Chris Bennie is a New Zealand born artist, living and working in Brisbane, Australia.

His artwork has been included in national and international group exhibitions including The National Artists Self Portrait Prize, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane (2013); Biennale of Sydney: Revolutions ? Forms That Turn (2008); Contemporary Australia: Optimism, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2008); and Plus Factors, Australian Centre of Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2006).

He is the recipient of the 2012 Gold Coast Art Award; the 2013 Swell Sculpture Festival Award; a 2013 Australia Council for the Arts New Work grant (mid-career); and a 2013 Regional Arts Development Fund grant. In 2014 Chris will research tsunami-affected communities and objects in Japan as part of an Asialink Residency Laboratory at Youkobo Art Space.

In 2006 Chris developed the Moreton Street Spare Room (MSSR), a Brisbane-based Artist Run Initiative in New Farm. The project operated for four years and presented intimate solo exhibitions in a domestic environment and documentary films on Queensland artists. MSSR received funding from Arts Queensland and Brisbane City.

In 2009 his exhibition and exegesis, titled ‘video art’s relationship to authenticity and the Spectacle of contemporary existence’ was awarded a Doctorate of Visual Art at Griffith University. Chris lectures in Fine Art at Griffith University Queensland College of Art.

[About my project]
My Asialink residency at Youkobo Artspace, Japan will be used to research and develop new artworks that co-opt objects and structures affected by natural disasters and are no longer used for their original purpose. This is a strategy I have employed in a project called Grace and The Kissing Swans in which two fllood-affected caravans from Bundaberg, Australia were transformed into sculpture by projecting videos and sound inside of them. In Japan I will research objects that have been similarly affected by disasters, and design strategies for their transformation into artworks. The project will engage fellow residents and staff of Youkobo Artspace, local artists, and industry professionals to assist me. Professionals will be consulted in relation to the sensitivities of the project, in particular with regard to any associated trauma that still exists regarding recent events.

*This is an Asialink Arts Residency Project supported by Arts Queensland and the Australia-Japan Foundation.

Date	2014.11.01 - 2014.12.23
Place	AIR-B
Website	http://www.chrisbennie.com/