Deej Fabyc

Deej Fabyc
Born1961 (1961)
London, England
EducationSouthern Cross University University of New South Wales
Known forperformance art, installation art, video
Websitefabyc.co.uk

Deej Fabyc (born 1961) is a British-born, Australian[1] performance video and installation artist.[2][3] Fabyc is a former member of art collectives including Jillposters in Melbourne,[4] FBI+ in London,[5] and Elastic Residence in London.[6] They were a member of the Bitumen River Gallery in Canberra, Australia.[7]

Their work has been shown at Artspace, Sydney,[8] the El Museo del Barrio, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Reina Sofia Museum, and the Whitechapel Gallery.Their work deals with three primary themes: gender, space and "forensic biography." It has been described, by the art writer Robert Preece, as being "demanding, aggressively thought-provoking, and sometimes shocking in its raw content."[1][9]

During the past 30 years, they have held roles in education, curating, and project management, and are currently the CEO of Live Art Ireland.[10]

Early life and education

Fabyc was born in London and raised as a young child in England and Ireland. They attended secondary school in Australia. Fabyc went on to receive a BFA from Southern Cross University, and then earned an MFA degree at the University of New South Wales in the art and design program.[11][12]

Fabyc lived in Ljubjana for a few months as a child in 1970 with their family, while their father worked as a consultant statistician under the Tito administration. Fabyc used their childhood memories of this period in their work as artist in residence at KUD Mreža in Ljubjana.[13]

Career

Fabyc has worked in education, teaching performance and fine art, for over 20 years, including in higher education, the community sector and prison system.[14] Fabyc is currently a faculty member and lecturer at the School of Art, Media and Design at London Metropolitan University, London.[14]

Fabyc is the founding director of Elastic Residence in London, a production house and gallery space for performance and projects established in 2004.[14][15]

Fabyc is the Executive Director of Live Art Ireland - Elain Bheo Centre for Art Research and Development, located at Milford House in North Tipperary, Ireland.[16]

Fabyc has held residencies at Artsadmin, London, the Dartington School of Art in Devon, the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, and A Space Gallery in Southhampton.[16]

Collections and public art

Their public art work Gateway to Mag Mell, is in the Home of the Arts (HOTA) Sculpture Park in Queensland, Australia.[17][1]

Their work is held in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra.[3]

More recently, Fabyc's performance art includes the 2022 group performance One-Body at the Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda as part of artist group Bbeyond[18], and Rerooting Tallaght at the Rua Red Gallery in Dublin in 2024.[16]

Key Works

Sucking at the Sublime (1994), a 3-day performance installation created in a domestic space, commissioned by Nick Waterlow.[19]

The White Room (1995–1998) a performance installation first shown in Sydney, then presented at the Experimental Art Foundation in Adelaide in 1997.[20]

Fabyc's work was featured in the 1996 book Lesbian Art: An Encounter with Power by Elizabeth Ashburn, which documented the works of several lesbian artists in Australia.[21][22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Preece, Robert (1 January 2007). "Gender, Space, and Forensic Biography: A Conversation with Deej Fabyc". Sculpture. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  2. ↑ "Fabyc, Deej (1961-)". Trove. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Deej Fabyc". Design and Art Australia Online. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "JILL POSTERS 1". Prints and Printmaking. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  5. ↑ "Fabyc Best Imara – Interrogating Constructed Reality". FBI. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  6. ↑ "Home". Elastic Residence. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  7. ↑ Wawrzyńczak, Anni Doyle (2020). How Local Art Made Australia's National Capital. Australian National University Press. pp. 157, 182. ISBN 9781760463410. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  8. ↑ Gibson, Jeff (January 1996). "Deej Fabyc". Art & Text (53): 69–70. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  9. ↑ Dickenson, Bob (November 2008). "KISSS: Kinship International Strategy on Surveillance and Suppression Castlefield, Manchester". Art Monthly (321). Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  10. ↑ "Governance". Live Art Ireland. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  11. ↑ "Deej Fabyc". London Metropolitan University. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  12. ↑ "Deej Fabyc Info". Deej Fabyc. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  13. ↑ "Resident: Deej Fabyc". KUD Mreža. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 fabyc, deej. "Deej Fabyc - London Metropolitan University". londonmet.academia.edu. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "Elastic Residence - London". ArtRabbit. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  16. 1 2 3 "Deej Fabyc – live art Ireland". Live Art Ireland. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "Outdoor Art". HOTA. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  18. ↑ "One-Body, 2022". Emma Brennan Artist. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  19. ↑ Geczy, Adam; Kelly, Mimi, eds. (2018). What is performance art? Australian perspectives. Sydney: Power Publications. ISBN 978-0-909952-93-8.
  20. ↑ Gawronski, Alex (2001). Strawberry Girl: Deej Fabyc Some Projects 1995-2001. evolove. pp. np. ISBN 064641657X.
  21. ↑ Art, Queer Australian. "Lesbian Art: An Encounter with Power". Queer Australian Art. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  22. ↑ "State Library Victoria – The love that dare not speak its name….but was always happy to paint it!". State Library of Victoria. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2026.