Alan Muller
“Making art of the ancient Whadjuk lands I live on has been the most inspiring and deeply meaningful of my career. It has been like a process of personal re-alignment and changing the way I see, think and experience my home land.”
Alan Muller is a Perth-based artist whose practice spans more than four decades and reflects a deep engagement with the landscapes and histories of Western Australia. Known for his evocative paintings and drawings, he has exhibited widely since the 1970s, with work held in major collections including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Artbank, and the City of Perth. His practice balances narrative and formal concerns, often focusing on overlooked or quietly political aspects of place and memory.
Muller’s recent work centres on the Whadjuk Noongar ancestral lands and the ecological and cultural significance of the Swan River, Derbarl Yerrigan. His acrylic paintings and meticulous graphite drawings aim to reimagine pre-colonial landscapes and honour Indigenous histories through a reflective and research-driven process. As he puts it: “The river and the ancient Whadjuk lands that Perth is built on have been the inspiration for my work over the last 14 years.” Through careful consultation, observation, and a process that welcomes chance and reinterpretation, Muller offers a layered, poetic view of country, identity, and continuity.
About the Artist
-
*1953, lives and works in Perth
-
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
River Swan — Linton & Kay Gallery, West Perth, WA2022
River Aerial and Terrestrial – Paintings and Drawings of Derbarl Yerrigan Swan River — Linton & Kay Gallery, Subiaco, WA2020
Derbarl Yerrigan Swan River: Paintings 2010–20 and New River Drawings — Linton & Kay Gallery, Subiaco, WA
River: Drawings of Derbarl Yerrigan Swan River — Linton & Kay, Mandoon Estate Gallery, Swan Valley, WA2019
Tides: Paintings and Drawings of Derbarl Yerrigan Swan River — Linton & Kay, Mandoon Estate Gallery, Swan Valley, WA
Tides: Paintings of Derbarl Yerrigan Swan River — Council House, City of Perth. Sponsored and presented by the City of Perth for the National Trust Heritage Festival 2019, WA2017
Perth 360: A Survey of Paintings 1997–2017 — Wanneroo Cultural Centre. Presented by the City of Wanneroo, WA2015
River Drawings — Nyisztor Studio, Melville, WA2014
Derbarl Yerrigan, Djarlgarro Beelier – Swan and Canning Rivers — Melody Smith Gallery, Carlisle, WA2012
Derbarl Yerrigan – The Swan River — Gallery East, North Fremantle, WA2010
Soulburbia — Gallery East, North Fremantle, WA2008
Perth Night Stories — Gallery East, North Fremantle, WA2006
Perth Night Paintings — Gallery East, North Fremantle, WA2005
Metro Coast SMS – Paintings of Perth's Coast — Gallery East, North Fremantle, WA2003
Illumine – Works Painted on Location at Gracetown — Gallery East, North Fremantle, WA2001
Urban Elemental – New Paintings of Perth — Gallery East, North Fremantle, WA1996
Beauty and the Bridge – Paintings of Goolwa and Hindmarsh Island — Gallery Café, Surry Hills, NSW1994
Bare Gallery — Newtown, NSW1993
Portraits 2 — Artrage Festival, PICA, Perth Cultural Centre, WA
Portraits 1 — Bare Gallery, Newtown, NSW1991
Drawings — Airspace, Redfern, NSW1990
Paintings — Gallery Café, Surry Hills, NSW1987
Anima Gallery — North Adelaide, SA1985
Anima Gallery — North Adelaide, SA1984
Gallery 52 — Claremont, WA1983
Gallery 52 — Claremont, WA1981
Gallery 52 — Claremont, WA1980
Fremantle Arts Centre — WA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
The View from Here — Art Gallery of Western Australia2020
Whadjuk Boodja — Western Australian Museum, Boola Bardip (video projection including four paintings)
Queer: Now and Then — Lawrence Wilson Gallery, UWA
Tracing The Swan — Holmes à Court Gallery, Vasse Felix, Margaret River, WA2019
Place and Space – Shire of Mundaring Open Art Acquisition Exhibition — Mundaring Arts Centre, WA2018
Minnawarra Art Awards – Finalist — Armadale, WA
Royal Agricultural Society Art Award for Landscape – Finalist — Claremont, WA2016
Minnawarra Art Award — Armadale District Hall, Armadale, WA
Shire of Mundaring Open Art Acquisition Exhibition — Mundaring Arts Centre, WA
Scene (also 2015) — Nyisztor Studio, Melville, WA2015
Busselton Art Award – Finalist (also 2014, 2016) — Art Geo, Busselton, WA2014
Black Swan Heritage Art Award – Finalist — Brookfield Place, Perth, WA
Albany Art Prize – Finalist — Albany Town Hall, Albany, WA2013
Black Swan Heritage Art Award – Finalist — Linton and Kay Gallery, Brookfield Place, Perth, WA
Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Biennial Art Award — Nedlands, WA
Albany Art Prize – Finalist — Albany Town Hall, Albany, WA
Bunbury Biennale — Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, WA2012
Safe Keeping – National Trust Heritage Festival of WA — Perth Town Hall, Perth, WA
Aurum — Mundaring Arts Centre, WA
Mandorla Art Award — Perth Town Hall, City of Perth, WA
Black Swan Heritage Art Award – Finalist — Linton and Kay Gallery, Brookfield Place, Perth, WA
A Child is Born Exhibition — Wesley Church, Perth, WA2010
Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Biennial Art Award — Nedlands, WA2009
Bunbury Biennale — Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, WA2008
Stations of the Cross Exhibition — Wesley Church, Perth, WA2007
Bunbury Biennale — Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, WA2002
Melbourne Art Fair — Melbourne, VIC2001–09
City of Joondalup Invitation Art Award — Joondalup, WA2001–02
City of Perth Invitation Art Award — Perth, WA1986
Adelaide Festival Exhibition — Anima Gallery, North Adelaide, SA1983
Archibald Prize Finalist — Art Gallery of New South Wales, NSW1982
Archibald Prize Finalist — Art Gallery of New South Wales, NSW1979
Perth Portrait Prize — Perth, WA1978
Perth Portrait Prize — Perth, WA1977
Seven Young Western Australian Artists — Undercroft Gallery, University of Western Australia
-
Awards
2020
Western Australian Heritage Awards — Commendation Award for Tides: Swan River Stories, Council House, Perth, WA2015
City of Busselton Art Awards, Commendation Award
City of Wanneroo Art Awards, Commendation Award, Painting2014
City of Wanneroo Art Awards, Commendation Award, Works on Paper2013
Royal Agricultural Society Art Awards — Category 2, Highly Commended, Claremont, WA2012
City of Wanneroo Art Awards — Winner
City of Joondalup Community Art Awards — Category Painting2011
Royal Agricultural Society Art Awards — Public Choice Award, Claremont, WA
City of Armadale, Minnawarra Art Awards — Category 2, Highly Commended2007
City of Albany — Category 2, Best Oil/Acrylic2005
City of Joondalup Invitation Art Award — People’s Choice Award2004
Town of Vincent — Category 3, Vincent Award
City of Stirling — Category 2 Award1983
Fremantle Arts Centre — Winner, Open Painting Award1979
Perth Portrait Prize — Category 2 Award, Best Western Australian Entry
Collections
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Artbank (national)
Armadale Redevelopment Authority Collection
Lawrence Wilson Gallery — University of Western Australia
Edith Cowan University
Central TAFE Collection
Royal Perth Hospital Collection
Perth Children's Hospital
St John of God Hospital
City of Perth
City of Stirling
City of Fremantle
City of Wanneroo
Shire of Mundaring
Army Museum of Western Australia
Private collections throughout Australia
135 x 135cm