Born
in 1971, Melbourne, Australia, Lara Merrett currently lives and works
in Melbourne. In 1993, she studied painting abroad at the Circulo de
Bellas Artes in Madrid, Spain, before completing a Bachelor of Fine
Arts at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales in
1996, and graduating with a Master of Arts (Painting) the following
year.
Featuring
among her major solo exhibitions are: soft
rock,
Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne (2007), To
soon to tell,
Kaliman Gallery, Sydney (2006); let’s
get together,
Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne (2005); Upside
down you turn me,
Kaliman Gallery, Sydney (2004); Wish
you were here,
Kaliman Gallery, Sydney (2003); and No
Hard Edges,
Kaliman Gallery, Sydney (2002). Lara
has also participated in numerous group exhibitions including the ABN
AMRO Emerging Artist Award,
ABN AMRO Melbourne & Sydney (2007); Against
the Amnesiac Lifestyle Showroom,
Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne (2006); Portable
model of… Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart and La Trobe Regional Gallery, Victoria
(2005); Arrival/Departure,
Bus Gallery Melbourne, collaboration with John Nicholson (2003); Helen
Lemprière Traveling Art Scholarship,
Artspace, Sydney (2002 and 1999); New
Painting,
Coffs Harbour Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales (2002); Fisher
Ghost Festival Contemporary Art Award,
Campbelltown City Art Gallery, New South Wales (2002 and 1996); and New Acquisitions, The Sir Hermann Black Gallery, University of Sydney
(2000).
She
has received various grants and awards such as The
Freedman Foundation Traveling Scholarship for Emerging Artists (2001) and Willoughby
City Art Prize (2001), and is represented in the collections of the University of
New South Wales; the Bundanon Estate; Artbank and UBS.