Alex Asch was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and was involved in university art programs in Los Angeles and New York before moving to Australia and studying art at the Australian National University in 1987. He has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions throughout Australia and provides technical assistance to several arts organisations around Canberra. In 2024, Alex was awarded the Canberra Critic’s Circle Award for his exhibition Compression at Beaver Galleries. In 2017, awarded the CAPO Fellowship, 2015 recipient of the Workplace Research Associates, winner 2008 Rosalie Gasgcoine Award. He was invited to represent Australia in 2009 Sculpture by the Sea, Denmark. He has exhibited work at the Sydney Art Fair in 2013 and 2017, the Melbourne 2014 Art Fair and was a finalist in the 2009 Blake Prize, 2017 CGS Harris Hobbs Outdoor Sculpture Prize. He was invited to exhibit in 2016/18/20/22 Canberra Art Biennale -Contour 556 and 2017/18/20/23 Pack Saddle at NERAM. Previously represented by Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra, Access Gallery Redfern, Maunsell Hughes, Woollahra, Barry Stern Paddington and Beaver Galleries, Canberra, Private and Corporate collections in Australia, USA, UK Netherlands, National Australian Gallery, Artbank, the ACT Legislative, CMAG Assembly, and the Wesley Art Foundation

I have always been drawn to weathered materials, to the iconic form-ply that is used to erect the concrete structures of our cities, to galvanised steel used to construct our rural buildings, to the painted signs of our roadways abandoned in tips, reclamation yards and rural properties across the Southern tablelands. The characteristics of this medium indicate the previous value of the materials as a whole object, now seen as composite elements in an entirely new structure. I am interested in the capabilities of association between object and form, deconstructing elements to create simplified and symbolic representations of the world around me. I essentially create collages, shaping and moving the metal pieces into compositions resembling landscapes. These works seek to explore the transformation of the land since European settlement. My constructions act as premonitions or warnings, unfortunately we have done little over my lifetime to change our relationship to the natural world and first nations people. Eminent art critic and historian, Professor Sasha Grishin, says of Alex: “His work is quirky, yet tough; humorous, yet serious; brilliantly crafted, but also naïve and understated in its use of stylistic conventions... Alex Asch has become an original and distinctive voice in Australian art.”

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which I live and work and pay my respects to Elders past and present.

Photography: Brenton McGeachie additional photography Alex Asch