Mark Gowing lives and works on Gadigal/Wangal country, Sydney, Australia. Through a creative practice spanning more than 35 years he has developed a personal inquiry into the poetry of form, grid and rhythm that he investigates using abstracted applications of text and systems. Gowing’s practice centres around the conceptual understanding of languages – graphic, written, oral or cultural. In order to question our innate understandings, Gowing’s works often explore his written phrasing within a lyrical context, expressing visually discernable musical rhythms and frequencies.
Gowing is the founder and director of The Letters, a type company that specialises in the development of expressive fonts and was founder and director of the landmark arts publisher Formist Editions from 2013 to 2024. Through his highly acclaimed studio practice Gowing has produced creative projects for leading organisations and institutions with a passionate focus on visual art and language, design, film and music. He has been honoured with solo exhibitions at the 22nd International Poster Biennale in Warsaw, Poland; the Divieto d’Affissione in Turin, Italy; and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. His work is held in numerous institutional collections including the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, USA.
Solo Exhibitions
This one is a song (forthcoming), Damien Minton Presents, Sydney, 2025
Sandie Don & Mark Gowing: We were only inches away, Woollahra Gallery at Readleaf, Sydney, 2025
Lane Cove Library, 70th anniversary, Sydney, Australia, 2025
Division, Airspace Projects, Sydney, Australia, 2024
A realistic picture of a galloping horse, Woollahra Gallery at Readleaf, Sydney, Australia, 2024
30 Manifesti, Divieto d’Affissione, Turin, Italy, 2013
Music Art Film, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, 2013
Laureates of 21st International Poster Biennale, Warsaw, Poland, 2010
Selected Group Exhibitions
Waverley Art Prize 2025 (forthcoming), Finalist, Bondi Pavilion Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2025
Immortal, Saint Cloche Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2025
Fishers Ghost Art Award 2024, Finalist, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, Australia, 2024
Paper Form, Articulate Project Space, Sydney, Australia, 2024
Vincent Prize 2024, Finalist, Scratch Art Space, Sydney, Australia, 2024
Oasis, Saint Cloche Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2024
Bayside Painting Prize 2024, Finalist, Bayside Gallery, Melbourne, Australia, 2024
Sydney Contemporary, Formist Editions stand, Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia, 2022
Design Isolate, Australian Design Centre, Sydney, Australia, 2020
Segni Esemplari, Bodoni Museum of Parma, Italy, 2019
Hangeul Calligraphy × Latin Typography, Seoul Arts Center, South Korea, 2016
How Posters Work, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, USA, 2015
Nocturne, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2013
Stalled, Macquarie University Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2013
Sketches of Bacon, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2013
Got the Message?, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, Australia, 2013
Braun Systems, Walter Knoll Centre, London, UK, 2013
Graphic Material, UTS Gallery, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, 2010
Selected Projects
The Letters, font publisher, founder and director, 2015–ongoing
Holiday × Mark Gowing collaboration (forthcoming), Leif, 2025
Longform Editions, curatorial sound art project, co-founder and co-director with Andrew Khedoori, 2018–2025
Formist Editions, art and design publisher, founder and director, 2013–2024
Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, The First 40 Years, publication management and design, Formist Editions, 2024
Jonathan Jones, untitled (transcriptions of country), publication management and design, Artspace & Formist Editions, 2023
Kapitol, Formist Foundry Typeface Companion 01, publication author, photography and design, Formist Editions, 2022
Kapitol, font family design, The Letters, 2023
Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro, Ready-made Ruin, publication co-edited with Felicity Fenner and design, Formist Editions, 2022
Fiction, font family design, The Letters, 2021
Jonathan Jones, works on paper 2010–19, publication management and design, Formist Editions, 2021
Taloi Havini, Reclamation, publication management and design, Artspace & Formist Editions, 2021
Kris Sowersby: The Art of Letters, publication author/editor and design, Formist Editions, 2021
Making Art Public, Kaldor Public Art Projects 1969–2019, publication co-edited with Genevieve O’Callaghan and design, Kaldor Public Art Projects, 2020
Boulder Mono, font family design, The Letters, 2019
Angelica Mesiti, Assembly, publication management and design, Australia Council for the Arts, 2019
Ficciones Typografika: 1642, publication editor and design, Formist Editions, 2019
SCAF Reader, limited edition chair design, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, 2019
Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, management and design of 30 publications, 2008–2018
Gemma Smith: Found Ground, publication editor and design, Formist Editions, 2018
Outside Material, The cover art of Preservation Music, publication editor and design, Formist Editions, 2017
Preservation Music, experimental music label, co–founder and director, 2001–2017
Jonathan Jones, barrangal dyara (skin and bones), publication management and design, Kaldor Public Art Projects, 2016
Serous, font family design, The Letters, 2015
Australian Poster Biennale, exhibition director, 2013
Australian Poster Annual, exhibition director, 2011
EyeSaw, exhibition curator, 2008
Selected Publications
Sandie Don & Mark Gowing: We were only inches away, Formist Editions, 2022
Mark Gowing: Inside the Oblong, Formist Editions, 2020
Studio Culture Now, Unit Editions, 2020
The History of Graphic Design Volume 2: 1960–Today, Jens Muller, Taschen, 2018
Hangeul Calligraphy × Latin Typography, Seoul Arts Center, 2016
How Posters Work, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, 2015
Got the Message?: 50 years of political posters, Geoffrey J Wallis, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Australia, 2013
New Masters of Poster Design Volume Two, John Foster, Rockport Publishers, 2012
Contact
Mark Gowing is available for commissions, collaborations and private sales. Please email the studio for more information.
Email
Instagram
Fonts and typography at The Letters