CV
STEVE SALO
CV
COLLECTIONS
Private collections in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, UAE, Europe, the UK, USA and Canada
Embassy of Finland Canberra, Frankston Arts Centre, St Joseph’s College Geelong, Barwon Health, Back to Back Theatre
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
3-16 September 2024 Upcoming Duo Exhibition at Art2Muse Gallery, Sydney
2022 Ocean Calling, Blackroom Gallery, Cook Street Collective, Flinders, Vic
2022 Quietude, Whitewall Art Projects, Berrima, NSW
2021 Brushstrokes, Art2Muse Gallery, Woollahra Sydney, NSW
2021 Sea Breeze, Blackroom Gallery, Cook Street Collective, Flinders, Vic
2021 A Plein Air Experience in the Southern Highlands, Whitewall Art Projects, Berrima, NSW
2019 Portraits, Metropolis Gallery, Geelong, Vic
2019 The Other Art Fair Sydney presented by Saatchi Art (stand with 18 paintings), NSW
2019 Pier to Point, Curved Wall Gallery, Frankston Arts Centre, Melbourne, Vic
2018 Recent Paintings, Metropolis Gallery, Vic
2018 Paintings from Finland, Embassy of Finland, Canberra, ACT
2017 The Back to Back Theatre Portraits, Curved Wall Gallery, Frankston Arts Centre, Vic
2017 Expressions of Landscape, Metropolis Gallery, Vic
2017 Halcyon Days, Epworth Gallery, Epworth Geelong Hospital, Vic
2015 Passerby, Metropolis Gallery, Vic
2014 Portraits of Artists, Metropolis Gallery, Vic
PROJECTS AND RESIDENCIES
2023 Portrait painting on album sleeve of The Insomniacs’ Lullaby by Canadian singer-composer Wolfgang Webb
2023 Cover artwork (portrait) on the novel Sons of Mud by Johan Vlok Louw, published by Penguin Random House, South Africa
2022 Selected by Saatchi Art curators as one of the artists to create works for their first NFT project The Other Avatars, inspired by Van Gogh
2021 Two portraits of Back to Back Theatre actor Mark Deans featured in the set of the 2021 production Entity
2021 Two weeks residency in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Whitewall Art Projects
2017 Two weeks in the Police Point Artist in Residence Program, Portsea, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. Returned for three weeks in 2019.
2017 One-month artist residency at the Arteles Creative Centre, Hämeenkyrö, Finland
2016 The Back to Back Theatre Portraits: Collaboration with Back to Back Theatre, painting portraits of the ensemble actors and the artistic director. Exhibited at Metropolis Gallery for Geelong Art After Dark.
AWARDS
Finalist Salon des Refusés (of the Archibald) 2023
Finalist The Basil Sellers Art Prize 2022
Finalist Splash McClelland Contemporary Watercolour Award 2018
Finalist Salon des Refusés (of the Archibald) 2018
Finalist 2018 Bluethumb Art Prize
Finalist 2016 KAAF Art Prize
Finalist 2016 Len Fox Painting Award
Finalist Salon des Refusés (of the Archibald) 2016
Finalist Waverley Art Prize 2016
Commended — 2016 Kogarah Art Prize
Second Prize — CSBC Spirituality in Art Prize 2016
Finalist Wyndham Art Prize 2016
Winner Best Single Work — Celeste Prize ‘Taboo’ 2015 (Italy)
Finalist Prospect Portrait Prize 2015
Finalist Fisher’s Ghost Art Award 2015 — Contemporary category
Finalist 2015 Cliftons Art Prize
Winner Best Oil — Hobsons Bay Art Show 2015
Finalist 2015 Sunshine Coast Art Prize
Finalist 2015 Mosman Art Prize
2015 American Art Awards: Expressionism human figure — 4th Place; Self-portrait — 5th Place
Finalist 2015 Warringah Art Prize
Highly Commended — 2015 John Shaw Neilson Acquisitive Art Prize
Finalist 2015 Lethbridge 10000 Award
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 ‘Wet Areas’, Gallery Jones Art & Frame House, Ripponlea Melbourne, Vic
2024 ‘Primordial Landscapes’, Whitewall Art Projects, Berrima, NSW
2023 Salon des Refusés, National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2023 ‘Autumn Group Exhibit’, Whitewall Art Projects, Berrima, NSW
2023 ‘Smalls’, Blackroom Gallery, Cook Street Collective, Flinders, Vic
2023 ‘Contemporary Australian Landscapes’, Purple Noon Gallery, Freemans Reach, NSW
2022 ‘Every Life’ Art Exhibition, Offspring Project, Geelong, Vic
2022 ‘Vision’, Winter Solstice Festival at Kerri Greens Winery, Red Hill South, Vic
2022 The Basil Sellers Art Prize exhibition, Eurobodalla Shire Council, NSW
2022 ‘Interconnected’ curated by Beautiful Bizarre magazine, New England Regional Art Museum, NSW
2022 Police Point Artist in Residence Retrospective Exhibition, The Commanding Officers House at Point Nepean National Park, Portsea Vic
2021 ‘Infinite Space: Land, Sky and Sea’, Grainger Gallery, Canberra ACT
2021 ‘Dreamscapes’, Whitewall Art Projects, Berrima, NSW
2021 ‘New Beginning’, Korea-Australia Arts Foundation (KAAF), Sydney, NSW
2020 ‘To the Coast’, Whitewall Art Projects, Berrima, NSW
2020 ‘Nature’s Way’, Victorian Artists’ Society
2020, ‘Into the Light’, Whitewall Art Projects, Berrima, NSW
2019 Autumn Salon, Metropolis Gallery, Geelong, Vic
2018 Splash McClelland Contemporary Watercolour Award, McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, Langwarrin, Vic
2018 ‘From Here to Beyond’, Hawthorn Studio and Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2018 Salon des Refusés, National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2018 Bluethumb Art Prize Exhibition, Collingwood, Vic
2018 Summer Exhibition, Hawthorn Studio & Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2018 Alumni Exhibition, Pat Bourke Gallery, St Joseph’s College Geelong, Vic
2017 Metropolis Christmas Show, Metropolis Gallery, Geelong, Vic
2017 ‘New Directions 2017’, Hawthorn Studio and Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2017 ‘On Water’, Deakin University Waterfront gallery, Geelong, Vic
2017 ‘Metropolis Summer Salon’, Metropolis Gallery, Geelong, Vic
2016 Korea-Australia Arts Foundation (KAAF) Art Prize, Sydney
2016 Len Fox Painting Award, Castlemaine Art Museum,
2016 Salon des Refusés, National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, then touring to the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Melbourne
2016 Portrait Exhibition, Victorian Artists’ Society, Melbourne, Vic
2016 Waverley Art Prize, WWAS Bondi, Sydney, NSW
2016 Kogarah Art Prize, Kogarah Library and Cultural Centre, Sydney, NSW
2016 ‘Winter in Metropolis’, Metropolis Gallery
2016 CSBC Spirituality in Art Prize and Exhibition: ‘Fire and Life’, Melbourne, Vic
2016 The Kirribilli Centre 40th Anniversary Art Prize, Sydney, NSW
2016 Celeste Prize ‘Taboo’ finalists exhibition, Galleria Poggiali e Forconi, Florence, Italy
2016 Wyndham Art Prize, Wyndham Art Gallery, Werribee, Vic
2016 Contemporary Exhibition, Victorian Artists’ Society, Melbourne, Vic
2016 ‘Flesh, Revealing a Passion for Paint’ (Juried Exhibition), Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, USA
2016 ‘Metropolis Summer Salon’, Metropolis Gallery
2016 ‘The Face of January’ Portrait and Figurative Exhibition, Camden Image Gallery, London, UK
2015 – 2016 Group exhibitions at Muse Gallery, Beechworth, Vic
2015 Prospect Portrait Prize, Prospect Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2015 Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, NSW
2015 Toorak Village Art Walk, Vic
2015 Tatiara Art Prize, Walkway Gallery, Bordertown, SA
2015 Cliftons Art Prize, Melbourne finalists exhibition, Vic
2015 Hobsons Bay Art Show, Williamstown, Melbourne, Vic
2015 Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery, Qld
2015 ‘Movement in Art’, Cube Gallery, Frankston Arts Centre, Vic
2015 Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2015 Warringah Art Prize, Warringah Creative Space, Sydney, NSW
2015 Trinity College Art Exhibition, Albury, NSW
2015 Bayside Art Show, Sandringham, Melbourne, Vic
2015 Cossack Art Awards, The Pilbara region, WA
2015 John Shaw Neilson Acquisitive Art Prize, Penola, SA
2015 Lethbridge 10000 Award, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane, Qld
2015 ‘Metropolis Summer Salon’, Metropolis Gallery
2014 Metropolis Christmas Show, Metropolis Gallery
2014 ‘Feature Artists Show’, Metropolis Gallery
2012 Metropolis Christmas Show, Metropolis Gallery
2008 – 2012 St Joseph’s College Art Expo, Geelong, Vic
2008 – 2010 Camberwell Art Show, Melbourne, Vic
2008 ‘An Exhibition of Hope’, St John of God Hospital, Geelong, Vic
TEACHING, ARTIST TALKS AND EVENTS
2024 Teaching at the Geelong Art Society
2022 Judge, Geelong Art Society Annual Portrait Exhibition, Shearers Arms Gallery
2021 Painting plein air and live in the gallery Whitewall Art Projects
2017 Open studio, Police Point Artist in Residence, Portsea
2017 Visiting artist, Oxygen College, Geelong
2017 Judge, Art Unlimited Fusion Exhibition, Gordon Gallery
2016 Artist talk, Salon des Refusés, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2016 ‘Portrait Painters in Action’, Victorian Artists’ Society, Melbourne
2016 Teaching masterclass series — Portrait Painting in Oils, Courthouse Youth Arts (CHYA), Geelong
2016 – 2017 One-on-one painting tuition
2015 Teaching 10-hour courses in drawing and acrylic painting
TRAINING AND EDUCATION
Steve Salo showed a natural talent for painting at a young age, getting his first oil paints at the age of eight. Studying books about the master painters and experimenting in many mediums and across various subject matter, he is largely self-taught.
2017, 2018 Life drawing with Yvonne Audette
2008, 2009 Masterclass in oils with John Wilson
1990 Art & Design — Gordon Institute of TAFE, Geelong, Vic
1989 Geelong Fine Art School with Robert Drummond
MEMBERSHIPS
National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
Victorian Artists’ Society (VAS)
Geelong Art Society (GAS)
Hawthorn Artists’ Society (HAS)
RECENT MEDIA/ PUBLICATIONS
Art Edit ‘Ones to Watch’, Summer 2020-21
Featured in articles about the Saatchi Art Online Studios, 2020
Radio interviews with Chris Bryan on KickArts, 94.7 The Pulse, 26 November 2019, 28 May 2018
Jon Järvineimi, ‘Embassy exhibition: Thank you Steve Salo’, Embassy of Finland in Australia blog, 24 May 2018
Tamara McDonald, ‘Artist’s life in the frame’, Geelong Advertiser, 12 May 2018
Helen Musa, ‘Evocative Finnish landscape inspires art’, Canberra CityNews, 27 November 2017
Melissa Walsh, ‘Salo’s work comes to Frankston’, Peninsula Essence, October 2017
Liz Rogers, ‘Back to Back at the Curved Wall’, Mornington Peninsula Magazine, October 2017
Alana Mitchelson, ‘Power of presence shines through the dark’, Geelong Indy, 17 March 2016
Paintings featured online in Saatchi Collections and on ‘Artwork of the Day’ on artdoxa.com homepage
Works shared worldwide on social media and blogs, profiles on Empty Kingdom, Artists Inspire Artists, theVanderbild, Coudal, The Road Gallery, PICDIT, Weekend Notes and Proteus Mag
Artworks featured in Vine Leaves Literary Journal, July 2015 and Best of Vine Leaves 2015
‘Passerby by Steve Salo’, artingeelong.com, 18 March 2015
Featured Artist on artistaday.com, 11 Feb 2015
Julia Millard, ‘Friday on his Mind’, Geelong Review, 4 Sept 2014
Noel Murphy, ‘Face value’, GC Geelong Coast, Autumn 2014 (four-page profile)
‘A Passion Rekindled’, Geelong Advertiser, 1 March 2014
‘Portraits of Artists by Steve Salo’ — artingeelong.com, 9 Feb 2014
Featured Artist on the Australian Artists United website, 28 Dec 2013
‘Thompson in Print and Paint’, Torquay Times, 2012
Updated June 2024