Derek Sullivan (born 1976) is a contemporary visual artist from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Sullivan’s multidisciplinary practice employs drawing, sculpture, book works, and installation to engage with the legacy of modernist art and design. He is currently an Assistant Professor in Sculpture/Installation at

OCAD University Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public university, public art school, art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park (neighbourh ...

Art Practice

Sullivan's art practice is characterized by its

interdisciplinarity Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

. Of the artist, Canadian Art Magazine writes, "employs drawing, painting, sculpture, book works and installation to question familiar forms and genres, often to examine the links between one discipline and the next." Books and the act of reading have consistently been central to Sullivan's practice. This interest was apparent in the 2011 exhibition ''Albatross Omnibus'' at

The Power Plant The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is a Canadian public art gallery located at Harbourfront Centre in the heart of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Gallery is a registered Canadian charitable organization. Initially established in 1976 as ...

; where Sullivan hung 52 limited-edition books from one of the gallery's ceilings; and within his limited edition publication, ''Lynn Valley 8'', a series of 40 books co-produced by Bywater Bros. Editions and Presentation House Gallery in 2013 which are only two of the seventy plus Artists Publications Sullivan has produced.

Education

Sullivan graduated from

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

with a BFA (1998). He earned his MFA from

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

(2002).

Exhibitions

Sullivan has been the subject of several solo exhibitions including, ''The Missing Novella'' at Oakville Galleries in 2015; the 2011 exhibition ''Albatross Omnibus'' at The Power Plant;''We May be Standing on the Shoulders of Giants but Some of us are Looking at the Stars'' in 2008 at the

Southern Alberta Art Gallery The Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin (or SAAG) is a contemporary art gallery located in downtown Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. It has three gallery spaces and a gift shop. History In 1974, local residents formed the Sout ...

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

Alberta; and in 2005 he presented ''KIOSK 2005'' at the

Toronto Sculpture Garden The Toronto Sculpture Garden is located at 115 King Street East in a small 80 by 100-foot (25 by 30 m) park directly across the street from Cathedral Church of St. James, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It operated as an independent entity from 198 ...

. He has been included in numerous group exhibitions including at the

Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA), formerly known as the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), is a museum and art gallery in Toronto, Ontario. It is an independent, registered charitable organization. ...

, Toronto;

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

, Ottawa;

Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver) The Contemporary Art Gallery (CAG) is a non-profit public contemporary art gallery in downtown Vancouver. The CAG exhibits local, national, and international artists, primarily featuring emerging local artists producing Canadian contemporary art ...

; Casino Luxembourg;

Mercer Union Mercer Union is a Canadian artist-run centre in Toronto, Ontario, established in 1979 to exhibit contemporary art. History Mercer Union was founded in 1979 by artists Michael Balfe, Peter Blendell, Ric Evans, Peter Hill, Jamie Lyons, David MacW ...

, Toronto;

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art The Australian Centre For Contemporary Art (ACCA) is a contemporary art gallery in Melbourne, Australia. The gallery is located on Sturt Street in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, in the inner suburb of Southbank, Victoria, Southbank. Designed by W ...

, Melbourne; and the Swiss Institute, New York.

Awards and recognition

In 2012, Sullivan was a shortlisted for the

Sobey Art Award The Sobey Art Award is Canada's largest prize for young Canadian artists. It is named after Canadian businessperson and art collector Frank H. Sobey, who established The Sobey Art Foundation. It is an annual prize given to an artist 40 and under w ...

, Canada's largest award for young artists. He was also nominated for the award in 2009, 2011, and 2015.

Collections

Agnes Etherington Art Centre The Agnes Etherington Art Centre is located in Kingston, Ontario, on the campus of Queen's University. The gallery has received a number of awards for its exhibitions from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Association of Art Galleries ...

, Kingston * Art Gallery of York University, Toronto * Bibliothèque Kandinsky,

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

, Paris * Bibliothèque de France, Paris (France) * CDLA, Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche (France) *

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

Archives and Library, Los Angeles * MacDonald-Stewart Art Centre, Guelph * Library & Archives of the

, Ottawa * McCarthy-Tétrault, Toronto * National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa * Perimeter Institute, Waterloo *

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

Art Gallery, Waterloo *

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...

Collection, Toronto *

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (, ), abbreviated as BMO (pronounced ), is a Canadian multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank, making it Canada ...

Collection, Toronto *

TD Canada Trust TD Canada Trust, commonly shortened in marketing to simply TD, is the Canadian commercial banking division of the multinational TD Bank Group. It is the list of banks and credit unions in Canada, second-largest commercial bank in Canada by assets ...

Bank Group Collection, Toronto * Private collections (Canada, USA, France, Belgium, Spain)

References

External links

*
Artist Page on Canadian Art online magazineArtist Page on National Gallery of Canada websiteArtists Page from Susan Hobbs GalleryArtists Page from Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran

Artists Page from Galerie Emmanuel Hervé
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Derek 1976 births Living people Canadian multimedia artists University of Guelph alumni York University alumni Artists from Toronto Place of birth missing (living people)