BIO

Born in America, Sydney-based Kim Leutwyler migrated to Australia in 2012. She works in a variety of media including painting, installation, ceramics, printmedia and drawing. Leutwyler holds concurrent bachelor degrees in Studio and Art History from Arizona State University, and additionally graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Painting and Drawing degree.

Leutwyler's current body of work features paintings exploring notions of beauty, gender and queer identity. Her artwork has been exhibited in multiple galleries and museums throughout Australia and globally.

Some of Leutwyler's recent accolades include being selected as a finalist in the Archibald and Sulman Prizes as well as the Portia Geach Memorial Award. Several of her works are included in The Lunar Codex, a curated archive of contemporary art, writing, music, film, and more that were launched via NASA to The Moon in 2024.

curriculum vitae
KIM LEUTWYLER

Exhibitions
2025
PANEL, Nanda/Hobbs Gallery, Sydney, AU

2024
WOMAN, James Baird Gallery, Pouch Cove, Canada
STILLNESS, 33 Contemporary Gallery, Miami, USA
Arcus Pride Exhibition, Brookfield Place, Sydney, AU

2023
Re-figuring Ground, Grafton Regional Gallery, Grafton, AU
Man About the House, Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, Nowra, AU
Life in Colour, Sketch Co. Gallery, Sydney, AU
New World, Goodspace, Sydney, AU
Uranian Games, HAKE House of Art, Dee Why, AU
Archibald Prize Tour, Regional Art Museums and Galleries, AU

2022
Queer Corporeality, Nanda/Hobbs Gallery, Sydney, AU (solo)
Muse, Royal Over-Seas League, London, UK
Interconnected, New England Regional Art Museum [NERAM], AU
Mighty Real, .M Contemporary, Sydney, AU
Beyond the Rainbow: Pride in Portraits, Saatchi Art, Brooklyn, USA
Archibald Prize Tour, Regional Art Museums and Galleries, AU

2021
Queer Portraits, Nanda Hobbs Gallery, Sydney, AU (solo)
love e and mobi, 33 Contemporary, Chicago, USA (solo)
Painting the Figure Now, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, USA
Couples, 33 Contemporary Gallery, Chicago, USA
Place, Nanda Hobbs Gallery, Sydney, AU
Self, Cultivate, London, UK
NSFW, Spoke Art Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Towards Utopia, Saatchi Art, Brooklyn, NY, USA
THE ART OF ART, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Women Painting Women, Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey, AU
Group Show, Bluethumb Gallery, Adelaide, AU
Archibald Prize Tour, Regional Art Museums and Galleries, AU

2020
Pride Art, Martin Browne Contemporary Gallery, Sydney, AU
Queer Portraits, Nanda Hobbs Gallery, Sydney, AU (solo preview)
The Creator and the Muse, 33 Contemporary, Chicago, USA
Storytellers, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, AU
Looking Up, Looking Forward, 33 Contemporary, Chicago, USA
Archibald Prize Tour, Regional Art Museums and Galleries, AU

2019
Bridgette McNab x Kim Leutwyler, Bluethumb, Melbourne, AU
Painting the Figure Now, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, USA
Seeing Red, Thinkspace Projects, Los Angeles, USA
Art of the Nude, 33 Contemporary, Chicago, USA
The Figure in Art, 33 Contemporary, Chicago, USA
PINK BITS, Tacit Galleries, Melbourne, AU
World Pride: Arcus Pride Art Exhibition, Sydney, AU
Archibald Prize Tour, Regional Art Museums and Galleries, AU

2018
NSFW, BSIDE Gallery, Fitzroy, AU
We, the people who live for the Beautiful, Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Bondi, AU
Ephemeral, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, USA
40 Years of Queer Art: Rebellion and Subversion, Comber St Studios, AU
Archibald Prize Tour, Regional Art Museums and Galleries, AU

2017
No Woman is an Island, BLINDSIDE, Melbourne, AU
Virtual Connections, No.1 Martin Place Mezzanine, Sydney, AU
Queer Art Prize Judges Exhibit, Chapel Off Chapel, Melbourne, AU

2016
Trailblazing Women of Herstory, Neospace, Melbourne, AU
Meridian, fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne, AU (Feature Artist)
Archibald Prize Tour, Regional Art Museums and Galleries, AU

2015
The Other Art Fair, aMBUSH Project Space, Sydney, AU
Home Free: A Midsumma Exhibition, Gasworks Arts Park, Melbourne, AU

2014
Artfuly: A Digital Discovery, Zigi's Art Gallery, Sydney, AU
The Comfort Zone, Gasworks Arts Park, Melbourne, AU
Inquisitarium, Art @1 Spring Street, Melbourne, AU

Prizes
2024
Portia Geach Memorial Award finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, AU

2023
Archibald Prize finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AU
Portia Geach Memorial Award finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, AU
Bluethumb Art Prize Finalist, Bluethumb Art Gallery, Melbourne, AU

2022
Archibald Prize finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AU
Sulman Prize finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AU
Portia Geach Memorial Award finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, AU
Evelyn Chapman Award Finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, AU
Bluethumb Art Prize Finalist, Bluethumb Art Gallery, Melbourne, AU

2021
Archibald Prize finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AU
Portia Geach Memorial Award finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, AU
Paddington Art Prize finalist, Defiance Gallery, Sydney, AU
Lethbridge Art Award finalist, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane, AU
Doug Moran National Portrait Prize semi-finalist, Sydney, AU
Bluethumb Art Prize runner up portrait finalist, Melbourne, AU

2020
Archibald Prize finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AU
Portia Geach Memorial Award finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, AU

2019
Archibald Prize finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AU
Portia Geach Memorial Award finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, AU
Naked and Nude Art Prize finalist, Friends of Manning Regional Gallery, AU
The Lester Prize Salon des Refusés semi-finalist, Perth Cultural Centre, Perth, AU
Doug Moran National Portrait Prize semi-finalist, Juniper Hall, Sydney, AU

2018
Lester Prize finalist, Art Gallery of WA, Perth, AU
the churchie national emerging art prize finalist, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, AU
Portia Geach Memorial Award finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, AU
Stanthorpe Art Prize finalist, Stanthorpe Gallery, Stanthorpe, AU
Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award finalist, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, AU
Bluethumb Art Prize finalist, Bluethumb HQ Gallery, Melbourne, AU
Winner - Cayte Latta Memorial Award for Visual Art, AU

2017
Archibald Prize finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AU
Portia Geach Memorial Award finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, AU
Sulman Prize finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AU
Bluethumb Art Prize finalist, No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne, AU
Cliftons Art Prize, winner of People’s Choice Award, Sydney, AU

2016
Portia Geach Memorial Award finalist, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, AU
Winner - Midsumma Visual Arts Cover, Melbourne, AU
John Copes Portrait Prize finalist, Bowral Art Gallery, Bowral, AU

2015
Archibald Prize finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, AU
Jerry’s Artarama Self Portrait Finalist, USA

Collections
The Lunar Codex, a curated archive of contemporary art in time capsules launched via NASA to The Moon.
Alex Mackay, Brisbane, Australia
Brooklyn Art Library, Brooklyn, New York
Printmaking Student Association Collection, Arizona State University

Education
School of the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL 2008-2009 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting and Drawing
Arizona State University (with study abroad at University of Auckland, New Zealand) Bachelor of Arts, Art
Katherine K. Herberger, College of Fine Arts, Tempe
Double Major: Art History and Studio with emphasis in printmaking
Graduated May. 2007 magna cum laude * Concurrent Degrees

Selected Recent Press

Seven-time Archibald Prize finalist Kim Leutwyler explains how to paint a portrait ABC News, 2024
How to Paint a Portrait with Kim Leutwyler ABC News video, 2024
Cover and feature, Stand Proud, Anne O'Hehir chats with Kim Leutwyler about courage, community and the ethics of looking, Portrait: Magazine of the National Portrait Gallery, 2023
The Art Show ABC Radio National, 2023
Episode 114: Kim Leutwyler, Talking with Painters Podcast, 2021
Art & Voices Matter: Kim Leutwyler on the articulation of gender and sexual identity Stir Magazine, USA, 2021
Art After Hours: Trixie Mattel and Kim Leutwyler in conversation with Benjamin Law, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2020
100 Voices, 100 Artists: Saatchi Art’s list of top 100 women artists from around the world, 2020
Celebrity Talks: Zan Rowe in Conversation with Kim Leutwyler, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2019
Art of the Nude, American Art Collector, 2019
Levi's® Pride: A Conversation with Kim Leutwyler, Levi’s Global Pride Campaign, 2018
The Top 100 Figurative Painters Working Right Now, Buzzfeed, 2018
‘Ones to Watch: An Interview with Kim Leutwyler’, BOOOOOOOM! 2018
Rainbow List: 50 of the most influental LGBTIQ+ allied Ausralians, Cosmopolitan, 2017
Kim Leutwyler: Tits Out for the Girls, beautiful.bizarre, 2017
LOTL Powerlist, LOTL Magazine, 2017
Good Stuff Awards Finalist, Frankie Magazine, 2017
'New Feminists' issue of PoetsArtists, 2017
On the Rise Artist, beautiful.bizarre, 2016
Artist Kim Leutwyler reflects on what makes The Greats truly great at the Art Gallery of NSW - Daily Telegraph, Sydney 2016
23 LGBT Australians to Watch in 2016, GNN, 2016
Emerging artists rule the roost at The Other Art Fair, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2015
Eyes on the Prize: Introducing Archibald Prize Finalist, Queer Artist Kim Leutwyler, Gay News Network, 2015
Kim Leutwyler on her bold and powerful portraits of women, Mamamia, 2015
On the Couch with Kim Leutwyler, Australian Arts Review, 2015
Myf Warhurst with Kim Leutwyler and Ollie Henderson, Archibald Prize Q&A, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2015

Art World Heroes and Influences:
Robert Rauschenberg
Romaine Brooks
Cecily Brown
Jenny Saville
Joan Mitchell