Curriculum Vitae
QUALIFICATIONS
2015
Master of Arts by research, Federation University, Victoria
1990/92
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Victorian College of the Arts
1979/82
Bachelor of Arts, Honours Degree in Art History, University of Melbourne
AWARDS/RESIDENCIES
2015
Foundation Obras art residency, Evoramonte, Portugal
2014
Awarded the Stanthorpe Festival Major Art Prize
2013
Awarded a Federation University Australia Postgraduate Research Scholarship
2008
Awarded Australia Council grant for New Work
Studio Residency, Barbican Arts Group Trust, London
2005
Bundanon Artist's Residency
1995
Awarded Pat Corrigan exhibition grant
1989
Sponsored by the Ian Potter Foundation to study in Florence
1984
Awarded the Harold Wright and Sarah and William Holmes Scholarships to study in the Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
Hothouse, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2019
Hothouse, .M Contemporary, Sydney
2018
Lure, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2017
Herbarium, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2015
The Glass Garden, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria
2014|
An Un-Natural History (Masters Exhibition), Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2012
The Provisional Sublime, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2011
Glass Garden, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2009
Strange Garden, Red Gallery, Melbourne
2008
Recent Paintings, Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne
On Glass, Woodbine Art, Malmsbury
2007
The Idea of Perfection, Alluvial Gallery, Bendigo
2006
Looking Through Glass, Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne
2002
New Paintings, Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne
1997
Some things to do with string, WestSpace, Melbourne
1993
Looking Up, RM 4, Linden Gallery, Melbourne
COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITIONS
2008
In Modern Memory, La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre, Bendigo
2006
In Modern Memory, Blindside Gallery, Melbourne
1998
Carolyn Dew, Dena Kahan & Susan Hewitt, Talk Artist's Initiative, Melbourne
1994
6 Easy Pieces, Elizabeth Boustead & Dena Kahan, Temple Studios, Melbourne
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
Len Fox Painting Prize, Castlemaine Art Gallery, Castlemaine
Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, Bayside City Council Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
2021
Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria
Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, Bayside City Council Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
2019
Sublime Sea: Rapture and Reality, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery
Georges River Art Prize, Hurstville Museum and Gallery, Sydney
2018
Wyndham Art Prize, Wyndham Art Centre, Werribee
2016
Rick Amor Drawing Prize, Ballarat Art Gallery, Victoria
2015
Unintended (Refrains:), George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne
2014
Geelong Contemporary Art Prize, Geelong Gallery, Victoria
Goldcoast Art Prize, Gold Coast Art Gallery, Queensland
Stanthorpe Festival Art Show, Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, Queensland
2012
Tidal: City of Devonport Art Award, Devonport Regional Gallery, Tasmania
R & M McGivern Prize, Maroondah Art Gallery, Melbourne
2010
Fletcher Jones Art Prize, Geelong Gallery
2009
R & M McGivern Prize, Maroondah Art Gallery, Melbourne
2007
An intimate look, UPstairs Gallery, Bundanon Homestead, NSW
2006
Fletcher Jones Art Prize, Geelong Art Gallery
Robert Jacks Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery
2004
Phyllis Palmer Gallery, La Trobe University, Bendigo
2003
Reunion, George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne
2001-2003
We Are Australian, Traveling Exhibition, Australia and abroad
1999
Minim-art, Talk Artist's Initiative, Melbourne
1997
Latrobe Street Gallery, Melbourne
1996
Love at the Carlisle Lodge Motel, Carlisle Lodge Motel, Melbourne
Everyone Goes to Dimmeys, Dimmeys shop window, Melbourne
1995
Shifting Ground, Linden Gallery, Melbourne
Murdoch Prize Exhibition, Melbourne
COLLECTIONS
Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne
Town Hall Gallery Collection, City of Boroondara, Melbourne
Bundanon Trust
Museum of Victoria
Lyceum Club, Melbourne
Private collections in Australia and abroad
BIBLIOGRAPHY/REVIEWS
2015
'Dena Kahan The Glass Garden', Exhibition Catalogue, Art Gallery of Ballarat
August 2015
Sarah Sweet, Dena Kahan – The Glass Garden, Art Almanac
20 October 2012
Megan Backhouse, The Age
5 February 2011
Dan Rule, The Age
21 June 2008
Megan Backhouse, The Age
2007
Making Space. Artist-run initiatives in Victoria, VIA-N
23 May 2007
After the Weather, Win News, Channel 9
17 May 2007
James Taylor, The Bendigo Advertiser
14 May 2007
Terri-Anne Kingsley, ABC Website
14 May 2007
Jo Printz, Breakfast with Jonathan Ridnell, ABC Local Radio, Central Victoria
16 September 2006
Megan Backhouse, The Age
15 September 2006
Penny Webb, The Age
6 September 2006
Amanda Smith, The Deep End, Radio National
2006
Stephen Haley, A reflection, on glass, Catalogue Essay
25 February 2006
Megan Backhouse, The Age
2002
Amanda Johnson, New Paintings – Sky Pieces, Catalogue Essay
July 2002
Megan Backhouse, The Age
1998
Sandra Bridie, Conversations between Carolyn Dew, Susan Hewitt, Dena Kahan and Sandra Bridie, talk 32
19 December 1997
Rebecca Lancashire, The Age
17 December 1997
Anna Clabburn, The Age
RELATED ACTIVITIES
Dena has worked as a Tutor in the Department of Art History at the University of Melbourne, an Art Conservator at the CCMC at the University of Melbourne and a Curatorial Assistant to the Deputy Keeper of Prints at the British Museum. She currently teaches drawing at the Lyceum Club, Melbourne.