Design and Art Australia Online

Biography

Enright, Malcolm, Australian graphic designer, collagist and artist book producer, art collector.*Brisbane 1949.
Enright’s initial foray into advertising was in 1968 when he worked for the Myer department stores after study at the Central Technical College in 1966–67, he found full time employment with the firm. Subsequently he worked for Barry Dean’s Press Etching studio 1970–71, LeGrand Advertising 1971, Jones Knowles 1972, Darcy McManus and Masius 1973–1979 and finalising this aspect of his career as creative director with Schofield Sherbon and Baker 1979–1985. Enright has been acting as a freelance multi-media designer since that time. He designed the first issues of Eyeline Magazine #1-7 and the ‘Fluxus and after’ catalogue for the Queensland Art Gallery,1993. In 2001 he and curator Susan Ostling collaborated on a travelling design show entitled ‘Future Factor’ which broke design rules and attendance records throughout the Australian Craft sector. He has also been involved in the design of numerous exhibitions for his partner, the contemporary jeweller & sculptor, Barbara Heath since 1987. He now works as their studio’s p.a. and digital producer in collaboration with jewellers, designers, fabricators and artists + his mentoring activities.
Enright served on the committee of the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane 1975–84 and has maintained a close relationship with that organisation since. He has curated or jointly curated several exhibitions of contemporary art in Brisbane: Institute of Modern Art ‘New York/New York-Brisbane’ 1977, ‘No Names’ 1983, ‘Minimalism x 6’ 1984, ‘Robert MacPherson Survey Exhibition’ (with Peter Cripps) 1985; University Art Museum ‘Queensland Works 1950-1985’ (with Nancy Underhill) 1985; That Space ‘Outside Art N.Y.C’ 1986.
He served on the board again for a single year term in 2004.
Enright has been an assiduous collector of advertising and commercial photographic memorabilia, hand made objects and found drawings he calls his ‘urban archaeology’. He has produced his gently amusing artworks entitled ‘Inseperables’, which reflect his involvement with the advertising industry, since 1982. These works rely for their effect on a satirical interplay of visual objects and words and their title. He continues to create artist books with this same ephemera, though (digitally now).
He developed an important collection of contemporary Australian art from 1969 which was sold by Phillips International Auctioneers, Sydney in 1999. This sale set a high benchmark for contemporary art in the secondary market here in Australia. The catalogue was accompanied by a web-based visual & relational database Enright created; fully documenting his collection with authors notes and further historical information. He donated upwards of 40 works unsold at auction to the University Art Museum, Queensland University in 2000. He continues to update his Artist Archive relational database which itself could easilly become an educational resource as the smaller unsold artworks & expandable database cover contemporary art activities from the late 1960s. His main free-time preoccupation now is writing and managing his blogs; www.viewersite.wordpress.com which reflects the productions of Jeweller to the Lost and Urban Archaeology + his design blog: http://www.ephemeral-male.blogspot.com/ + Tumblr & Flickr entities.