Michael Lindeman shines a light on the mechanics of the contemporary art world. Relying on humour as a liberating and disarming tool, he examines relations surrounding class, taste, and power. Lindeman’s work often takes form as large-scale text paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Drifting between stream of consciousness writing and structured research-based content, he aims for a type of wry institutional critique.

Selected Works
Dropdown IconOverview
Regression Paintings (installation) 2023

98 × 112 cm each

Regression Painting (No/ Yes…) 2023

finger painted acrylic on mirror
161.5 × 214 cm (diptych)
161.5 × 107 cm each

New Types of Art (Jesus Vibes), New Types of Art (Sensible Abstraction), New Types of Art (Speculative Chunks), New Types of Art (Good Radical Pedigree), New Types of Art (Self-Promotional Painting), New Types of Art (Cerebral Ceramics) 2021

acrylic on canvas

152.5 × 102.5 cm (each)

IMPLICIT MEMORY SYSTEM 2018

acrylic on canvas, air freshener

dimensions variable

Power Monger 2018

Acrylic on canvas

45 × 80 cm

Implicit Memory System (Control Freak) 2018

acrylic on canvas

45 × 83 cm (detail - Implicit Memory System)

MIDLIFE REPORT CARD (Selfie)  2018

acrylic on canvas

204 × 142 cm

Cheese 2021

acrylic on canvas, rat traps

6 panels, 90 × 641 cm, (265 × 730 overall)

Cheese (detail) 2021
Thanks 2018

Rejection letters, clear vinyl, decals

dimensions variable

Obituary Drawings 2018

archival pen on watercolour paper

How To Paint The Real Australia 2017

acrylic on canvas

210 × 140 cm

What Not To Say To An Artist 2017

acrylic on canvas

210 × 140 cm

The Source of Magic and Problems 2015

acrylic on canvas
17 canvases

158.5 × 870 cm (overall)

Dear Michael 2014

acrylic on canvas

204 × 142 cm

Thinking About Thinking 2014

acrylic on canvas over shaped ply

80 × 80 cm (irregular)

Available Works
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About

Michael Lindeman

Biography

Lives and works in Sydney, Australia
Born 1973

Michael Lindeman shines a light on the mechanics of the contemporary art world. Relying on humour as a liberating and disarming tool, he examines relations surrounding class, taste, and power. Lindeman’s work often takes form as large-scale text paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Drifting between stream of consciousness writing and structured research-based content, he aims for a type of wry institutional critique.

While inverting structures of power and inviting an absurd dialogue with the viewer, Lindeman calls into question how financial and cultural value is attached to various branches of creative activity. In direct contrast to the notion of artist as genius, his work exemplifies a wilful idiocy combined with a cerebral analysis that goes out on a limb to contribute innovation to the field.

Lindeman’s work sets out to activate repressed impulses, embody alienation, and disrupt convention. Alongside of steering viewers into appraising their own experiences, Lindeman’s practice also confronts the realism of his locus as an artist.

Lindeman has been recognised in multiple awards and prizes. Most recently he was the recipient of The Fauvette Loureiro Memorial Scholarship from The University of Sydney, SCA Travel in 2022 and 2023, and was awarded The Arthur Macquarie Travelling Scholarship by The University of Sydney in 2022. Other awards and prizes include Percival Portrait Painting Prize, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Queensland (2022, Winner); Percival Portrait Painting Prize, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Queensland (2020, Finalist); Fisher's Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Art Centre, Sydney (2020, Finalist); Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery, Queensland (2020, Finalist); Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre, Sydney, (2019, Finalist); Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria, (2017, Finalist); National Artists’ Self Portrait Prize, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane (2013, Finalist); Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, (2013, Finalist); Sir John Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, (2013, Finalist). In 2010, he won both the Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney and the Sir John Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney.

Lindeman has exhibited in exhibitions nationally and internationally. Solo exhibitions include Regression Paintings, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney (2023); Art Habits, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney (2021); An Awkward Dance, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney (2018); The Creative Act, The Delaware Contemporary, Delaware, USA (2018); Studio Chatter, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney (2015); LA International Biennal, 18th Street Arts Complex, Santa Monica (2001); and The Lounge, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney (2000). Recent group exhibitions include Artist Seeking Collector, Res Artists, Melbourne, VIC (2022); InlandSee, Grafton Regional Gallery, NSW (2022); Art Mixtape: Yours for Summer, Home of the Arts (HOTA), Queensland (2022); The Work of Art, Artbank, Melbourne, VIC (2021); Space YZ, Campbelltown Art Centre, Sydney (2021); Love, Tweed Regional Gallery, NSW (2019); Text, Adelaide Perry Gallery, Presbyterian Ladies’ College (2017); Blindside Curtain Call, 1000 2000s, curated by Soap Collective, Blindside, Melbourne, VIC (2016); Mug Shot: A Still Life Show, Gallery Ecosse, Exeter, NSW (2016); Cars = My Automolove, Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, Queensland (2015); National Artists’ Self Portrait Prize, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane (2013); Lie of the Land: New Australian Landscapes, Embassy of Australia, Washington DC (2012); House Inspection: Interior Motives, Griffith University Art Gallery, Brisbane (2011); and Subtext: Art for Literacy, Carriageworks, Sydney (2011).

Lindeman is currently undertaking a Doctor of Philosophy, and holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Honours (First Class, 1998) and a Master of Fine Arts (2004), from University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts. He lives and works in Sydney.

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