• Daniel O'Toole

    Born 1984, Sydney, Australia

    Biography

    Daniel O'Toole, born in Sydney, Australia in 1984, is a Melbourne-based artist known for his multimedia works, including sculptural colour-field paintings, video art, and sound installations.

    O'Toole has studied at National Art School; completed a Diploma at SAE (School of Audio Engineering); and has held roles as the gallery director at 'Oh Really gallery' (Newtown/Syd), Soldiers Rd gallery (Surry Hills/Syd), and Alpha house gallery (Newtown/Syd).

    Integrating experimental electronic music/soundscapes into his exhibitions and video works, he designs environments for sensory engagement. He has curated community-driven electronic music compilations/events, and participated in artist residencies in Germany and France. His video work was shown at the Lyon Biennale and recent notable commissions include a custom video piece for Sydney Fashion Week, paintings for the Louis Vuitton store in Sydney International Airport, and paintings for Tiffany and Co Jewellery stores in Sydney and Melbourne.

    O'Toole has staged numerous solo exhibitions and been featured in curated group shows both in Australia and internationally. In 2023, O'Toole achieved a significant milestone with his first institutional exhibition at Benalla Art Gallery. The immersive and interactive sound installation Voices from the void attracted over 3000 unique visitors, showcasing his ability to engage audiences on a larger scale.

  • Education

    Graduated Highschool, International Grammar School 2002.

    Diploma of Audio Engineering SAE, Sydney, 2004

    Studied at National Art School, Sydney, 2007-2008

    Curatorial experience

    Curator, 'Alpha Gallery', Sydney 2017-2018

    Gallery director and founder at 'Soldiers Rd gallery', Sydney, 2012-2013

    Gallery director and founder at 'Oh really gallery' Sydney, 2008-2011

    Prizes

    Finalist ‘MAC Yapang Art Prize, Lake MAcquarie, 2025

    Finalist 'Omnia Art prize' VIC 2024. Finalist, ‘JADA, Jacaranda Acquisitive drawing award, Grafton regional gallery. 2024

    ‘National Photography prize'‘ Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA), NSW, March-Aug 2024.

    Finalist 'Omnia Art prize' VIC 2023.

    Finalist, 'Dobell drawing prize' 2023

    Finalist, 'Blue thumb art prize', Abstract painting category, 2022.

    Finalist 'Lethbridge small scale works prize' 2022.

    Finalist, 'Calleen Art Prize', Regional NSW, 2014,

    Finalist, 'Sunshine Coast Art Prize' QLD, 2014

    Selected Exhibitions

    Noisy Eyes, Solo exhibition, Backwoods Gallery, VIC, Aug 2025.

    Cosmic Soup, Solo exhibition, Saint Cloche Gallery, Sydney, Feb 2025.

    ‘Immortal’ 10 year anniversary exhibition curated by Kitty Clark, Saint Cloche Gallery, Dec 2024.

    ‘On the limits of human cognition. Light and Shadow’,Immersive video installation, Krupa Art Foundation, Wrocław, Poland. Curator - Anna Stec, April-June 2024

    ‘In the Mix’ curated exhibition at Nationale 8 Galerie, Brussels/ Belgium, June 2024.

    Paxos Biennale, video installation titled ‘Eye of the butterfly’ June 2 - Oct 6, Paxos, Greece. 2024

    ‘Voices from the Void’ Sound installation, Museum of art and culture, Lake Macquarie, NSW, April-June 2024.

    ‘The Light Draws Along’, commissioned works made in collaboration with Alex Walker, for a curated exhibition at Incinerator, VIC, April-June, 2024.

    ‘Anti Lens’ in collaboration with Alex Walker for the ‘National Photography prize'‘, Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA), NSW, March-Aug 2024.

    ‘Voices from the Void’ Sound installation, Arts pace Realm, Ringwood, Melbourne, Feb-March 2024.

    ‘Eye music’Solo exhibition, Saint Cloche, Sydney Australia, Nov 2023.

    ‘Luminous Unknown’ Solo exhibition/album launch, Modern times, Melbourne, Australia, Aug, 2023.

    ‘Fahrenheit’ curated exhibition, Galerie John Ferrère, Paris, France, July 2023.

    ‘Summertime 23, 19th Edition’, curated exhibition, Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Coppenhagen, Denmark. June/July 2023.

    'Warp and Ripple' Solo exhibition, National & Gallery, Brussels, Belgium, March 2023.

    "Voices from the void', sound installation, Benalla regional art gallery, Feb-April 2023,

    "Voices from the void' sound installation, Oigall projects, November 2022.

    'Tempered resolution', solo exhibition Curatorial and co, Sydney, Aug 2022.

    'Cascade Rumble' solo exhibition, Modern Time, Melbourne, Feb 2022.

    'Transitions' exhibition A.M Biiere, NYC 2022.

    'Deliquescent light' solo exhibition, Curatorial and Co, Sydnev, Feb 2021

    'Luxembourg art fair', showing with National 8 gallery (Brussels), 2020

    'Duality experiment', KSR Art bar, Melbourne, 2019

    'The long tomorrow', May Space, Sydney, 2018

    'Interruption' Black box, 'May Space' Waterloo. 2017

    'Echo Chamber' Biennale (Lvon/France) 2017

    'Broken Colour', Juddy Roller gallery, Melbourne 2017

    'Bending Light' Juddy Roller gallery Melbourne 2017.

    'Unrest' at Day Fine Art, Sydney, 2016

    'Tree Spirits' at Juddy Roller gallery, Melbourne 2015

    'Polaroid Painting' solo exhibition, China Heights Gallery 2014

    'Elements' Harrison Galleries, Sydney, 2011

    'Board' exhibition at the NGV 2011

    'Carriage Art Works' Carriage Works, Sydney 2009

    'Duality experiment' KSR Art bar, Melbourne, 2019

    'Volcano Toast', Black Cat/Happy Mag (Sydney/Melbourne),2019

    'New Lines' Rex Livingston, Sydney, 2013

    In Transit' (dual show with Matt Leslie at Soldiers Rd Gallery Aug 2013.

    'Berlin Residencv Show' 111 Tor Strasse Berlin Sept. 2013

    Residencies

    Q-Bank Residency, Queenstown, Tasmania 2018.


    111 Tor Strasse, Berlin, 2013

    Tavern Gutenburg, Lyon, France , 2017

    Commissioned Works

    Private commission for Union Art and design, USA, 2024.

    Custom artworks for Tiffany and Co, Sydney/Melb, 2023-2024.

    Custom artworks (Triptych) for Louis Vuitton, Sydney international Airport, 2022.

    Video installation commissioned for Sydney Fashion week, commissioned by Ginger and Smart, 2021.

    Two Story mural on King street for the New Theatre, Sydney, 2016


    Curation and participation in a large scale community mural project on Goddard street/ Newtown, Sydney, (ongoing) 2015-2019


    Two story mural, ’Doctor Morse’ Melbourne, 2016


    Two Story mural as part of Wall to wall Festival Benalla 2016


    Commissioned painting and video interview for NETFLIX promotional campaign 2015.


    Three story mural ,Art Walk Katoomba/NSW 2015


    Commissioned mural, Benalla Regional Gallery, Victoria, 2015.


    Live Painting mural at Cowra Regional Art Gallery March 2014.


    Public mural on Camden St. Newtown for Marrickville council 'Perfect Match project' 2014

    Commercial Mural at SAE (School of Audio Engineering York St. Sydney 2014
 Mural at ‘Venue 505’, Sydney, 2013


    Mural on Cleveland St Surry hills for Jazz Club/‘Venue 505’, Sydney, 2012


    100 metre long mural for Marrickville Council in Camperdown Oval/NSW. 2011


    Live Painting for Information and Cultural Exchange charity, Cockle bay wharf (sold through Sotherbys) 2010


  • Daniel O’Toole

    Multimedia artist

    Naarm (Melbourne), Australia

    Mapping perception, I chart the shifting interplay of colour, light, sound, and space—using abstraction to translate the subtle, often intangible layers of sensory experience. This process is both personal and communicative: a way to better understand my own perceptual world while opening it for others to encounter in immersive, multi-sensory form.

    My practice spans painting, photography, video, sound, and installation. Building on the experimental approaches of the 1960s–70s Light and Space movement, I employ colour, light, and industrial materials to create objects and installations that respond to contemporary visual culture, producing optical effects that shift with the viewer’s perspective. These works invite reflection, active engagement, and heightened sensory awareness.

    The Refraction Painting series employs frosted acrylic screens, welded aluminium frames, and mirrored inlays to bend and scatter light, revealing nuanced micro-events—kinetic distortion, shifting shadows, and refraction— encouraging viewers to slow down and engage physically with the work. Through these effects, the work re-animates the static image, transforming perception into a material, immersive experience, and emphasising 'seeing' as active engagement rather than a passive reception.

    Just as the Refraction Painting series invites viewers to engage physically and attentively with light, Voices from the Void foregrounds sound, creating a participatory, immersive experience. The installation consists of nine resonant brass drums equipped with proximity sensors, allowing the drums to respond to visitors’ movement. This design encourages collective interaction while evoking meditative, ritualistic, and transcendent associations. Conceptually, the work sits within the historical lineage of mid-20th-century explorations of sound as a sculptural and spatial medium, echoing the site-specific installations of Max Neuhaus, John Cage’s experiments with indeterminacy, and Harry Bertoia’s interactive sound sculptures.

    Most recently, these strategies inform the Noisy Eyes series, where I explore my own experience of living with Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS) and share my way of seeing with the audience. Rather than reproducing perception literally, the works evoke the cognitive pressure and sensory overload of VSS through painterly means—resulting in immersive surfaces that are both chaotic and compositionally controlled. Like the sound work, they are paradoxical: simultaneously overwhelming and calm. Across painting, photography, video, and sound, my practice uses abstraction and cross-modal strategies informed by VSS and synaesthetic perception to translate internal and external sensory experiences, offering insight into the subtlety, complexity, and variability of human perception.