Michael Lindeman

Hi, my name’s Michael and I hang around Sydney, Australia. My work confronts my position as an artist, amusing myself when loitering in the realm of institutional critique.

While drifting (in a Roland Barthes kind of way), I shine a light on the mechanics of the contemporary art world. I have a habit of making large-scale text paintings, drawings, sculptures and site-specific installations. The work activates repressed impulses, embodies alienation, and embraces failure.

Early on I founded Michael & Michael Visual Art Project Management with fellow artist Michael Dagostino. Without a fixed location the organisation was a meandering parody of institutionalised curatorial models. Including a loose group of other participants, Michael & Michael… activated exhibition spaces around Australia with a tendency for abjection as a mode of practice—thrift store aesthetics and a sardonic attitude.

I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Honours (First Class) in 1998 and a Master of Fine Arts in 2004, both from the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales. I was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sydney, Sydney College of the Arts in 2025. I’ve exhibited in group and solo shows nationally and internationally, and without having friends on selection panels I sometimes snare a residency, prize or award.