Australian art Inge King
Abstract steel sculptor Inge King was born in Berlin and trained at the Berlin Academy from 1937 to 1938 and later at the Royal Academy School (on a scholarship) in London in 1940 and the Glasgow School of Art (on bursary) from 1941 to 1943. King taught art in Glasgow and London from 1944 to 1949, during which time she married painter Grahame King. Since moving to Australia in 1950, King has been at the forefront of developing and diversifying non-figurative sculpture in Australia. King was part of the Centre 5 group whose mission it was to help foster greater public awareness in contemporary sculpture. King taught sculpture at RMIT University from 1976 to 1987. She has held solo exhibitions since 1940 in London, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Geelong. Retrospective exhibitions of Kings’ works were held at the Bendigo Regional Gallery in 1995 and the National Gallery of Victoria in 1992. Major commissions include monumental works at McClelland Gallery, VIC; the Arts Centre, Melbourne; the University of Melbourne; Heide Museum of Modern Art, VIC and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Touring exhibitions of Inge and Grahame King’s works were exhibited through McClelland Sculpture Park in 2004. King was awarded the Eltham Prize in 1965 and 1967, a British Council Travel Grant in 1969, the RAAF memorial prize in 1971 and the Mildura Sculpture Triennial Prize 1975. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 1984 and in 2008 was awarded the Visual Arts Emeritus Award by the Australian Arts Council, recognizing her pivotal role in raising the profile of modern sculpture in this country. King received a Doctorate in Literature from Deakin University in 1990 and an Honorary Doctorate in Arts from RMIT in 1997. King’s work is held by numerous collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Artbank, Sydney; Parliament House, Canberra and several regional and university galleries
