Jude Rae (b. 1956, Sydney) is a Sydney based artist whose practice is noted for its particular sensibility. Focusing on still life and interior compositions, Rae’s paintings and prints achieve a remarkable stillness; a quietness conjured from everyday objects, objects that might ordinarily pass our notice. Gas bottles and gas tanks, rugged plastic milk crates and thin plastic pails, all stand in formal arrangements, interspersed with objects traditionally featured in still life compositions – ginger jars, oriental ceramics, and garden cuttings. Through their tonal values and distinct surfaces, Rae’s compositions exude a contemplative quality that leads viewers to engage with and be absorbed by them.
After studying at the Julian Ashton Art School in the mid-1970s, Rae attended the University of Sydney, completing a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) in the early 1980s. In 1984 she attained a Graduate Diploma in Professional Art Studies from the University of New South Wales and later studied at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, receiving a Master of Arts (Painting) in the early 1990s.
Rae’s exhibiting career spans four decades, beginning in the mid-1980s. Following her inclusion in 12 Contemporary Women at the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Rae began showing with Painters Gallery, Sydney in 1987. Soon after, the artist began exhibiting in New Zealand leading to regular shows in Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin. In 2010 Mark Van Venn curated the exhibition Jude Rae: Still Lifes shown at the Canberra Museum and Gallery. This exhibition was later followed by Terence Maloon’s exhibition Jude Rae: A Space of Measured Light shown in 2017 at the Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra. Throughout this period the artist’s work was shown in Australia, New Zealand and abroad in commercial and museum exhibitions.
In addition to her primary painting practice of still life and interior compositions, Rae is an accomplished portrait painter, commissioned to produce official portraits for a number of major public and private collections.
Rae has received numerous awards and residencies throughout her career. In 2019 the artist was a finalist in the Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and was highly commended for her entry Sarah Peirse as Miss Docker in Patrick White’s ‘A cheery soul’. In 2016 she was the recipient of the Bulgari Art Award at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Rae has the distinction of being awarded the Portia Geach Memorial Award at S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, twice (2005 & 2008).
Rae’s work is included in a number of major institutional collections including National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; National Portrait Gallery, Canberra; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; High Court of Australia, Canberra; Museum of New Zealand/Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington; and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, New Zealand.
Image: Jude Rae, SL441, 2021, oil on linen, 122 x 137.5 cm
