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Visual Art (Practice Based Art)

This guide will help you find resources for practice based visual art in the University of Melbourne Library

Researching Contemporary Artists

Sometimes if an artist is emerging, local, or practicing in the present context, they might not be well represented in library database search results. While you might find some helpful content in exhibition books and library subscriptions, you might also like to explore the following avenues.

 

Click on each of the headings below to learn some strategies for researching contemporary artists.

  • Many contemporary artists maintain a professional website portfolio of their work and exhibition history
  • Is there a CV where you can find their exhibition history?
  • Is the artist represented by a gallery?
  • Does the artist maintain a bibliography or publish images of their work?
  • Contemporary art magazines are an excellent source of exhibition reviews, interviews, artist profiles, and opinion pieces
  • The library provides digital access to many contemporary art magazines, but the magazines' own websites may be more browsable and lead you to additional content.
  • To access paywalled content, search for the magazine title in the library catalogue
  • Explore books in the library collection to find exhibtion catalogues, e.g. Biennale di Venezia or Biennale of Sydney
  • To find recent newspaper articles about art, try searching for an artist by name or exhibition title in Factiva
  • Search for artist names, exhibition titles, and the titles of artworks in an art database

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