David Stephenson
David Stephenson is an American-born photographic and video artist who has lived in Hobart, Australia since 1982. He studied art and art history at the University of Colorado and the University of New Mexico, completing an MFA in 1982, and then moved to Australia that same year to take up a position teaching photography at the University of Tasmania. A fascination for the vast in space and time has led him to travel and photograph extensively around the world, with journeys to Europe, the Himalayas, and both the Arctic and Antarctic. His second visit to Antarctica in 1991 stimulated his first exhibited work in video, which has continued to be an important aspect of his practice.A meditation on the sublime has guided Stephenson’s artistic practice over four decades, which has evolved through long-term, interrelated projects of inquiry. His photographic typologies of the transcendent ceilings of European sacred architecture have been published in two monographs with Princeton Architectural Press, with German editions by Prestel Verlag – Visions of Heaven: The Dome in European Architecture (2005) and Heavenly Vaults: From Romanesque to Gothic in European Architecture (2009).
A French/English monograph on his work, David Stephenson: Sublime Symmetries was published in 2006 to coincide with a retrospective of his work at the Gulbenkian Cultural Centre in Paris. His latest monograph, Light Cities, is being published in 2024 by Hatje Cantz Verlag, Berlin. 
Canada, 1981
ARTWORKS
Dawn 22.7.2009
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Dusk 21.7.2009
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Dusk 25.7.2009
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Dawn 25.7.2009
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Dawn 23.7.2009
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Dusk 22.7.2009
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Dawn 24.7.2009
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Dusk 23.7.2009
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Dusk 24.7.2009
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V6 22.07.2009 Sagittarius72
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V10 24.07.2009 Sagittarius12
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V2 20.07.2009 Scorpius24
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V7 22.07.2009 SENW
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V11 24.07.2009 Scorpius72
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V3 21.07.2009 Centaurus72
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V8 23.07.2009 Crux24
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V13 25.07.2009 Scorpius4
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V5 21.07.2009 NE_NW_SW_SE
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V9 23.07.2009 SW_SE_NE_NW
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Star V16 25.07.2009 NS_EW
Pigment ink print, edition of 7
127.0 x 102.0 cm
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Bath Abbey
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
2 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Mechelen
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
2 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Paris St Chappelle
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
2 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Laon Cathedrale
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
2 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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York
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
2 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Paris Notre Dame
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
2 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Exeter
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
3 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Ripon
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
3 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Wells
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
3 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Soissons Cathedrale, 2007
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
3 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Caen Abbaye des Hommes
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
3 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Lincoln
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
3 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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Gloucester
Archival pigment ink prints, edition of 5
3 x 101.6 x 101.6 cm
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EXHIBITIONS
2021 in Retrospect
Group Show
02 December 2021 - 08 January 2022
Summer Exhibition
Group Show
7th July - 8th September 2018
BIOGRAPHY
Born 1955 Washington, DC
Moved to Australia 1982
Selected Awards
2021 Winner, Hadley’s Art Prize
2007 Australia Council Visual Arts Fellowship
1996/2001 Australia Council Visual Art/Craft Fund Project Grants
Solo Exhibitions (Selected)
2022 Survivors, Bett Gallery, Hobart
2019 Time Works, Bett Gallery, Hobart
2017 David Stephenson: Human Landscapes, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
2017 The Derwent (with Martin Walch), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
2014 Light Cities/Asia, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne
2011 Transcendence: Photographs by David Stephenson
2011 Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne and national tour 2012-15
2011 Light Cities, Julie Saul Gallery, New York
2010 Light Cities, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney
2009 Heavenly Vaults, John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne
2009 Dusk to Dawn, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney
2008 David Stephenson: Sublime Symmetries, Australian Embassy, Washington, D.C.
2007 Vaults, Julie Saul, New York
2007 Marking Time, Carnegie Gallery, Hobart
2006 Symétries sublimes, photographies de David Stephenson, Centre Culturel Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris
2005 Drawing Time, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney
2004 David Stephenson, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
2004 Cupolas, Julie Saul Gallery, New York
2003 Skeletons, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney
2001 Starlight: David Stephenson Photographs, Cleveland Museum of Art, USA
2001 Space + Light: David Stephenson Photographs, 1982-1996, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
2000 Heaven, Julie Saul Gallery, New York
1999 Stars, Robert Lindsay Gallery, Melbourne
1998 Sublime Space: David Stephenson Photographs 1989-98, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1997 Domes, Julie Saul Gallery, New York
1995 Transfigurations, Paisley Museum and Art Gallery, Scotland for Fotofeis International Photography Festival
1994 Winter, James Danziger Gallery, New York
1994 The Ice, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
1993 The Ice, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1992 Vast, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney
1991 Vast, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, Adelaide
1990 Untitled 1989-90, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney
1987 David Stephenson, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
1985 David Stephenson, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1983 The Divided Landscape, Robert Freidus Gallery, New York
Group Exhibitions (Selected)
2021 MCA Collection: Perspectives on place, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2020 Under the Stars, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2020 Music of Spheres, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
2019 Civilization: The Way We Live Now, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2019 Between the Moon and the Stars, The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
2018 Noorderlicht International Photofestival IN VIVO | the nature of nature, Museum Belvédère, Heerenveen, The Netherlands
2018 Incommensurable: Photo-media in the Era of Globalisation, ANU Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra
2017 Ecstasy: Baroque and Beyond, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
2016 Gravity (and Wonder), Penrith Regional Gallery, New South Wales
2016 Tempest, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
2015 The Photograph and Australia, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
2014 Perduti nel paesaggio/Lost in Landscape, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Italy
2014 Remain In Light: Photography From The MCA Collections, touring Australia 2014-2015
2013 Australia: land and landscape, Royal Academy of Arts, London, organised with National Gallery of Art
2013 Flatlands: photography and everyday space, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2012 Luminous World – Contemporary Art from the Wesfarmers Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, and national tour 2013-15
2012 Geomorphometries: contemporary terrain, Queensland Centre for Photography, Brisbane
2012 Dark Sky, curated by Geoffrey Batchen, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University, Wellington, NZ
2012 Light Works, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2011 Deep Water: Photographs 1860-2000, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2011 Photography and Place: Australian landscape photography, 1970s until now, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2010 In the Balance, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2010 Stormy Weather: Contemporary Landscape photography, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2010 Imagining the Everyday, Pingyao International Photography Festival, China
2009 Shared Sky, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2008 Neo-Goth: Back in Black, University of Queensland Museum of Art, Brisbane
2007 Ingenuidades: Fotografia e Engenharia 1846-2006, Galeria de Exposições Temporårias da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon; Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels (BOZAR)
2007 Light Sensitive: Contemporary Australian Photography, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2007 Cross Currents: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2006 From an Island South, Asialink/Devonport Regional Gallery touring venues in Asia
2005 Breaking Ice, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
2005 Points of View: Australian Photography, 1985-95, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2004 I want to take you higher, McKenzie Fine Art, New York.
2004 The Nature Machine, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
2003 Sky Lounge – Future Projections, National Museum of Australia, Canberra
2003 First Impressions: Contemporary Australian Photograms, National Gallery of Victoria
2003 Second Sight: Australian Photography in the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria
2003 American Beauty, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2003 Gold Coast Ulrick Schubert Photographic Art Award (winner)
2003 Fieldwork: Australian Art 1968-2002, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
1999 An American Century of Photography: From Dry-Plate to Digital, Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
1999 Tempus Fugit/Time Flies, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City.
1998 Waterproof, Festival of 100 days/EXPO '98, Belem Cultural Centre, Lisbon
1997 Oceans and Galaxies, Karen McCready Fine Art, New York
1996 Brushing the Dark: Recent Art and Tasmania, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, and national tour.
1996 The Power to Move: Recent Australian Photography, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
1995 Likeness, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne.
1994 Landed: Landscape Art in Australia, 1960-90, Australian National Gallery
1994 An American Century of Photography: From Dry-Plate to Digital, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, and international tour
1993 Reflex, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, and national tour
1992 Location, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, and Australasian tour
1992 Intimations of Mortality, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
1990 Fragmentation and Fabrication: Recent Australian Photography, AGSA, Adelaide
1988 Australian Photography: the 1980's, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
1987 Australian Contemporary Photographers, National Gallery of Victoria
1986 Recent Australian Photography, Australian National Gallery, Canberra.
1983 Australian Perspecta 1983, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1981 New Photographs, Robert Freidus Gallery, New York.
1981 Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
1980 Western Landscape Photography, 1850-1980, Crocker Art Museum, California.
1979 Photograph as Document, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia
Selected Monographs
David Stephenson: Light Cities, Hanje Cantz Verlag, Berlin, (forthcoming) 2024.
David Stephenson: Heavenly Vaults: From Romanesque to Gothic in European Architecture, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2009; German edition Die schönsten Gewölbe Europas: Von der Romanik bis zur Gotik, Prestel Verlag, Munich, 2013.
David Stephenson: Visions of Heaven: The Dome in European Architecture, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2005; French edition Visions célestes: Les plus belles coupoles d'Europe, Éditions Citadelles & Mazenod, Paris, 2007; German edition Die schönsten Kuppeln Europas, Prestel Verlag, Munich, 2012.
Jorge Calado: David Stephenson: Sublime Symmetries, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 2006.
Selected Institutional Collections
AGNSW, Sydney; AGSA, Adelaide; Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; George Eastman Museum, Rochester NY; MCA Australia, Sydney; MFA, Houston; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; MoMA, New York; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; NGA, Canberra; NGV, Melbourne; QAG/G
OMA, Brisbane; SFMoMA, San Francisco; TMAG, Hobart