Del Kathryn Barton
Director | Writer
Del Kathryn Barton is one of Australia’s most highly regarded fine artists. She has been exhibiting since 1995. In 2013, Barton was awarded the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Archibald Prize for the second time with a portrait of actor Hugo Weaving, having first won in 2008.
In 2012, a solo exhibition of Barton’s work was presented at the Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne. She has also been included in notable groups exhibitions, such as Dark Heart, 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (2014), Express Yourself, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2014), Australia: Contemporary Voices, The Fine Art Society, London. (2013), Louise Bourgeois and Australian Artists, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne (2012), Theatre of the World, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart (2012), Lightness and Gravity, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2012), Wilderness, Balnaves Contemporary Painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2010), Feminism Never Happened, Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane (2010) and Contemporary Australia: Optimism, Queensland Art Gallery Triennale, Queensland (2009).
Barton’s work is represented in major museum collections in Australia, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide and the Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart.
In 2015, Barton was awarded an AFTRS Creative Fellowship following her directorial debut with Brendan Fletcher, The Nightingale and the Rose (2015), which won an ADG Award in 2016 and an AACTA for best short film in 2017. Her second short film with Aquarius Films Red was launched at the 2017 Adelaide Festival and screened at SFF in 2017.
Del’s debut feature film, Blaze, for Causeway Films recently had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival (2022) and its Australian Premiere at the Sydney Film Festival (2022) to rapturous acclaim. It has earned her a 2022 AWGIE win for Best Feature Film – Original, the 2023 NSW Premier Literary Awards Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting, and a 2022 ADG nomination for Best Direction in a Debut Feature Film. The film follows a young girl who, after witnessing a violent sexual assault, retreats into her imagination where a shimmering magic dragon who has been her childhood companion, allows her to express her rage and ultimately find renewal.
She is also developing a narrative feature film with Aquarius Films and co-writer Huna Amweero.
For enquiries regarding Del Kathryn Barton's Film & Television work please contact us via email or on (02) 9319 7199.