ROBERT ANDREW BLEYERVEEN

Robert Bleyerveen ANU 2013

AKA: Robert Bleyerveen

Born: 1960 Goulburn NSW

• Contemporary
• Painter
• Print Maker
• Established

Triptych, Lonsdale St Braddon

Robert Bleyerveen; AKA @Robsuite majored in
Painting and studied Printmaking at the Canberra School of Art, graduating in 1982. He held his first solo show at the Artist Collective, Bitumen
River Gallery in 1983, followed by many solo and group exhibitions.
His works have been installed into public spaces and reviewed in
respected published critiques.
Bleyerveen engages with historical and contemporary conversations on cultural identity, exploring an intimate
engagement through changing perspectives and attitudes.
Drawing on his ancestral connections and with our growing
Indigenous understandings, he’s sustained a close relationship with Canberra. Showing his art in alternative arts venues, ‘On Lonsdale
St’ 2001-07 engaged with the revitalisation of Braddon. His exhibition ‘Both Sides of The Fence’ 2017 explored aboriginal, convict
and settler history of Belconnen. ‘Neither Here nor There’ focused
on our shared Indigenous pathways to the coast. Since 2005 he’s
developed his well- known Winyu Sun series based on our local
native grasslands.
Although continuing to battle nerve injuries in both
arms, his exhibition ‘Treading Lightly in One Place’ (M16artspace
2019) turned these physical constraints into a positive opportunity
for deeper awareness and sense of discovery within his arts
practice. His works merge our stories and histories together,
resonating with our unique natural environment, to celebrate our
connections to place, and relationship with each other.

Plums in Parched Earth

ROBERT BLEYERVEEN- Professional Artist Curriculum Vitae
1960 Born Goulburn NSW
1983-2014 Canberra based artist. Robert Bleyerveen AKA @Robsuite @FineOzArt
2014-2021 Disabled Contemporary Artist.
1998-99 Garden designer with Private and Embassy commissions, Yarralumla and
Forrest ACT.
1998 Visiting Artist, Radford College, Canberra
“Young People Scream” Edvard Munch interpretative art project
1996 Carer, birth of first child.
1994-95 Worked on Computer Based Art Production.
1994 Established EDIPost Canberra for Australia Post, sold to International Data Post
1997.
1993 Studied Paper Products and Manufacture, APPM Tasmania.
1985-92 Consultant to the Art Material Manufacturing Industry.
1990-99 Traditional Art Materials sourcing and supply to Artists/Conservators.
1989 Studied Graphic Design and Computing, ACT TAFE.
1987 Established GOABA (GO And Buy Art) Virtual Gallery
1985 Established Australian Aesthetics
1983-84 Artist in Residence, Hawker College, Canberra.
1983 Founding member Art Workers Union ACT
1980-82 Painting, Canberra School of Art
1960 Born Goulburn NSW Australia.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 M16 Artspace TREADING LIGHTLY IN ONE PLACE>Robert Bleyerveen
2017- Belconnen Arts Centre BOTH SIDES OF THE FENCE > Robert Bleyerveen.
2015 Installation of Large Winyu Sun Painting, Winyu House Gungahlin
2009 Very Large Paintings, Natural Flair Gallery, Kippax Community Centre
2006 The Hive Gallery, Canberra
2005 New Work, Aboriginal Dreamings Gallery, Ginninderra ACT
2004 The Hive, Canberra “New Work”
2004 Hardware Fine Art, Sydney “On The Horizon”
2003 The Hive Gallery, Braddon ACT Featured Artist “Recent Paintings”
2003 Ginninderra Galleries/Aboriginal Dreaming Gallery Nicholls ACT “Reflections”
2002 The Hive Gallery, Braddon ACT Featured Artist "New Paintings"
2002 ANCA Gallery, Dickson ACT "enter into it"
2001 The Hive Gallery, Braddon ACT Featured Artist "New Works"
2001 ANCA Gallery, Dickson ACT "New Colonies"
2000 The Hive Gallery, Kingston Foreshore "Tomorrow is another day"
1984 Gallery 41, Fyshwick ACT
1983. Bitumen River Gallery, Manuka ACT
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 Traces Exhibition, Belconnen Arts Centre.
2019 Selected the Haven Art Prize Exhibition, Seechange Arts Festival Jervis Bay
NSW
2018 Capital Arts Patrons Auction Exhibition, eastSpace Commonwealth Pl Barton
ACT
2018 Sandholme Salon Show - Seechange Jervis Bay Arts Festival
2017 Capital Arts Patrons Auction Exhibition, Canberra Museum and Gallery
2016 Capital Arts Patrons Auction Exhibition, Canberra Museum and Gallery
2016 Traces Exhibition, Belconnen Arts Centre
2015 Capital Arts Patrons Auction Exhibition, Canberra Museum and Gallery
2015 Hidden Treasures Exhibition, Belconnen Arts Centre
2014 Awarded Winyu Art Competition ACT Government/Lend Lease Corporation Ltd
Installation of Large Wall Mural “Winyu Sun” Gungahlin ACT ACT Govt Shared
Services
2010-16 Various Selected Online Exhibitions ARTSLANT & Social Media AKA @Robsuite
2010 Medium: Vinyl Exhibition Hardware Gallery Sydney
2009 Aluminium and Tin, 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Hardware Gallery Sydney.
2009 Natural Flair Gallery, Macquarie.
2008 Canberra Living Artist Week Event, Featured Artist, Natural Flair Gallery,
Macquarie.
2008 Midnight and Moondrops, Natural Flair Gallery, Macquarie
2007 Flairwear Boutique Gallery, Kippax
2007 Selected Artists, The Hive Gallery, Lonsdale St Braddon ACT
2006 Canberra Art Prize, Italio Australia Club, Forrest ACT
2006 Selected Artists The Hive Gallery, Lonsdale St Braddon ACT
2006 “Contemporary” Stephanie Burns Fine Art, Yarralumla
2005 Canberra Art Award, Italio Australia Club Forrest ACT
2005 Gallery Artists, The Hive Gallery, Canberra
2004 Aboriginal Dreamings Gallery, Ginninderra ACT
2004 Selected Artists, The Hive, Canberra
2004 “Summer Show” Sanctum Gallery, Jindabyne NSW
2003 41’st Fisher’s Ghost Festival, Campbelltown Regional Art Gallery
2003 “10” Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Manuka ACT
2003 Selected Artists, The Hive Gallery, Lonsdale St Braddon ACT
2003 “Snow Show” Sanctum Gallery, Jindabyne NSW
2003 Wonderfest Art Show, Tudor House, Southern Highlands NSW
2002 “The New Territory” National Association for Visual Arts Online Festival
2002 Selected Artists, The Hive Gallery, Lonsdale St Braddon ACT
2002 Canberra Art Prize, The Italo-Australian Club, Forrest ACT
2001 Selected Artists, The Hive Gallery, Lonsdale St Braddon ACT
2001 Festival of Contemporary Art, FOCA5 venue Lonsdale St Braddon ACT
2001 Wonderfest Art Show, Tudor House, Southern Highlands NSW
2000 Selected Artists, The Hive Gallery, Kingston Foreshore ACT
1999 Selected Artists, The Hive Gallery, Kingston Foreshore ACT
1992 Stock Show, Solander Gallery, Deakin ACT
1985 Hawker Art Show
1984 Hawker Art Show
1982 Graduate Exhibition, Canberra School of Art Gallery
SELECTED BIOGRAPHY
2017 Sasha Grishin Review “What divides work makes it stronger” Bleyerveen
attempts to untangle Australia’s competing narratives. The Canberra Times
2017 Robert Bleyerveen: Both Sides of The Fence is Sonorous and Meditative.
2017 Robert Bleyerveen’s Both Sides of The Fence at Belconnen is Meditative. Online
Brisbane Times, Art & Design News SMH, The Age, The Canberra Times.
(Canberra On Line Artists)
2000 "Frankly m'dear" Times Out visual arts feature, The Canberra Times, Ron
Cerabona
1984 Sonia Barron Review "Angel figure for conflict" The Canberra Times
1983 Sasha Grishin Review "An emotionalised vision" The Canberra Times
Robert Andrew Bleyerveen B.1960 “Winyu (Sun)” 2005-06. Installed 2015
Artist Robert Bleyerveen with Graham Tanton, Executive Director, ACT Government Shared Services on unveiling of memorial
plaque, for the mural Winyu Sun in the new HQ Office Block Winyu House. (Winyu is Sun in Ngunnawal Language) 2016

Transcript of Wall Plaque to Large Mural.
The painting Winyu (Sun) was painted in Gungahlin and was inspired by the natural heritage and
environment of the site of Winyu House. It was painted at a time I faced immense challenges when made
homeless and displaced from my home, children and sense of identity within my community. I sought
refuge in the hills, woodlands, hidden valleys, creek beds and native grasslands of Gungahlin. All my
walking in search of the Ngunnawal histories and my local convict roots but I was salvaging a deep sense
of belonging and connection to place. I spent time waiting in the Mulanggari grasslands picking my young
daughters up from school, while restoring contact. At that time 2005-06, Winyu (Dad’s Place) was the
name of a homeless father’s refuge, where I could take my children on overnight contact; it was a place of
reconciliation.
The painting Winyu (Sun) symbolises all our shared histories and our inclusive spirit and values that we
aspire to today. The painting technique responds to my observation of the first raindrops on dry earth,
joining up to flow, forming creeks and lakes of natural organic colour. It dries with different earth
pigments settling out into rings. The work is further developed to offer multiple layers of meaning. In
Winyu (Sun), like a water hole that sustains life. I merge references to eroded land, Sun, clouds and sky
as visual metaphors for our past, our present and our future; respecting our mother earth above and
below us. I endeavour to allow my work to reside in these passages, between different points of
understanding. I also try to reference natural elements, the movement of wind and light shimmering, to
capture the ebb and flow of life over generations and horizons. As we all continue along our own
individual pathway, among infinite pathways through life with changing perceptions and possibilities as we
go. It’s only by joining as one, when the Winyu (Sun) can shine brightest. Robert Bleyerveen 2015