Pamela Irving (born 1960) is an Australian visual artist with a diverse practice in bronze, ceramic and mosaic sculptures as well as printmaking and copper etchings.National Association for the Visual Arts (Australia). 1995, Who's who of Australian visual artists D.W. Thorpe in association with National Association for the Visual Arts, Port Melbourne, Vic. p. 148. In addition to her extensive art work, Irving has lectured in art and ceramics at Monash University, the Melbourne College of Advanced Education, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and the Chisholm Institute of Technology. One of Australia's newspaper art critics, she wrote for the Geelong Advertiser and was a councillor on the Craft Council of Victoria.Hawthorne, Ian. & Reid, John, 1990, 'One man's eye : a decade of people Geelong 1980–1990', Ian Hawthorne; edited by John Reid, Joval Publications, Bacchus Marsh, Vic. pp. 124–125.
Education
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Irving was formally educated at the Melbourne State College (1979–1982) where she undertook a Bachelor of Education (Art/Craft). She exhibited in a student show The Sentiment is Genuine, in 1981 the College's Gryphon Gallery.
Irving's Master of Arts by Research The Angel Imagery of Arthur Boyd, John Perceval and Mirka Mora undertaken at the Melbourne College of Advanced Education (1984-1989) was supervised by ceramicist and Head of Ceramics Department Professor Noel John Flood. Irving was one of the first two candidates to be approved to undertake the Master of Arts Degree in Visual Arts in the Melbourne CAE.Hawthorne, Ian. & Reid, John, 1990, 'One man's eye : a decade of people Geelong 1980–1990', Ian Hawthorne; edited by John Reid, Joval Publications, Bacchus Marsh, Vic. p. 124.) Her thesis examined:...reasons and meaning behind the presence and mythology imagery in the works of Arthur Boyd, John Perceval and Mirka Mora (those artists being nominated because of the relevance to my own work).Irving, Pamela., 'Images of Angels', Pottery in Australia, February 1987, Vol.26 No.1., p. 47.During her Masters candidature Irving participated in 24 group shows and presented 3 solo exhibitions, nationally and abroad.
Style and influences
Irving's early art was influenced by artists including Arthur Boyd, John Brack, Noel Connihan, Mirka Mora, Sidney NolanKinneally, Susan, Pamela Irving: Happy as Larry - ceramics, mosaics, printmaking, CD-ROM, Susan Kinneally and Pamela Irving, 2008 and John Perceval. In recent years, Irving has been influenced ″by the honest and direct expressiveness of ‘outsider art’ (the art of self-taught or 'naive artists') and the craft of 'memoryware'″ Significantly, this interest grew following Irving's visit to Nek Chand's Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India.
Critical reception Pascoe observes that Irving's work is derived from "a mixture of personal experience, myth and virulent imagination."Pascoe, Joseph., Pamela Irving: Decade of images, Ceramics; Art and Perception, No 37, 1999, p. 39. A reviewer notes of her 1991 Blaxland Gallery joint exhibition with painter Adrienne Lourie, how: "myths and conventional notions of marriage are critically but humorously challenged through the ... the ceramics of Pamela Irving...under the theme, The Bride Stripped Bare. Hammond has described Irving's early ceramic work as 'humorous, figurative and cheerfully contemptuous of pottery traditions.Hammond, Victoria., City of Whitehorse collection, Ceramics Art and Perception, No 50, 2002, p. 81.
Leigh Astbury, whose 1998 essay 'The Dog in Australian Art' in Art + Australia, writes that "Regardless of the scepticism of the art cognoscenti, statues of dogs continue to serve as important symbols for local communities, especially where they can suggest links with a pioneering past. [...one...] is the mythological little mutt, Larry La Trobe, 1992 (and 1996), which Pamela Irving created in bronze for Melbourne’s City Square. But the popular Larry La Trobe also derives from the folklore tradition, as Irving explains: ‘It relates to all the stories about Australia, the poetry, the books and so on ... The Drover’s Dog and The Dog on the Tucker Box. My work is a bit off-beat, whimsical, funky kind of stuff anyway."
Notable work
Irving's most famous work is the bronze sculpture of Larry La Trobe, commissioned in 1992 as a part of the Swanston Street redevelopment in Melbourne,Hedger, Michael. 1995, Public sculpture in Australia / Michael Hedger, Craftsman House, G+B Arts International, Roseville East, N.S.W. p. 102. and stolen by a thief or thieves unknown during 1995. The resulting media attention rallied significant public support for the recovery of the sculpture. Although never retrieved, the statue was recast by the foundry owner, Peter Kolliner, with some minor changes by Irving and was replaced in September 1996. The Larry sculpture is located at the corner of Swanston Street and Collins Street, Melbourne. 'Happy as Larry' was the brand applied to homewares and objets d'art by Irving and Toula Ikonomou which was launched in November 1998 at Bulle Galleries, 96 Flinders Street, Melbourne
Another notable commission is a large mosaic mural covering the Luna Palace building inside Melbourne's Luna Park. This large scale public artwork was commissioned for the centenary of Luna Park and took four years to complete.
Professional associations Active in mosaic art in Australia, Irving served as a councillor on the Craft Council of Victoria during the 1980s and became vice-president of the Mosaic Association of Australia and New Zealand between 2007 - 2017.
Exhibitions
Between 1981 and 2018, Irving took part in 27 solo exhibitions, 16 joint exhibitions and more than 100 group exhibitions.
Solo
2024 Waste Not want Not Crew, Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery 2019: YOLO Man Waltzes Matilda, Port Fairy Folk Festival, Blarney Books + Art + Pamela Irving Studio + Gallery 2018: Yolo Man and His Apocalyptic Alphabet, Deakin University Art Gallery 2017: Irreverent Tales City of Whitehorse, Artspace Gallery 2017 Dream Out Loud @ Without Pier Gallery 2015 Ballarat Bestiary CONTAINART exhibition, City of Ballarat. 2015 Yolo Man and His Apocalyptic Alphabet: The Chicago Suite, Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago. 2015 Doggeral Dreams Gallery on Sturt, Ballarat 2014 Doggeral Dreams Montsalvat Gallery, Melbourne. 2011 Dreaming with Open Eyes, Light Factory Gallery 2004-2006 Treading the Boards Shepparton Art Museum, Geelong Art Gallery, Ballarat Art Gallery 2000, 18 August–September: Adelaide Central Gallery, Norwood, South Australia 1997 A Decade of Images Lyall Burton Gallery 1998, from 9 November: Bulle Galleries, 96 Flinders Street, Melbourne 1995 Tabloid Royals, Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney, Tabloid Royals Bendigo Art Gallery, Tabloid Royals Shepparton Art Museum 1993, 21 November–6 December: Ned Kelly’s Last Supper, Artefact, South Yarra 1993 Sincerely YoursHoldsworth Gallery, Sydney 1991, from 2 June: Love, Myth & Suffering Caulfield Arts Complex 1991 Canine Companions No Vacancy 189 Collins St Melbourne 1990 Perfect PetsHoldsworth Gallery, Sydney 1988 A Divine Comedy Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney A Divine Comedy Despard Street Gallery,Hobart 1987 Images of Angels Gryphon Gallery, Melbourne 1986 Ceramic Sculpture Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney 1983 Ceramic Sculpture Profile Gallery, Melbourne Joint Exhibitions: 2024 Memoryware + New Narratives Riggs & Irving Exhibition as part of NGV’s Design Week. 2019: Savage Liaisons AMI + IRVING, Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago + SOFA Chicago 2016 Savage Curiosities Karen Ami + Pamela Irving GoCM Chicago September-October 2003 REFLUXUS Motor Works Gallery, Melbourne Grammar. 2002 REFLUXUS – Bendigo Art Gallery, Maroondah Art Gallery 2001 Serious Humour Volvo Gallery Sydney Irving + Shimmen 2001 Sense & Serendipity Montsalvat. Irving, Shimmen & Hicks 2000 Memoryware Irving & Shimmen Adelaide Central Gallery 1998 Byte The Invisible Future Shimmen & Irving Despard Gallery, Tasmania 1991 The Bride Stripped Bare Irving & Lourie, Blaxand Gallery Melbourne 1988 Wiggs and Irving, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong 1987 Body to Body Irving & Flood Devise Gallery Melbourne 1984 Sheer Madness Irving, Halpern & Shearer, Gryphon Gallery 1983, 8–30 October: Pamela Irving sculpture. The Field Workshop, South Melbourne 3205 1981 Two of a Kind John & Pamela Irving, Eltham Gallery, Melbourne
Group Exhibitions
2024 Equalessable Artbank Sydney Window 2023 Sets, Series and Ensembles Gallery of Contemporary Mosaic, Chicago 2023 All Creatures Gallery of Contemporary Mosaic Chicago 2023 Twenty Five Whitehorse ARTSPACE 2023 Stories from Council’s Art Collection Glen Eira City Council curated exhibition. 2022 Sage Advice for the Serious Young Artist Whitehorse Art Space 2022 Maetros Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago, works by Irving, Kii, MacInnes, Marzi + Zanelli 2021 Flying Masks Maison de la Mosaïque Contemporaine, Paray-le- Monial, France 2021 Victorian Sculpture Awards Gippsland Regional Art Gallery 2021 MSWPS Members Exhibition (Virtual due to Covid) 2021 Breaking Ground Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago 2021 Deakin University Small Sculpture Award 2021 Deakin University Gallery 2020: MSWPS (Melbourne Society of Women Painters + Sculptors) Members Exhibition. (Virtual Due to COVID) C-/O CARE @ Craft + Design Centre Canberra, ACT 2019: Contemporary Women Painters, invitational exhibition Hunan Province, China 2019 TRANSITIONS Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, NSW 2018 AIMC St Nicholas Church, Paray le Monial, France 2018 Text SOFA Chicago + Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics. 2018: The Marks They Make Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago 2018: Debut Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago, USA 2018: TRANSITIONS, joint show with Bremner, Butler, Hughes + Bodycomb Craft + Design Centre, Canberra 2017: Mosaic Exhibition At Mawsons Pavillion, Tasmania with Bremner, Bodycomb, Edwards + Irving 2017: SOFA Chicago with Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago 2017 Art in Pieces, International Mosaic Exhibition, City Gallery, Lexington Kentucky, USA 2017 Collective Visions:130 Years Bendigo Art Gallery 2016 – 2017 The Stories We Tell, Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago 2017 Coolart @ Coolart Gallery organised by Without Pier Gallery 2016 Kyoto Mosaic Exhibition, Shimadai Gallery Kyoto 2016 Works on Paper Without Pier Gallery, Melbourne. 2016 Mount View Art Show (Guest Artist) 2016 Highlights from the Ceramics Victoria Collection, Whitehorse Arts Space. 2016 OCGA Art Exhibition + Sale 2016 MOSAIC: AIMC in the Contemporary World Palazzo Tadea, Spilimbergo, Italy. 2016 A Passover Story Museum of Biblical Arts, Dallas Texas 2015 Works on Paper 2, WG Art Consultants. 2015 Bibliomosaico Biennale de Mosaique d’Obernai Municipality of Obernai, France 2015 + 2016 Mosaics Abroad Exhibition of 11 International Artists, Touring Japan for 12 months Yokohama Civic Art Gallery Azamino, Yokohama in Kanagawa Tajimi Art Gallery Gallery Voice Tajimi in Gifu Gallery in Sekigahara Marble Craft, Sekigahara in Gifu ORIE Art Gallery, Minat-ku in Tokyo Grande Magazzino Isetan, Shinjuku in Tokyo 2015 Mount View Art Show, (Guest Artist) 2015 Our Kaleidoscope of Colour and Culture, Lauriston Art Exhibition 2015, Leonard Joels 2014 Bibliomosaico National Library of Latvia, Riga, Latvia 2014 Works on Paper 1, WG Art Consultants 2014 OCGA Art Exhibition + Sale 2013 Mosaic Exhibition, Bundoora Hoestead 2013 Bibliomosaico Edizioni del Girasole, Ravenna, Italy 2013 Mosaik Yarismasi, Gaziantep Museum, Gaziantep, Republic of Turkey 2013 Illuminate National Biennial Mosaic Exhibition, Bundoorah Homestead 2012 Lasallian Foundation Fine Art Charity Auction @ Menzies 2012 OCGA Art Exhibition