DRILLER JET ARMSTRONG — CURRICULUM VITAE
Born: London, United Kingdom
Lives & Works: Adelaide, South Australia
Representation: Segwood Gallery, Freemasons Lane, Adelaide
Disciplines: Painting, Daubism, Mixed Media, Murals, Ceramics, Works on Glass, DJ Performance & Cultural Remix
EDUCATION
2001 Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours), First Class
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024–25
• New Works on Glass — Segwood Gallery, Adelaide (Representation begins)
2024
solo exhibition - Austral Hotel Adelaide
2022
• Ceramics Exhibition — Hahndorf (solo)
2017
• Major Solo Exhibition — Hahndorf Academy (closed due to a single complaint; national press coverage)2016
• Solo Exhibition — Interlude Gallery, Sydney
2015
• Daubism 2015 — Adelaide (solo)
• Frog Cake Exhibition — Adelaide (solo)
• Sugar Exhibition — Sugar Nightclub (24 works sold)
2014
• Hello from the Stolen Generation — Adelaide (solo)
2013
• Corobbery — Brown Sugar Gallery (solo)
2010–2016
• Annual Daubist Exhibitions — Sugar Gallery (one per year)
2010
• Felt Me Up — Adelaide (solo)
2009
• Solo Exhibition — Max Dawn Gallery, Adelaide
• Solo Exhibition — Sugar Gallery
2006
• First — Hotel Richmond (solo)
• Pillar Talk — Sugar Gallery (solo)
2005
• Forest One — Forest One Art Gallery (solo)
• Sinthesis — Tony Bond Fine Art (solo)
• Raymond Alter Exhibition — Brown Sugar Gallery (solo, fictional artist persona)
2003
• 21st Century Daubism — FAD Gallery, Adelaide (solo)
2002
• A Decade of Daubism — Liquid Girl Gallery, Adelaide (solo, Fringe Festival) 2000
• Daubism 2000 — Rhino Room, Adelaide (solo)
• HeArt of Daubism — Worldsend Gallery, Adelaide (solo)
1999
• Fresh — Organic Market Café, Stirling (solo)
• Umbrella Series — Austral Hotel (commissioned solo works)
1995
• Daubism — Odeon Theatre, Norwood (solo)
• Tant Pis — Exeter Hotel (interactive installation; Advertiser Oscart Award)
1994
• Remnant — RE Gallery, Adelaide (solo)
• Viva La Daub — The Exeter Hotel, Adelaide (solo)
1990
• Fringe Festival Solo Exhibition — Living Arts Centre (solo)
1988
• Soaking Up the Atmosphere — Artzone Gallery (solo)
• Is There Life After Fringe — Rundle Street mural commission (solo/major commission)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & EARLY CAREER
1985–1989
• Dearman Gallery — Group Exhibitions (1985, 1986)
• Adelaide Fringe Festival — Loft Gallery (1986)
• Reconnaissance Gallery, Melbourne — 2-person show (1986)
• Adelaide University Union Gallery — 3-person show (1987)
• Living Arts Centre — Fringe Festival (solo + group) (1988, 1989)
• Jam Factory — exhibited alongside Jenny Orchard (1989)
• Group Exhibition — Himeji, Japan (RSA) (1988)
• Winner — Fringe Poster Design Competition for 1990 Festival (1989)
1992
• First Daubist Group Exhibition — Art Images Gallery (founding of Daubism)
• 100 Artists for Human Rights — opened by the Dalai Lama (organised + exhibited)
1997
• Daubism Seven — Michael Nagy Gallery, Sydney
1998
• Neue Daubistische Kunst — Austral Hotel, Adelaide Fringe (solo/group hybrid)
• World’s First Daubist Mural — Rundle & Frome Streets (public art)
• King William & Gilbert Street Mural — Adelaide
• Imax Cinema Stairwell Murals — with Chris Gaston (public commissions) 2001
• Honours Group Exhibition — J111 Gallery, Underdale
2004
• Fringe Project: FLOORED — Fringe Hub (group)
• FRINGEDWELLERDRILLER: Blackplasticfantastic — Higher Ground (solo)
• Adelaide Festival of Arts Commission — Parade Ground Hoarding (group)
2016–2024
Multiple group exhibitions including Sugar Gallery, SALA Festival, and national press-covered controversies.
MAJOR COMMISSIONS
1988 9m x 6m mural — Rundle Street Traders
1998 Daubist murals — Rundle/Frome; King William/Gilbert; IMAX Cinema stairwells
2000 Temple 2000 mural — Hindley Street (Opened by Lord Mayor)
1998–2001 27+ hand-painted umbrellas — Austral Hotel (annual commissions)
AWARDS / GRANTS / RESIDENCIES
1990 SA Film Industry Grant — documentary Lifestyles of the Poor and Talented (worldwide distribution)
1990 Artist-in-Residence — Norwood High School
1990 Australia Council Grant — Artist-in-Residence at ABC (publication of drawings)
1995 Advertiser Oscart Award — Tant Pis installation
1999 Feasibility Funding Grant — ArtsSA / Adelaide City Council (public artwork)
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2002–2023 Founder, owner, curator & DJ — Sugar Nightclub, Adelaide (visual + musical programming; exhibiting Daubist work annually)
1993 DJ and artist living in Jakarta (Intercontinental Nightclub)
1996–2005 Weekly columnist — Onion Dance Music Magazine (Rip It Up)
SELECTED PRESS & PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHTS
• The Advertiser, The Australian, Sunday Mail, The Courier, City Scene, National Geographic Traveller (2016)
• Extensive media coverage of Daubism controversies, Bannon injunction, SALA disputes, Hahndorf Academy closure, Add-Original debates
• Press & reviews compiled from 1988–2025 (full media archive available)
COLLECTIONS
Private collections across Australia, UK, Europe, USA.
CONTACT / REPRESENTATION
Segwood Gallery — Freemasons Lane, Adelaide
New works currently on display