Solomon Kammer (she/they) (b. 1991, Australia) is an Adelaide-based artist who works predominantly in painting and drawing. Grounded in lived experience and critical inquiry, Kammer's practice addresses the complex entanglements between embodiment, authority, and systemic control. Drawing from a personal history of medical intervention and social othering, their work engages the aesthetic strategies of figuration to interrogate the sociopolitical conditions that shape and constrain the body. While often grounded in autobiographical reference, Kammer's paintings extend beyond individual narrative, speaking to broader structures of institutional power and the collective impact of exclusion, neglect, and structural violence marginalised communities
Kammer is a self-taught artist with no formal training, tertiary education, or mentorship. They have presented solo exhibitions in Australia and internationally, including Nescience at Light Square Gallery, Adelaide (2017); Cause and Effect at Ames Yavuz, Sydney (2021); and Give it Up at Ames Yavuz, Singapore (2022). Their work has been included in group exhibitions such as Drawing Now at MARS Gallery, Melbourne (2024) and The Devoted Eye at Ames Yavuz, Sydney (2024). Kammer's works have also been presented at Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Sydney (2021 and 2024); Asia Now Art Fair, Paris (2021); and Art Basel Hong Kong OVR (2021). Kammer has been a finalist in numerous awards including the Archibald Prize, Ramsay Art Prize, Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, Mosman Art Prize, and Wyndham Art Prize, and have won the People's Choice category in multiple prizes. Kammer won the Myself Prize for their self-portrait Acquiesce in 2017, and in 2023 they were awarded the prestigious Creative Australia National Arts and Disability Award for Early Career Artists.
B. 1991
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 She’ll Be Right, Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney, New South Wales
2022 Give it Up, Ames Yavuz Gallery, Singapore, Singapore
2021 Cause and Effect, Ames Yavuz Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales
2018 The Host, Studio Bowden, Bowden, South Australia
2017 Nescience, Light Square Gallery/Adelaide College of the Arts, Adelaide, South Australia
2012 Poor Unfortunate Souls, Espionage Gallery, Adelaide, South Australia
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 The Devoted Eye, Ames Yavuz, Sydney, New South Wales
2024 If They are Going to Ban Me, Oigall Projects, Fitzroy, Victoria
2024 Drawing Now, Mars Gallery, Windsor, Victoria
2024 Kaloskagathos, Post Space, Exeter, New South Wales
2024 The Belly and the Members, Ames Yavuz Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales
2022 Hold, Harts Mill, Port Adelaide, South Australia
2018 Works on Paper, Scott Livesey Galleries, Armadale, Victoria
2018 Made to Inspire, Raj house, Adelaide, South Australia
2016 Six Contemporary Painters, Floating Goose Studios, Adelaide, South Australia
ART FAIRS
2025 Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia
2024 Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia
2022 Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia
2021 Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Online Viewing Room, Australia
2021 Asia Now Art Fair, Paris, France
2021 Art Basel Hong Kong, OVR, Hong Kong
AWARDS/GRANTS
2023 National Arts and Disability Early Career Award, Creative Australia
2022 Independent Projects Grant, Arts SA
2020 Covid-19 Quick Response - Creative Endeavour Grant, Arts SA
2019 Kennedy Art Prize, People’s Choice Award
2018 Richard Llewellyn Deaf and Disability Arts Grant, Arts SA
2018 SALA Awards, People’s Choice Award
2017 Myself Prize, Winner
ART PRIZES
2025 Archibald Prize, shortlisted
2023 Mosman Art Prize, shortlisted
2023 Kennedy Prize, shortlisted
2023 Centre for Creative Health Art Prize, shortlisted
2023 Contemporary Paintings International Contemporary Art Award, shortlisted
2022 Kennedy Art Prize, Shortlisted
2022 Mosman Art Prize, Shortlisted
2022 Archibald Prize, Shortlisted
2021 Centre for Creative Health Art Prize, Shortlisted
2021 Ramsay Art Prize, Shortlisted
2020 Bluethumb Art Prize, Shortlisted
2020 Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, Shortlisted
2019 Kennedy Art Prize, Shortlisted
2018 Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, Shortlisted
2018 Redland Art Awards, Shortlisted
2018 Wyndham Art Prize, Shortlisted
2018 Emma Hack Art Prize, Shortlisted
2017 Myself Prize, Winner
2017 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, Longlisted
2017 Emma Hack Art Prize, Shortlisted
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2024 Industry Advisor, Assessment panel, Creative Australia
2021-2024 Peer reviewer of research manuscripts relating to Endometriosis, Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing
2016 - 2020 Endo Champion/Ambassador, Endometriosis Australia, Australia
2019 Keynote Speaker, Worldwide Endometriosis High Tea, Adelaide, Australia
2018 Guest Lecturer, Adelaide College of the Arts, Adelaide
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jasmine Perovic, Solomon Kammer on Bodily Autonomy, Burn Out and Painting as a Form of Protest, RUSSH Magazine, October 28, 2022
John McDonald, Nyapanyapa Yunupingu, Michael Bell, Solomon Kammer, Sydney Morning Herald, February 23, 2021
Harrison Kronfeld, Painter Solomon Kammer Channels her Endometriosis Pain into Paintings, The Endometriosis Foundation of America, 2018
Sara Radin, Depicting the Hidden Agony of Endometriosis in Paintings, Broadly, March 16, 2018
Lauren Williamson, This Aussie Woman is Turning her Struggle with Endometriosis into Breathtaking Artwork, Women’s Health, September 27, 2017
Aimee Knight, How Adelaide’s Solomon Kammer is Channelling her Battle with Endometriosis into Art, Sydney Morning Herald, March 24 2017
Brett Williamson, Endometriosis: Solomon Kammer’s Confronting Art Provokes a Much-Needed Conversation, ABC, 13 February 2017
Nina Karadzic, Solomon Kammer Conquers Pain with Art, The Adelaide Review, 2016