Catherine O’Donnell: Fibro Vernacular

Time Equities Inc., Art-in-Buildings is pleased to announce the newest exhibition in the lobby of 55 Fifth Avenue, Catherine O’Donnell: Fibro Vernacular. 

Catherine O’Donnell is an established contemporary Australian artist whose practice explores and elevates everyday Australian architecture and its rich social history. Her work particularly focuses on low-income housing and examines the connections between memory, place, and national identity.

In Fibro Vernacular, 2025, she has taken three commonplace house designs and overlaid them to create an abstract image that investigates social housing built in the mid-twentieth century. Rooted in a political history influenced by international social theory and an aesthetic history tied to the modernist movement, these housing estates occupy a significant and often contentious place within Australian history. For many, these buildings eloquently speak of home.

In this new work, O’Donnell presents both the formal, minimal aesthetics of the buildings and seeks to extract the sense of humanity that emanates from lived-in spaces. She employs realism to ignite the viewer’s imagination and invites them to look beyond the mundane and banal. Her aim is to reinterpret and reinvigorate inhabited environments by emphasizing qualities of life and longevity that extend beyond mere physicality.

She holds a Master of Fine Arts (Drawing) from the National Art School (2014) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Distinction and the Deans Medal from the University of Western Sydney (2006). Catherine has exhibited extensively across Australia and internationally, with her work included in both public and private collections worldwide.

Her artistic journey includes numerous residencies both nationally and abroad, taking her to cities such as Rome, Paris, Venice, and New York. Through her compelling exploration of social and architectural themes, Catherine continues to contribute meaningfully to the Australian contemporary art discourse.

Catherine O’Donnell: Fibro Vernacular is curated by Tessa Ferreyros and sponsored by Time Equities Inc. (TEI) Art-in-Buildings. TEI is committed to enriching the experience of our properties through the Art-in-Buildings Program, an innovative approach that brings contemporary art by emerging and mid-career artists to non-traditional exhibition spaces in the interest of promoting artists, expanding the audience for art, and creating a more interesting environment for our building occupants, residents, and guests.