Born in Bordeaux in 1963, Christophe Stibio is a Melbourne-based painter whose signature medium is shredded strips of recycled documents.
After a Master’s in Visual Art from the Bordeaux School of Fine Art and a subsequent tertiary diploma from the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou, he brought together Western and Eastern art principles in a distinctive practice, informed by a cross-cultural, global perspective on landscape.
When he moved to Australia in 1993 and encountered the vastness and extreme contrasts, his integrated contemporary practice flourished. He established the concept of a landscape as he describes “an act of commemoration” through the introduction of colours, applied in multiple thin layers, with the rigour of the ink wash traditional technique (or guo hua).
Achieving the truest paradox, his meticulously structured paintings reveal the fleeting nuances and transformations of natural elements, hence achieving both technical and emotional depth.
Stibio has exhibited widely in Australia, China, and Europe, and his works are held in major public and private collections including Artbank, Deakin University, Macquarie Bank, and significant Australian and international collections.
1988-1989 - MVA. Bordeaux III. Faculty of Arts.
Bachelors Chinese Arts and Civilisation. Bordeaux lll. Faculty of Arts.
1989-1993 - Graduates from the Traditional Landscape Painting Department, Chinese Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, PRC, where he also studies human figure, birds and flowers painting, seal engraving, the five styles of calligraphy and paper and silk conservation/restoration.
1993-1996 - Lives in Melbourne and travels regularly to the Flinders Ranges and Gammon Ranges. Teaches Chinese calligraphy in Melbourne and Sydney. Works as a consultant/translator in Chinese contemporary Art for the First Asia-Pacific Triennial with ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art) and the Shanghai Contemporary Art Museum.
1997-1999 - Goes back to France and stays three years in the South West of the country, his region of origin where he keeps painting and exhibits his work.
Travels again to China.
1999-now - Lives in Melbourne. Develops further the exploration of the landscape, travels extensively in the Flinders Ranges, Central Western Desert, Western Australia, Lake Mungo National Park and Royal National Park in New South Wales.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1994 - Moore Gallery. Melbourne.
1996 - Moore Gallery. Melbourne.
1998 - URISA. Artists Foundation. Bordeaux. FR.
2001 - Landau Gallery. Melbourne.
2002 - Footscray Community Arts Centre. Melbourne.
2003 - Lost not Lost. Port Jackson Press Gallery. Melbourne.
2007 - Lakes Mungo-Arumpo. Series 1. SPAN galleries. Melbourne.
2008 - Lakes Mungo-Arumpo. Series 2. Artist studio solo show. Melbourne.
2009 - Lakes Mungo-Arumpo. Series 3. Artist studio solo show. Melbourne.
2010 - Lakes Mungo-Arumpo. Series 4. Flinders Lane Gallery. Melbourne.
2012 - Mapping the Landscape. Flinders Lane Gallery. Melbourne.
2013 - Survey show. Latrobe Regional Art Gallery. Morwell.
2014 - Never Real, Always True. Flinders Lane Gallery. Melbourne.
2015 - Le Paysage Rêve. Galerie Luc Berthier. Paris. FR.
2016 - Never Real, Always True 2. William Mora Galleries. Melbourne.
2017 - An Angel in The Swamp. William Mora Galleries. Melbourne.
2020 - Fragile and Dangerous. Nura Gallery. Sorrento.
2021 - Adieu à Mary Street. Magma Art Projects. Melbourne.
2022 - Warning: Severe Weather. Magma Art Projects. Melbourne.
2024 - Days Will Be Days, Nights Will Be Nights Until… MAGMA Galleries. Melbourne.
2025 – True Mornings, Never Real. MAGMA Galleries. Melbourne.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1992 - International Group Exhibition - Ink and Contemporary Art. Museum of Fine Art. Haikou. PRC.
- Annual Forum. Exhibition Hall of the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts. Hangzhou. PRC.
1993 - Duet Exhibition. Museum of Contemporary Art. Shanghai. PRC.
- Young Shanghainese Artists. Museum of Contemporary Art. Shanghai. PRC.
1994 - Australian Chinese Painting Society. Sydney.
1995 - International Exhibition. Taipei Xin Culture Foundation. City of Taibei. TWN.
2000 - Metropolis Gallery. St Kilda. Melbourne.
2001 - Finalist Outback Acquisitive Art Prize. Broken Hill City Art Gallery.
- LANDAU Gallery. St Kilda. Melbourne.
2002 - Finalist 32nd Alice Springs Foundation Acquisitive Art Prize. Alice Spring
- Southside Arts project. Artefact show. Treasury Place. Melbourne.
2004 - 120° of Separation. Linden Gallery. Melbourne.
- The World We Live In. WORLD AIDS DAY. Melbourne Museum.
2005 - Y.E.A.H (Youth Empowerment Against Aids) The World We Live In. Melbourne Museum.
2006 - Y.E.A.H. The World We Live In. World Aids Day 01/12/2006. Melbourne Museum.
2007 - Y.E.A.H. The World We Live In. World Aids Day Charity show and Auction. Melbourne.
2009 - TREASURES. Flinders Lane Gallery. Melbourne.
2010 - VIEW FROM HERE. Flinders Lane Gallery. Melbourne.
- FRESH. New artists. Flinders Lane Gallery. Melbourne.
- Finalist Stanthorpe Acquisitive Art Prize. Stanthorpe Regional Gallery.
- Finalist Paddington Art Prize. Sydney.
- Finalist Gold Coast Art Prize. Gold Coast City Gallery.
2011 - Finalist Lethbridge Art Prize. Lethbridge Gallery. Sydney.
- Finalist Prometheus Art Prize. Anthea Polson Gallery. Qld.
- Finalist Fleurieu Landscape Art Prize and Fleurieu Water Prize. MacLaren Vale.
Jury high commendation for SCARCITY (triptych).
- Finalist Gold Coast Art Prize. Gold Coast City Gallery.
2012 - Finalist SCOPE Galleries Art Award – Art Concerning Environment. Warrnambool.
- Finalist John Leslie Art Prize. Gippsland Art Gallery.
2013 - Finalist Gold Coast Art Prize. Gold Coast City Art Gallery.
- Finalist Hazelhurst Art Prize. Hazelhurst Gallery and Arts Centre.
2014 - The Melbourne Collective. Cooks Hill Galleries. Newcastle.
2015 - Finalist Sunshine Coast Art Prize.
2021 - Finalist Southern Buoy Studios Landscape Art Prize. Mornington Peninsula.
2022 - ALPHA. MAGMA Galleries. Melbourne.
- Finalist WYNNE Art Prize. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Sydney.
2023 - Summer Group. MAGMA Galleries. Melbourne.
2024 - MAGMAVERSE 24. MAGMA Galleries. Melbourne.
- Finalist National Contemporary Art Prize. Canberra.
2025 - MAGMAVERSE 25. MAGMA Galleries. Melbourne.
- MELBOURNE DESIGN WEEK. Magma Galleries. Melbourne
- Finalist Pro Hart Outback Art Prize - PHOAP 2025. Broken Hill
- Spring 1883 Art Fair. Melbourne
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Artbank. Melbourne.
Deakin University. Sydney.
Macquarie Bank. Australia.
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Loti & Victor SMORGON collection. Melbourne.
Sandra & David BARDAS collection. Melbourne.
Sandra & Barry SMORGON collection. Sydney.
Ian ROGERS collection. Melbourne.
Anita CASTAN Contemporary Art collection. Melbourne/Sydney.
Fiona BROCKHOFF Australian Contemporary Art collection. Melbourne.
MURDOCH Collection. Melbourne.
BENETTON Collection. Milan
Private collections in France, Belgium, England, Spain, and Switzerland