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With Solo Exhibitions across Brussels, New York, Chicago, Malaysia, Naples, Amsterdam, New Zealand and Australia, including Studio Foyer Exhibitions in the Sydney Opera House in 2003, Dale Frank has enjoyed a prestigious career as a prolific artist of international note.
In 1975, the young 16 year old painter was awarded the Red Cross Art Award by John Olsen. Frank’s first solo exhibitions took place 5 years later in Dublin, Budapest and Milan and, one year later, in London, New York, Bologna and Perth.
The Australian art scene eagerly embraced Frank’s vision. He enjoyed both commercial success and curatorial and critical acclaim. In 1982 he was included in the 4th Biennale of Sydney, and in 1983 his work was selected for show at Museo Palazzo Lanfranchi in Pisa, Italy. A year which also saw his work featured at Melbourne University gallery and in Perspecta ’83 at the Art Gallery of NSW. Frank achieved an enviable reputation on the international stage by his inclusion in Australian Art – an American Perspective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and at the 1984 Venice Biennale. Since the 90’s Frank has exhibited extensively in Australia: in 2000 he had a solo show in the Project Space at the Art Gallery of NSW. In 2005 he won Australia’s ricest painting prize, the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize at the Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria.
Painter, draughtsman, sculptor, photographer, film maker and performance artist, Dale Frank moves effortlessly between his passions.
Recognised for his ground-breaking use of striking colour and tinted varnishes to capture raw beauty and forceful movement across expansive landscapes, Frank’s paintings are imbued with his unique vision of Nature. The artist’s respect and understanding of the film genre is reflected in his ability to craft large shimmering confronting works of art which have the power to completely engage, immerse and challenge the viewer.
Dale Frank explores the deepest layers of painting itself. The 90s saw him begin his experimentation with commercial varnishes and the intricate chemical interaction of various pigments. Pouring luminous pools of pigmented varnish onto horizontal canvas, Dale Frank celebrates the living essence of colour in its liquid form. ‘Nature’ itself, in the form of seasonal temperatures and humidity, works alongside the artist, determining the viscosity and drying times of the pigmented varnish. As new layers are added, Frank controls the angle and direction of the varnish flows with wedges and blocks placed beneath the painting. “It is a totally hands on and cerebral way of painting,” says Frank. “Much more intense than a half-centimetre brush and tubes of oil paint. The process can take up to 24 hours where I have to be permanently standing over the painting, constantly considering every minute aspect.”
Frank’s Public Collections feature in such renowned spaces as the Boston Museum of Fine Art, USA, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, University of Melbourne Collection, Melbourne, First National Bank of Chicago Collection, Chicago, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, and Trans-Art Collection, Milan.
Dale Frank’s work features in extensive Private Collections including Hugh Jamieson Collection, Sydney Smorgon Family Collection, Melbourne and Jim Wolfensohn Collection, New York, along with numerous private collections in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brecia, Brisbane, Brussels, Budapest, Chicago, Cologne, Dallas, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Haarlem, Houston, Liége, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Milan, Montreal, Munich, Naples, New York, Palermo, St GaIlens.
Dale Frank remains at the forefront of contemporary art, both nationally and internationally.
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