Christian Jon Bonett (b. 1975, Bath, England) is a multidisciplinary artist living and working on Gadigal Land in Eora/Sydney. Bonett employs installation, ceramic sculpture, painting, and neon elements in his work. His work references iconic Australian cars, road signs, and the urban environments they occupy. Through playful manipulation of context, Bonett provocatively transforms, distorts, and subverts these everyday objects and spaces, challenging our perceptions of these forms to critique and challenge societal constructs of identity, gender, class, consumerism, and environmental concerns.
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Curriculum Vitae
Born 1975, Bath, England. Immigrated to Australia in 2005
Education
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- Bath Academy of Art, England, 1993-1994 Foundation Studies in Art & Design
- Falmouth College of Art, England, 1994-1996 HND Illustration
- Manchester School of Art, England 1997-2000 BA(Hons) Fine Art
- Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Nantes, France, 1998 (Erasmus Socrates Scholarship).
- UNSW Art & Design, Australia 2009-2011 BArt Education.
- National Art School, Australia 2022-2023 MFA (Ceramics)
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Employment
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Specialist teacher of Visual Art
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- Cranbrook School 2014 - Present
- National Art School 2014 - Present
- Dulwich Hill School of Arts and Design - 2018 - Present
- ZART Art - Content and Workshop Facilitator 2022 - Present
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Exhibitions
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- Northern Contemporaries – Selected Graduates, Manchester 2000
- Manna, London 2001
- A&H, London 2003
- Recent Works, Project 107 Redfern 2014
- GKJE Gallery, Sydney 2015
- Practice What You Teach, Sydney 2018
- Lennox Street Studios, Newtown Annual Show 2014 - Present
- M Contemporary, Sydney Group Show 2019, Solo Shows 2019, 2020
- Goodspace, ‘Frontiers’ group show, Chippendale 2022
- NAS Library Stairwell Gallery, Visions of Queer NAS Darlinghurst 2023
- NAS Library Stairwell Gallery, Artist’s Book Exhibition, Darlinghurst 2023
- National Art School MFA Postgraduate Show, Darlinghurst 2023
- Scratch Art Space – Decade Group Show, Marrickville 2023
- Articulate Project Space - AKTUELL, Selected Graduates, Leichhardt 2024
- Harvey Galleries, NAS selected Graduates Exhibition 2024
- Earth, Articulate Project Space, 2024
- Muswellbrook Art Prize, Muswellbrook Cultural Centre 2024
- Scratch Art Space – Solstice Group Show, Marrickville 2024
- Goodspace, ‘Chorus’ group show, Chippendale 2025
- Articulate Project Space, Books, Art and Text - 2025
- Gallery LNL, Sydney, Lines of Memory, Group Show, Newtown 2025
- Sydney Contemporary, NAS gallery 2025
​Prize Exhibitions:
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- We Get By - Cooks Hill Gallery 2015 - Finalist
(People's choice winner)
- Wynne Prize, AGNSW 2018 - Finalist
- Paddington Art Prize 2018 - Finalist
- Mosman Art Prize 2018, 2020 - Finalist
- KAAF Art Prize 2018 - Finalist
- Waverley Art Prize 2020 - Finalist
(People’s choice prize winner)
- Zart Teacher Art Prize 2021 - Finalist
- NAS Artist’s Book Acquisitive Prize 2023
(Winner)
- Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award 2024 - Finalist
- Fisher's Ghost Art Award 2024 - Finalist
- Muswellbrook Art Prize 2024, 2025 - Finalist
- Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize 2024, 2025 - Finalist
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Public Collections
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- National Art School Archive
- National Art School Library Artist’s Book Collection
- City of Sydney Contemporary Art Collection
- City of Bath Collection
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Awards
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Outstanding Professional Services Award - Visual Arts & Design Educators Association NSW 2022
N.E. Pethebridge Award for Ceramics MFA 2023
Harvey Galleries National Art School Exhibition Prize 2023
NAS Library Artists’ Book Annual Award MFA 2023
