Michael Lindeman

Hi, my name’s Michael and I hang around Sydney, Australia. My work confronts my position as an artist, amusing myself when loitering in the realm of institutional critique. You won’t find any conveniently attached issue-based work or backstory here–just a goofball aiming to inscribe the notion that humour in art can be a serious and poignant lens through which we can view the world.

While drifting (in a Roland Barthes kind of way) between stream of consciousness writing and structured research-based content, I shine a light on the mechanics of the contemporary art world. I find agitating systems of inclusion and exclusion–the structures that reward compliance and disqualify dissent, quite gratifying. I have a habit of making large-scale text paintings, drawings, sculptures and site-specific installations. The work activates repressed impulses, embodies alienation, and embraces failure.

My other hobbies include approaching people at art openings who for some unknown reason won’t welcome me into their clique with a lively “hello” and radiant smile, and ensuring that my side business Duchamp Plumbing is providing a quality service (we just got new plungers).

Early on I founded Michael & Michael Visual Art Project Management with fellow artist Michael Dagostino. Without a fixed location the organisation was a meandering parody of institutionalised curatorial models. Including a loose group of other participants, Michael & Michael… activated exhibition spaces around Australia with a tendency for abjection as a mode of practice–thrift store aesthetics and a sardonic attitude.

I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Honours (First Class) in 1998 and a Master of Fine Arts in 2004, both from the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales. I’m currently a candidate for a Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts. I’ve exhibited in group and solo shows nationally and internationally, and without having friends on selection panels I sometimes snare a residency, prize or award.