Daniel Mudie Cunningham

Background

About Daniel Mudie Cunningham

Dr Daniel Mudie Cunningham is an independent curator and critic renowned for his work with contemporary Australian artists and collections. He has also worked as an artist since 1993. Current activities include teaching MFA printmaking students at the National Art School, and developing Cementa's 2024 festival as guest curator. Recently he was Guest Co-Artistic Director of Performance Space with Rosie Dennis. Previously, he was the Director of Programs and Senior Curator at Carriageworks from 2017-22. He has held leadership and curatorial roles at Artbank and Hazelhurst Arts Centre, and teaching and research positions at Western Sydney University, where he completed a BA Honours (First Class) in Art History and Criticism in 1997 and a PhD in Cultural Studies in 2004. Notable recent work at Carriageworks includes projects with Reko Rennie, Mel O'Callaghan, Karla Dickens, Dean Cross, Cherine Fahd, and Tina Havelock Stevens among others; curating The National 2019: New Australian Art; and initiating Suspended Moment: The Katthy Cavaliere Fellowship which partnered Carriageworks with ACCA and Mona by commissioning major new works by Frances Barrett, Sally Rees and Giselle Stanborough. In 2022, Suspended Moment was adapted as an exhibition that will tour to 8 venues over 2 years through Museums and Galleries of NSW. A major achievement at Carriageworks was off-site by partnering with Mirvac to lead the curatorial delivery of a public art strategy tied to the redevelopment of Sydney's South Eveleigh with the commissioning of major new permanent public works by artists Chris Fox, Nell, and Jonathan Jones. Since the mid 1990s, his prolific writing has taken the form of artist monographs, catalogue essays, academic papers, articles, and reviews. His editing work includes the publications Artlink (2021), Sturgeon (2013-16), and Runway (2009). He is also an artist whose work over three decades is the subject of a recent survey exhibition at Wollongong Art Gallery (2023). His video performance works have been widely exhibited and acquired by various public collections including the National Film & Sound Archive, Artbank, City of Sydney, Macquarie University, Murray Art Museum Albury, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Wollongong Art Gallery, Australian Queer Archives, and private collections such as Museum of Old and New Art.