Joshua Cocking
“The principal motivation behind my work and practice is to confront narratives surrounding outback mythology, while creating a critical discourse on the influence outsiders have in remote communities. My work is an investigation into Australian post‑colonial myth and the over‑romanticisation of remote Australia.”
– Josh Cocking
Joshua Cocking is a Western Australian–based painter originally from Melbourne who has built a distinguished artistic practice grounded in his extended experience living and working in remote Indigenous communities across the Kimberley for over a decade. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Monash University and later first‑class Honours at Curtin University in 2021, his imagery—anchored in realist technique—often features surreal, orb‑like forms floating within vast landscapes. These forms, symbolic stand‑ins for outsider presence, register themes of disconnection, displacement, and the legacies of colonial myth in remote Western Australia.
Cocking has exhibited widely and received multiple accolades, including the Cossack Art Prize and commendations in the Perth Royal Art Prize and Black Swan Portrait Prize.
About the Artist
-
Born 1988 in Melbourne, VIC. Lives and works in Perth
-
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022:
The Edge of Something, Linton and Kay Galleries, Perth, WA2020:
Ghost Plant, Stockroom, Kyneton, VIC2019:
It’s Too Late for Postcards, Melbourne, VIC2016:
Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits, Linton and Kay Galleries, Perth, WA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022:
2 Recent Acquisitions, John Curtin Gallery, Perth, WA
The Archibald Prize - Salon des Refuses, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW2021:
10 Year Anniversary Show, Stockroom, Kyneton, VIC2020:
Mixed Tape, Stockroom, Kyneton, VIC
Light and Shade, Perth, WA
Summer Show, Melbourne, VIC
The Lester Prize, Art Gallery Western Australia, Perth, WA2019:
The 8th Annual Supersonic Invitational, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, USA
Mid-Year Group Show, Metro Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
The Lester Prize, Art Gallery Western Australia, Perth, WA
Lethbridge Art Prize, Brisbane, QLD2018:
7th Supersonic Invitational, Spoke Art Gallery, New York City, USA
Summer Show, Metro Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Stanthorpe Art Prize, Stanthorpe, QLD
The Black Swan Portrait Prize, Art Gallery Western Australia, Perth, WA
50x50 Show, Linton and Kay Galleries, Perth, WA
The John Leslie Art Prize, Gippsland Art Gallery, Gippsland, VIC2017:
The Black Swan Portrait Prize, Art Gallery Western Australia, Perth, WA
The Shinju Matsuri Acquisitive Art Prize, Shire Complex, Broome, WA
Skin Deep, Kidogo Gallery, Perth, WA2016:
Summer in the City, Linton and Kay Galleries, Perth, WA
The West Kimberley Art Prize, Derby, WA
The Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Gallery, Sydney, NSW
The Busselton Art Award, Art Geo Gallery, Busselton, WA
Reveal, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane, QLD
Skin Deep, Kidogo Gallery, Perth, WA
Deck the Halls, Linton and Kay Galleries, Perth, WA2015:
The Paddington Art Prize, Paddington, Sydney, NSW
The Black Swan Portrait Prize, Linton and Kay Galleries, Perth, WA
The Mid West Art Prize, Geraldton Regional Art Gallery, Geraldton, WA2014:
The Black Swan Portrait Prize, Linton and Kay Gallery, Perth, WA
The Sir Doug Moran Portrait Prize, Semi-Finalist, Sydney, NSW
Cossack Art Awards, Cossack, WA2013:
The Derby Shire West Kimberley Art Prize, Derby, WA
The Shinju Matsuri Acquisitive Art Prize, Shire Complex, Broome, WA2012:
The Derby Shire West Kimberley Art Prize, Derby, WA2011:
The Shinju Matsuri Acquisitive Art Prize, Shire Complex, Broome, WA2005:
Salt Contemporary Art, Queenscliff, VIC2004:
The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, Adelaide Museum, SA2003:
Barwon Gallery, Barwon Heads Festival, VIC
The Postcard Show, Geelong Regional Art Gallery, VIC
The McGivern Art Prize, Ringwood, Melbourne, VIC2002:
The Black and White Show, Theatre Works, St Kilda, Melbourne, VIC2000:
Graduate Group Exhibition, Monash University, Caulfield, Melbourne, VIC1997:
Group Show, Gordon Institute of TAFE, Geelong, VIC
-
Awards/Residencies
2021:
Received Studio Award, Graduate Show, Curtin University, Perth, WA2020:
Winner, High Commendation Award, The Lester Prize, WA2019:
Winner, Commendation Award, Lethbridge Art Prize, QLD2018:
Winner, Shinju Matsuri Acquisitive Art Prize
Artist in Residence, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA2017:
Winner, Shinju Matsuri Acquisitive Art Prize
Winner, Commendation Award, Busselton Art Prize, Busselton, WA2016:
Winner, Commendation Award, Hedland Art Awards, Hedland, WA2015:
Winner, Highly Commended Award, Paddington Art Prize, Paddington, NSW
Winner, High Commendation Award, Black Swan Portrait Prize, Perth, WA2014:
Winner, People’s Choice Award, Mid-West Art Prize, WA
Artist in Residence, Cossack Arts Program, Cossack, WA
Winner, Cossack Acquisitive Art Awards, Cossack, WA2012:
Winner, West Kimberley Acquisitive Art Prize, WA2011:
Winner, Shinju Matsuri Acquisitive Art Prize, Broome, WA
Collections
John Curtin Gallery, Perth, WA
City of Karratha, WA
Shire of Derby West Kimberley, WA
Shire of Broome, WA
Private collections throughout Australia and overseas
