Thursday 5th May 2011, 7pm
University of The West of Scotland Room
Centre for Contemporary Arts Glasgow
350 Sauchiehall Street G2 3JD
John Vella was born and raised in Sydney, Australia and moved to Hobart, Tasmania in 1996,
where he lives with his wife Sonia, and children Sophia and Vincenzo. Since dropping out of
studying architecture in 1988, he has: traveled extensively overseas, worked as a waiter,
labourer, photographer, telemarketer, truck loader, phone book factory hand, exhibitions
officer, and gallery attendant; completed a DipFA with Distinction (National Art School
Sydney), a BFA (Hons) first class and an MFA at the Tasmanian School of Art, Hobart where
he is currently the Head of Sculpture.
Vella commits acts of physical and conceptual frottage on communities, objects and
systems; 'rubbings' that recycle the act and artefact of lived experience, as a sub/perversion
of itself. Mediating status, value and 'damage by design' Vella develops diverse testimonies
to the epic and incidental aspects of our personal and material histories. Disloyal to studio disciplines, the artist's practice has developed across suburban, commission and historic contexts.
