Vivienne Binns OAM

Vivienne’s illustrious career as an Australian artist spans over sixty years where she has worked primarily as a painter. She has also continually experimented and, alongside her painting practice, has also embraced the mediums of printmaking, performance, sculpture and drawing.

Vivienne has made an outstanding contribution to Australian art, particularly in regard to feminist art and community art.

She was one of the first artists in Australia to critically engage with feminism and pioneered dialogues between Australian art and international feminism.

The emphasis on the lives of women since the beginning of her career also relates more broadly to her social perspective of art.

Seeing art primarily as a human activity, much of Vivienne’s artistic practice has revolved around community work since the 1970s. She sees communities as the site of both art production and reception.

Throughout her extensive career, Vivienne has engaged with intentional discourses while maintaining a close, genuine and receptive involvement with the communities and people she depicts.

Vivienne has also made important contributions to Australian art outside of her own practice. She has nurtured the generations of artists through her work in support organisations and as an educator across the country.

Vivienne is the 2021 recipient of the Australia Council Award for Visual Arts.

Learn more about the 2021 Australia Council Awards.