013 Deakin University, Burwood Campus, bronze commission
2013 Hamilton Art Gallery, bronze commissions
2012 Wyndham City, bronze commission, Wyndham Community Learning Centre
2012 Maroondah City Council bronze commission, Glen Park, Bayswater North
2011 Lady with Flowers bronze commission, arts ACT, Canberra, ACT
2010 Linking Laverton Public Sculpture Commission, Hobsons Bay City Council
2010 Colas Foundation, Paris, France
2008 Centennial Sculpture. Canterbury Primary School, Sculpture Commission
2007 Public Art Acquisition, Petrie Plaza, arts ACT, Canberra, ACT
2007 Public Art Acquisition, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
2006 City of Greater Shepparton, Sculpture Commission, Shepparton Showgrounds
1999 Small Tapestries Project, Victorian Tapestry Workshop
1995 City of Melbourne, Melbourne Town Hall Tapestry
Solo Exhibitions
2020
- Imagining Centaur, The Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne
- Blue Constellation, Paintings, Sculpture, Salt Contemporary Art, Queenscliff
2019
- Dean Bowen Prints , Buchbinderei Lang, Leverkusen, Germany
- New, Paintings, Sculpture and Prints , Beaver Galleries, Canberra
- Ladybird Mountain , Paintings, Sculpture, Prints, Cascade Art, Maldon, Victoria
- The Home of Kindness , Paintings and Sculpture, Anthea Polson Art, Main Beach, Queensland
2018
- Abode, Paintings, Sculpture, Lithographs , Eastgate Gallery, Hawthorn, Victoria
- Home is Where the Heart is , Whitehorse Artspace, Box Hill Town Hall
- The Welcome Stranger : Assemblages, Bronzes and Small Paintings, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney
- Dean Bowen, Now : Salt Contemporary Art, Queenscliff
2017
- Home: Painting and Bronze Sculpture, Mossgreen Gallery Melbourne
- Auto Export : Recent Paintings, Sculpture and Prints, Salt Contemporary Art, Queenscliff
2016
- Pinnacle : PG Printmaker Gallery, Fitzroy, Melbourne
Currawong , Paintings and Sculptures, Arthouse Gallery, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney - New Morning , Paintings, Bronzes and Prints, Beaver Galleries, Canberra
Prints, Paintings and Sculpture , The Art Vault, Mildura - Dean Bowen, Paintings, Sculpture and Prints , Hamilton Art Gallery
2015
- 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto
- Castlemaine State Festival , Campbell House Exhibition, Dean Bowen: Paintings, Sculpture and Prints
- Salt Gallery, Queenscliff
- Customs House Artspace, Port of Echuca
- 2014 Day by Day , Survey Exhibition, Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum
- Jar of Stars , Charcoal Drawings, Bronze Sculpture and Prints, Arthouse Gallery, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney
2013
- “Recent Paintings, Prints and Drawings”, Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto
- “Bird Lover”, Paintings and Sculpture, Motorworks Gallery, Melbourne Grammar School
- Mars Gallery, Pop up Space, 459 Collins Street, Melbourne
- “Paintings, Prints and Sculpture”, Gecko Studio Gallery, Fish Creek
- “Cluster” Paintings and Sculpture, Beaver Galleries, Canberra
- “Day by Day”, Paintings and Sculpture BMG ART, Adelaide
- “Recent Lithographs”, Port Jackson Press, Melbourne
- “Selected Paintings, Prints and Sculpture”, Falkner Gallery, Castlemaine, Victoria
2012
- “The House of Love”, Arthouse Gallery, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney
- Returning Comet , Central Goldfields Art Gallery, Maryborough, Victoria
- “Aviary”, Recent Paintings, Sculpture and Prints, Arthouse Gallery, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney
- “A Jar of Stars”, Dean Bowen, Maroondah Art Gallery, Ringwood, Victoria
2011
- Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane
- Qdos Arts, Lorne, Victoria
- 2010 Greenhill Galleries, Perth
- Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
- Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan
2009
- Beaver Galleries, Canberra
- Argy Bargy , The Art of Dean Bowen, Benalla Art Gallery, Paintings, prints, sculpture
1993-2009.
- The Art of Dean Bowen, Warrnambool Art Gallery
- Curious Corner. The Art of Dean Bowen . Warrnambool Art Gallery
- Transmetropol Axia Modern Art, Melbourne
2008
- Gomboc Gallery, Western Australia (Sculpture Survey 2008)
2007
- Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
- ‘Illumination’, Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan
2006
- Axia Modern Art, Melbourne (Urban Heartland)
- Greenhill Galleries, Perth
- Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan. (year of the dog)
2005
- Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane
- Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan
2004
- Axia Modern Art, Melbourne (On the Road Again)
- Swan Hill Gallery, Swan Hill
2003
- Icon Museum of Art, Deakin University, Melbourne (Urban Bird)
- Beaver Galleries, Canberra
2002
- Jan Murphy Gallery,Brisbane
- Greenhill Galleries, Perth
- Brian Moore Gallery, Sydney
- Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan
2001
- Axia Modern Art, Melbourne (Birds of a Feather)
- BMG Art, Adelaide
2000
- Beaver Galleries, Canberra
- Greenhill Galleries, Perth
- Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan
- Bunkamura Gallery, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
- Ballarat Fine Art Gallery (Queenstown series)
- Australian Galleries, Sydney
1999
- Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
- Australian Galleries, Melbourne (Bronzes)
- BMG Art, Adelaide
- Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan
- Galerie Fallet, Geneva, Switzerland
1998
- Beaver Galleries, Canberra
- Australian Galleries, Melbourne
- Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan
- Australian Galleries, Sydney
1997
- Galerie Fallet, Geneva, Switzerland
- Keihan Department Store Gallery, Moriguchi City, Osaka, Japan
- Sogo Department Store Gallery, Toyota City, Japan
- BMG Art, Adelaide
- Grahame Galleries, Brisbane
- Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan
1996
- Australian Galleries, Sydney
- Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
- Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan
1995
- Galerie Miyawaki, Kyoto, Japan
- Sogo Department Store Gallery, Toyota City, Japan
- Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1994
- Galerie Australis, Adelaide
- Motor Works Gallery, Melbourne Grammar School 1993 Australian Embassy, Paris
- Galerie Franck and Herve Bordas, Paris
- Grahame Galleries, Brisbane
- Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1992
- Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1990
- Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1988
- Acland Street Art Gallery, St Kilda
1983
- Exhibition Space, Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne