A Brief History

Michael Simms is a multi-award winning queer artist based in Sydney on Gadigal Country. His paintings range from portraiture and landscape work, to explorations of queer culture and identity in the digital age. Michael completed a degree in psychology in his hometown of Adelaide before winning a scholarship for Sydney’s Julian Ashton Art School. In 2018, he was awarded the Royal Art Society of NSW Young Artist Prize and the inaugural SBS Portrait Prize. He’s been a finalist in major art awards, including the Darling Prize, Moran and Kilgour prizes - and has put several notable Australians onto canvas including Thomas Keneally, Liz Ellis, Paul Capsis and Genevieve Lemon.

Education

2011 - 2014   The Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney (Recipient of the Sydney Mechanics School of Art Scholarship)

2006 - 2011   Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) and Bachelor of Arts (Screen and Media), Flinders University, Adelaide

Solo Exhibitions

2023 

Stages WorldPride, Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf, Sydney

Charged, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane

Peronas, Frances Keevil, Sydney

2022  

Memories and Dust, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

Stages, Manning Regional Art Gallery, NSW

2021  

Distance, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne (online)

Epoch, Frances Keevil, Sydney (online)    

2020  

Drive, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

2018  

Interfacing, Stanley Street Gallery, Sydney

2017  

Brink, Cambridge Studio Gallery, Melbourne

Select Group Exhibitions

2024  

Horizons, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

‘The Little Book of Art Essays’, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

2023  

‘Lives of Their Own’, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

2022  

Glow, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane

‘End of Year Exhibition’, Frances Keevil, Sydney

2021  

Home, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane

2020  

A Passion Shared | The ELLIOTT EYES COLLECTION, Maitland Regional Gallery, NSW

Artists To Watch, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane

Still, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

2019  

Equus, Frances Keevil Gallery, Sydney     

Nude, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

2018  

Undercurrents, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

Temporal, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane

2017  

The Other Art Fair, Australian Technology Park Eveleigh, Sydney

Exploration 17, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

Awards and Prizes

2024  

The John Leslie Landscape Prize, Gippsland Regional Art Gallery, VIC – Finalist

The Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown regional Art Gallery, NSW – Finalist

The Calleen Art Award, Cowra Regional Art Gallery, NSW – Finalist

The Hornsby Art Prize, NSW – Finalist

The John Leslie Landscape Prize, Gippsland Regional Gallery – Finalist

2023  

The Archibald Prize, The Art Gallery of NSW – Finalist

The Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery, QLD – Finalist

The Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW – Finalist

The Kennedy Art Prize, Royal Art Society of South Australia – Winner of the Packing Prize

2022  

The Darling Prize, National Portrait Gallery, ACT – Finalist

The Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, NSW – Finalist

2021  

The Calleen Art Award, Cowra Regional Gallery, NSW – Finalist

The Clayton Utz Art Prize, Clayton Utz, QLD – Finalist

The Naked and Nude Art Prize, Manning Regional Gallery, NSW – Finalist

2020  

The Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, NSW – Finalist

The Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery, QLD - Finalist

The Global Art Awards, Shanghai, China – Finalist

2019  

The Naked and Nude Art Prize, Manning Regional Gallery, NSW – Highly Commended

The Melt Portrait Prize, Brisbane Powerhouse Museum, QLD – Highly Commended

The Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown Art Centre, NSW – Finalist

The EMSLA Still Life Award, Project Contemporary Artspace, NSW – Finalist

2018  

The Young Artist Prize, The Royal Art Society of NSW - Winner

SBS Portrait Prize, Southern Buoy Studios, VIC – Winner

EBNA 2018 First Prize, YSC Consultancy, NSW – Winner

EBNA 2018 People’s Choice, YSC Consultancy, NSW - Winner

Kilgour Art Prize, Newcastle Gallery, NSW – Finalist

Hurford Harwood Portrait Prize, Lismore Regional Gallery, NSW – Finalist 

2017  

Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, NSW – Finalist

Lethbridge 10,000, Lethbridge Gallery, QLD – Highly Commended

Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Art Galley, NSW – Finalist

Manning Art Prize, Manning Regional Gallery, NSW – Finalist

2016  

Cliftons Sydney Art Prize, Cliftons Sydney – Winner

Cliftons Sydney People’s Choice Award, Cliftons Sydney – Winner

Cambridge Studio Gallery Portrait Prize, Cambridge Studio Gallery, VIC - Winner

Residencies

2024  

Bundanon’s Artist in Residence Program

The Gang Gang Residency Program

2021  

The Broken Hill Art Exchange

2019  

The New York Academy of Art Summer Undergraduate Residency Program

Select Collections

The Elliot Eyes Collection

The M2M Collection

The Thomas Keneally Centre, The Sydney Mechanics’ School of Art

Select Media

About Face’ by Amber Creswell Bell, Thames and Hudson, September 2023 The Adelaide Advertiser, ‘Fielding an Electric Talent’, June 2022The Music, ‘Top Talents to Watch in 2018’, January 2018

Talking With Painters The Podcast, Episode 24, 2017

ABC Weekend Breakfast, 15 October 2017

The Guardian Australia, 11 October 2017

Commissions Enquiry