Peter D. Cole, Abstract Australian Post Modernist Sculpture Peter D. Cole Metal, Enamel, Marble

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Peter D. Cole (Australian, b. 1947)
Symbols of Landscape, 1987
Mixed metal, enamel and marble
signed P.D. Cole and dated
… Read more Peter D. Cole (Australian, b. 1947)
Symbols of Landscape, 1987
Mixed metal, enamel and marble
signed P.D. Cole and dated
21 x 6 1/2 x 6 in (53 x 16.5 x 15cm)
Provenance: Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, Australia, 1987.

Sculptor Peter D. Cole was born in Gawler, South Australia and trained at the South Australian School of Art between 1965 and 1968. Since the 1980’s Cole has been based in the Kyneton District of Victoria, where he has established himself as one of Australia’s senior and most renowned contemporary sculptors, drawing on the landscape as a source of inspiration and recent research trips to Japan and India have added to his rich source material.

As a public artist, Cole has made a significant contribution to the urban landscape and public spaces of Australia receiving the Australian National Trust Heritage Award and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture Award of Merit for Foundation Park, a permanent work at The Rocks, Sydney. He is highly sought for commissions and his work is prominent in many public and corporate collections throughout Australia, including Parliament House, Canberra, the National Gallery of Australia, and Brisbane International Airport and recently Windsor Railway Station precinct. He was awarded the H.P. Gill medal for top student and the Contemporary arts Society award for drawing in 1968 and has exhibited regularly since 1969 with exhibitions in Australia and America, with notably a solo exhibition in 1995 at The Carpenter Centre, Harvard University USA.
Peter D. Cole ranks as one of Australia's senior and most renowned contemporary sculptors. Graphic, minimalist and refined, his uncompromising aesthetic vision encompasses both large-scale structures, aerial works, and more intimate, witty ruminations.

An accomplished water-colourist and draughtsman, Cole's vision translates easily into works on paper, valued by collectors for the insight they provide into his practice. Cole's robust materials- brass, bronze, painted steel and aluminium- vibrant colours and precise shapes articulate spatial, intellectual, and philosophical concepts. He is also interested in the notion of 'diagrammatic' landscapes, ones that express the transition between the flat plains of the Australian bush, and a more city-centric urban cacophony. Cole's work observes and recognises the boundaries of modern life without limiting its scale, or its scope.

Cole is the recipient of the Australian National Trust Heritage Award (1996), the Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture Award of Merit (1995), and is highly sought for commissions. His work is prominent in many public and corporate collections throughout Australia, including Parliament House, Canberra, the National Gallery of Australia, and Brisbane International Airport. Hs work bears similarities to Peter Shire, Charlie Hewitt and Brad Howe.
Cole lectured in sculpture between 1975 and 2001 and has worked continuously on his practice encompassing sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, design and architecture. His work is represented in many collections both private and public throughout Australia, America, Japan and Europe.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017 A Modern Narrative, Australian Galleries, Sydney
2016 PLACE AND SPACE, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2013 Australian Galleries, Roylston Street, Sydney
2012 Lister Gallery, Perth
2011 New Sculptures, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne
2006 New works, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Sydney
2004 Primary Structure, Calder Lister Gallery, Perth
1997 Steele Gallery, New York, USA
1995 Carpenter Centre for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
1990 William Mora Gallery, Melbourne


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 This is Gippsland, with works by Sidney Nolan, John Wolseley, Anne Montgomery Trevor Vickers, Ann Greenwood, Tony Newsom, Peter Cole, Nick Mount, John Woollard, Cheryl Burgess, Kiyoshi Ino and more.
2019. Australian Galleries: The Purves Family Business. The First Four Decades, Book Launch and Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2019. papermade, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2017. Painting, sculpture and works on paper – Group exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2017. Sculpture: medium and small scale – Mixed Sculptors, Australian Galleries, Sydney
2016. Impressions, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne
2014. one of each, Australian Galleries, Derby Street, Melbourne
2011. large exhibition of small works, Australian Galleries, Roylston Street, Sydney
2006. Stock Show, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Melbourne
2005. End of Year Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries Painting & Sculpture, Sydney
2003. This was the future: Australian Sculpture of the 1950s, 60s, 70s + Today, Heide Museum of Modern Art,
2002. Tokyo Designers Block Idee, Tokyo, Japan


PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
Arts Victoria; Shepparton lake sculpture, Shepparton VIC 19 October 2019
Bank of Melbourne; in consultation with Bates Smart McCutcheon; large freestanding sculptural screen, Melbourne
Brisbane International Airport; in consultation with Bligh Voller architects and Jean Battersby Art Consultants; large suspended sculptures and series of wall installations, Brisbane
Darling Harbour; large scale bronze sculpture, Sydney
Foundation Park (in consultation with Sydney Cove Authority)
Hamilton Regional Gallery; permanently located bronze and stone sculpture, Hamilton, VIC
McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park; tapestry, Langwarrin VIC
Opera Quays Sydney (in consultation with Andrew Andersons of Peddle Thorpe); two large suspended sculptures adjacent to collonade to Opera House, part of the Sydney Cove Sculpture walk, Sydney
Thredbo Alpine Village; large painted steel outdoor sculpture, Thredbo NSW
World Expo 1998 (BHP and Transfield Corporation); relocated to south bank, Brisbane, 200 metre
sculptural walk painted steel, Brisbane

AWARDS
1996. Australian National Trust Heritage Award for Foundation Park, Sydney
1995. Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture, Award of Merit for Foundation Park, Sydney
1968. H.P. Gill Medal, South Australian School of Art, Adelaide
Contemporary Art Society Drawing Prize, Adelaide See less