B. 1969, Sydney, Australia. Lives and works in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

John Vella brings intimacy to authority. Intimacy emerges from knowing-relations with family members and artefacts. Authority manifests as controlling behaviour, structure and activity as found in bureaucracy, and the non-negotiable power of illness. Vella’s artworks introduce fictions to facts that build platforms for an intervening imagination. Aesthetic conditions are performed as a pretext for mysterious sensation, agency and politics.

John Vella has exhibited across diverse international and Australian contexts including: the Stockholm Independent Art Fair, Sweden; Glasgow International Arts Festival, UK; Mdina Biennale, Malta; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; The Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award, Melbourne; the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA); Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and Contemporary Art Tasmania. John has delivered five major public art commissions and received grants from Arts Tasmania, the Australia Council and the Ian Potter Foundation. Vella’s artworks are represented in private and public collections.

John Vella holds a PhD from the University of Tasmania, and lectures at the School of Creative Arts and Media.