B. 1956

Jon Cattapan is a leading Australian visual artist whose practice spans painting, drawing and digital media. After initially commencing a computer science degree, he transferred to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 1975 to pursue formal art training.

Cattapan’s work is grounded in an ongoing investigation of contemporary urban life and the political and social forces that shape it. His layered cityscapes and figurative compositions chart networks of connection and tension, often rendered through saturated colour, intricate linear structures and speckled constellations of light. Working at the intersection of documentation and imagination, his practice examines modernity, conflict, and the human condition through a distinctive visual language of mapping and data-like mark-making.

Across more than four decades, Cattapan has developed a significant career within Australian and international art contexts. Since 1979, Cattapan’s work has been exhibited extensively across Australia, Europe and Asia. His paintings and works on paper are represented in all major public institutions in Australia including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In 2006 he was the subject of a major retrospective at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, affirming his influence on contemporary visual culture.

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