Born in Darwin and now Melbourne-based, Harper has exhibited extensively both in Australia and internationally, including many major abstraction exhibitions such as Primavera at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and Good Vibrations; the legacy of Op Art in Australia at the Heide Museum of Modern Art, and Australian Perspecta at the Art Gallery of New South Wales . Harper’s paintings are a celebration of paint, abstraction and optical illusion.
As part of ABC TV 50 year celebrations, Melinda Harper was one of over 20 leading Australian contemporary artists invited to seek inspiration from the ABC TV broadcast archives for the development of exciting new work. ‘Yours, Mine and Ours’ was an ambitious project which saw acclaimed visual artist, Harper contribute to this multi-form exhibition at the Penrith Regional Gallery and The Lewers Bequest., Sydney. With a deep interest in documentaries centering on the Melbourne artists’ colony Monsalvat, Harper based her creation of work on stained glass and pressed metal decorations in one of the Monsalvat buildings.
In her artist’s statement, Melinda says, “ …. I have based the two paintings for the exhibition on metal works by Matcham Skipper that are on the windows at the Boomerang House at Laughing Waters in Eltham. I am interested in the artist colony, the collective and the community…."
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