In the art of taxidermy gesture is paramount, hence for sculptor Julia deVille the most considered aspect of creation is composing her subjects to find a balance between pathos, humour and dignified realism.

Arriving in Australia from New Zealand on the cusp of adulthood, deVille trained as a jeweller and learned further crafting skills studying shoe design before her long hunt for a taxidermy mentorship was successful. Driven by a strong commitment to animal rights, deVille’s sculptural assemblages belie the heroic, trophy-hunting culture associated with mounting dead animals. In a form of gentle protest she combines precious gems and metals with antique ‘ready-mades’ to challenge our disregard for and consumption of both wild and domesticated fauna.

Drawing on Renaissance, Baroque and Victorian art and ideas, deVille creates contemporary ‘memento mori’ that raise our curiosity through the use of paradoxical processes and materials. While all deVille’s creatures have died a natural death, they live on as beautiful and compelling allegories, begging a reflection on our symbiotic but decidedly unequal relationship with the animal world and our cavalier disregard for mortality in general.

Commissioned by Hobart’s MONA to create a permanent installation in 2011, deVille also won the City of Hobart Art Prize in 2012. She has taken out the People’s Choice Award in the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize twice, and in 2006 her work was included in the MCA’s important Primavera survey exhibition. deVille’s work was acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria in 2012. She exhibits regularly in Australia and overseas.

$30 standard shipping charge with Australia Post (TBC) for all orders.

All precious rings must be made to order.
For all rings made to order, there are no returns/exchanges.
For all other purchases, there is an exchange option. This must be done within 14 days and the customer must pay for return shipping costs.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2012
Sarcophagus, Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne

2010
Night's Plutonian Shore, Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne
Julia deVille, Aesop stores London & Paris 

2009
Cineraria, Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne

2007
Ossuarium, Craft Victoria, Melbourne
Prey, Eastern Market, Melbourne
Memento Mori, The Dowse Art Gallery, New Zealand
Elan Vital, e.g.etal galleries, Melbourne

2006
Vivere Disce, Cogita Mori, Fat 3000, GPO, Melbourne
Here I Lie And Wait For Thee, e.g.etal galleries, Melbourne

2005
DISCE MORI, tsubi flagship store, New York
PULUIS ET UMBRA SUMUS, e.g.etal galleries, Melbourne & Workshop 3000 window, Melbourne

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2014
Dark Heart, Adelaide Biennial, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Domestic Bliss, Deakin University Art Gallery, Melbourne

2013
Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

For Days Unnumbered: Julia deVille and Leslie Rice, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane

2012

Theatre of the World, MONA, Hobart
Unexpected Pleasures, A Design Museum, London touring exhibition, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Small Works 2012, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane

2011
Monanism, Opening exhibition at Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Hobart
Wattle – Contemporary Australian Art, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong
Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor, Gallery Artisan, QLD
Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Finalist & winner of the viewer's choice award, Sydney
Lugosi's Children, Objectspace, Auckland, NZ
Wattle, Australian Contemporary Art, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

2010
Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Finalist & winner of the viewer's choice award, Sydney
Still, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Hawkesbury
RBS Emerging Artist Award (finalist), Sydney 

2009
Schmuck 2009, Munich and Melbourne 

2008
Just Must, Estonian History Museum, Tallinn, Estonia
Gothic Fashion, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, USA
The New Victorians, Sydney University Art Gallery
Neo Goth, Brisbane University Art Gallery
Art Multiple, Ke Centre for the Contemporary Arts, Shanghai
 
2007
Jewellery Out of Context, CODA Museum, Netherlands
Romancing The Stone, Manchester
Town Hall, Manchester, UK
Infinite Empire, Contemporary Art Services Tasmania (CAST)

2006

PRIMAVERA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

2005
City of Hobart City of Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
CICELY & COLIN RIGG CONTEMPORARY DESIGN AWARD, National Gallery of Victoria
Uncanny (the unnaturally strange), Artspace, Auckland, NZ
Filippo Raphael Fresh Awards, Craft Victoria, Melbourne 

2004
Amalgamation, RMIT Graduate Exhibition, Melbourne
Continum Sombrous, Gertrude Contemporary Art Space  

AWARDS
2013
Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize winner
 
2010
Creation Grant, Arts Victoria
 
2008
Creation Grant, Arts Victoria
New Work Grant, Australia Council 

PUBLICATIONS

Just Must, Arnoldsche Art Publications, 2008
Bijoux. Illustration et Design, Maomao Publications, 2008
New Directions In Jewellery 2, Black Dog Publishing, 2006
Handmade in Melbourne, Geoff Slattery Publishing, 2006
The Melbourne Design Guide, Lab 3000, 2006

PRESS

The One and Only, The Age, Life & Style, 28 April 2012
Black Swan, Vogue Australia, Aug 2011
Deer Life, Vogue Living, May/June 2011
Museum of Mortality, Habitus, Issue 7, 2010 
The Age (Melbourne) Magazine, No. 70, August 2010
Putting the cat before the hears, The Age, 28 July 2010
Debutantes, Australian Art Collector, Jan - Mar issue, 2010
Coupe deVille, Australian Financial Review (Magazine), Nov 2009
Death becomes her, The Melbourne Times, 14 Oct 2009
Moulding with the imagination, The Age, 19 August 2009
Stuff it, it's Art, Art World, Issue 9, June - July 2009
Julia deVille, Artist Profile, Issue 7, July 2009
Julia deVille, Dumbo Feather, pass it on, Issue 12, 2007
Primavera, ABC Sunday Arts, 29th October 2006
The Abattoir, Black Magazine, Autumn 2006, Page 36
Design Stars On The Rise, W Jewelry, Summer 2006, Page 52
The Players - Class of 2006, Harpers Bazaar, June/July 2006, Page 44
Death Becomes Her, Lifelounge, Vol 1, Issue 2, Page 12
To Die For, Oyster Magazine, Issue 61, December 2005, Page 22
Death Becomes Her Art Specialty, The Melbourne Leader, 7 Dec 2005, Page 3
Julia deVille, Object Magazine, Issue 48, Page 15
Live interview, ABC Radio, The Arts Show, 11 December 2005
Headlines - New Zealand, TV One National News, Wed 20 July, 2005
Dead Gorgeous Jewellery, The Age - Metro, Tues 10 May, 2005, Page 4
Memento Mori, Pulp Magazine, Issue 44, April/May 2005, Page 36
Immaculate Collections, Herald-Sun, Sunday 13 March, 2005, Page 25
Stuff The Mice, Vice Magazine, Vol. 1, Number 7, 2003, Page 40

COLLECTIONS

Beason Collection
Hobart City Council, Hobart 
The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Tasmania
National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne
Private collections Australia, New Zealand, Paris and China