Colleen Ahern lives and works in Melbourne. She completed a Bachelor of Arts, Painting, from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1999 and is currently represented by Neon Parc, Melbourne. Ahern works in oil paint and is motivated by musical fandom, the portrait and cultural iconography.

The art emerges from a dynamic fusion of historical sources and personal inspiration, which she deftly weaves together through her painting style. Her subjects, along with their attendant historical contexts, dissolve into one another: art into entertainment, entertainment into history, history into fashion. Ahern allows personal connection to transcend conventional genres, expanding in the vacuum of anonymity that media culture perpetuates in a global economy of images. Her work restores the personal and the eccentric where there was none, proving that a longed-for excess of emotional attachment can arise. In this sense, Ahern's art is romantic, a revival of idealism and a revolt against reason.

Colleen Ahern has exhibited extensively throughout Australia since 1999, including at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Gertrude Contemporary, Centre for Contemporary Photography and the Ian Potter Museum of Art.
Colleen Ahern's artworks are held in private collections throughout Australia and New Zealand, in addition to the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Text courtesy Neon Parc, 2025.

Her solo exhibitions include: Queen Bitch, Neon Parc, Melbourne 2025; Party- time Wasting, Caves, Melbourne 2017; Tonight, TCB, Melbourne 2016; Untitled, Neon Parc, Melbourne 2016; Hells flags, Hell's Kitchen, Melbourne 2015; Cortez the Killer, Neon Parc, Melbourne 2013; Of Skins and Heart, Neon Parc, Melbourne 2010; Frantic Romantic, Neon Parc, Melbourne 2007; Angels on Airwaves, Neon Parc, 2006; Steal Your Face, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne 2005; You're Ok You can Come in, TCB Art Inc., Melbourne 2003.

Some recent selected group exhibitions include: 2023 Sufeit, Kings ARI, Melbourne;
2022 Attention seeker, Latrobe Art Institute, Bendigo, Victoria, curated by Amita Kirpalani;; Hell n' Back, Caves Gallery , Melbourne,2020; for you, Broccoli, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne 2019; Still Life Part II, University of Sydney, Verge Gallery, Sydney 2019; Killing Time, Chapter House Lane, Melbourne 2018;The drawing is just not there, West space, Melbourne 2018; Painting. More Painting, Australian Centre For Contemporary Art, Melbourne; Tricking the Eye- Contemporary trompe l'oeil, Geelong Gallery, Geelong; I'm Genuinely Lost, Give me Guidance, Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne; Negative approach, Glasshouse/Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne.

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Colleen Ahern

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Victorian College of the Arts

Ms

Colleen Ahern

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