| 1960 | Born in Harlow, Essex |
| 2011 | Bryan Robertson Award |
| 2008-09 | Stanley Picker Fellowship, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames |
| 2004-05 | Drawing Fellow, Wimbledon School of Art |
| 1982-85 | Royal College of Art, London |
| 1978-81 | Maidstone College of Art |
| 2023 | THE BOYS: AN ADVENTURE Drawings by David Austen Words by Hisham Matar, Ingleby Edinburgh |
| 2021 - 22 | David Austen The Last Trapeze Artist, TOTAH, New York |
| 2019 | Underworld David Austen, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee Scotland |
| 2018 | The Drowned David Austen, Matt's Gallery, London |
| The stars above the ocean... the ocean beneath the stars, TOTAH New York | |
| 2016 | The Light That Fell Upon Us Burned, Basel Miami Beach |
| 2015 | Black Heart, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Cogliandrino (MACC), Contrada Timparossa, Basilicata, Italy |
| 2012 | The Gorgon’s Dream, Rob Tufnell Gallery, London |
| The Gorgon’s Dream, The Burns Monument, with Ingleby Gallery and the Edinburgh International Film festival, Edinburgh | |
| 2011 | David Austen | Papillon, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
| 2010 | End of Love, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford (cat, ill.) |
| 2009 | Man Smoking, Schiavo Mazzonis Gallery, Rome |
| My love, I have been digging up my own bones in the garden again, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh | |
| End of Love, Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston University, Kingston-upon-Thames | |
| 2008 | David Austen & Man Ray, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh |
| 2007 | David Austen | Glitter, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
| David Austen, Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes | |
| 2006 | David Austen - Smoking Moon, Camden Arts Centre, London |
| David Austen – Green Electric Morning, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh | |
| 2005 | Froth on the Daydream, Wimbledon School of Art, London |
| 2004 | Darkland, Peer, London |
| Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| 2003 | Hard Times, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh |
| 2001 | Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
| Objects and Images from the Edge of the World, Wolsey Art Gallery, Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich (cat., ill.) | |
| Annandale Gallery, Sydney | |
| Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh | |
| 2000 | Happy City, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
| 1999 | Galerie Marianne Hollenbach, Stuttgart |
| 1998 | Slewe Gallery, Amsterdam |
| Inverleith House, Edinburgh | |
| 1997 | Galerie Marianne Hollenbach, Stuttgart |
| Mead Gallery, Warwick (cat., ill.) | |
| Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London | |
| 1994 | Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
| 1993 | Cirrus, Los Angeles |
| 1992 | Cornerhouse, Manchester |
| Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| 1991 | Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
| Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles | |
| 1990 | Frith Street Gallery, London |
| 1989 | Cirrus, Los Angeles |
| Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Nottingham (cat., ill.) | |
| 1988 | Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London (cat, ill.) |
| Arnolfini, Bristol | |
| 1987 | Serpentine Gallery, London |
| 1986 | Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London (cat., Barry Barker, ill.) |
| 2024 | The Love of the Marvelous and the Disbelief of the True, Cirrus Gallery & Editions Ltd. Los Angeles |
| 2023 | The Italian Effect, The Italian Cultural Institute London |
| 2022 | The World We Live In: Art and the Urban Environment, Leicester Museum & Art Gallery and tour |
| CROCODILE CRADLE , PEER, London | |
| 2020 | The Shadow, TOTAH New York |
| Summer/Winter Exhibition 2020, Royal Academy, London | |
| 2019 | The Aerodrome An exhibition dedicated to the memory of Michael Stanley curated by Jonathan Watkins, George Shaw and David Austen, IKON Gallery, Birmingham |
| NEUE HORIZONTE 2030, GEIST Berlin | |
| 2017 | These Rotten Words, Chapter Cardiff |
| 2016 | Cosmic Connections, TOTAH New York |
| 2015 | The Nakeds, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill |
| 2014 | The Nakeds, Drawing Room, Tannery Arts, London |
| Walk Through British Art, Tate Britain, London, UK | |
| Slow Learner, Timothy Taylor Gallery, London | |
| 2013 | On Paper, Centro de Artes Visuales Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres, Spain |
| Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?, New Art Centre, Salisbury, UK | |
| Drawing Biennial 2013, Drawing Room, London, UK | |
| 2012 | Language Games. An Introduction to The Art of Our Times, Centro de Artes Visuales Fundación Helgade Alvear, Cáceres, Spain |
| With An Apple I Will Astonish, Large Glass, London, UK | |
| Working on the Inside, Tannery Arts @ the Drawing Room, London, UK | |
| Summer Exhibition, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK | |
| 2011 | The Artist's Imprint, Emma Hill Fine Art, Eagle Gallery, London |
| Template for Terror: The Revival of the Gothic, ICA London | |
| Ill Fares The Land, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| One Another, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| 2010 | Watercolour, Tate Britain, London |
| Summer Exhibition, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| Face History, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| 2009 | Gallery Artists, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
| No Shoes on the Carpet, Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles | |
| Only The Lonely, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| 2008 | Better Than Grey a Serious Consideration of Colour, Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery, Suffolk (cat.) |
| The Archer and The Goat, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| Conversations, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge | |
| At Home, Voewood Projects, High Kelling, Norfolk | |
| Order Desire Light, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin | |
| 2007 | Selected Works by Gallery Artists, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
| 2006 | Drawing 2007 – Biennial Fundraiser, The Drawing Room, London |
| The Secret Theory of Drawing, curated by Caoimhim Mac Giolla | |
| Leith, The Drawing Room, London | |
| Among the Ash Heaps & Millionaires, Ancient and Modern, London | |
| Film Club, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh | |
| Motion on Paper, Ben Brown Fine Art, London | |
| Dream Box Vitrine, Tate Britian Archive, London (curated by David Austen) | |
| 2005 | Flip, Chung King Project, Los Angeles |
| Edition, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh | |
| The Hardest Thing to Draw is a Kiss, The Gallery, Wimbledon (curated by David Austen) | |
| Miradas y Conceptos, MEIAC, Badajoz | |
| In Focus, Emma Hill Fine Art, The Eagle Gallery, London | |
| Who’s Afraid of Red Yellow and Blue, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh | |
| 2004 | Remarkable, Andrew Mummery Gallery, London |
| 10 Years, Slewe Gallery, Amsterdam | |
| John Moores 23 Exhibition, The Walker, Liverpool | |
| Painting, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| See it … Read it, Art with words from the Arts Council collection, Draiocht, Dublin | |
| 2003 | Chromophiles, Galleri Bouhlou, Bergen |
| Drawn 2B Alive, Hales Gallery, London | |
| Exodus: Between Promise and Fulfilment, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (curated by David Austen, cat., ill.) | |
| Independence, South London Gallery, London | |
| 2002 | The Lost Collection of an Invisible Man, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle |
| Artaid, Bloomberg, London | |
| 3 x 2, The Nunnery, London | |
| 2000 | Abstraction, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (cat.) |
| Yellow, Galerie Kempfer, Munich | |
| Blue, The New Museum at Walsall, Walsall | |
| 1999 | Y2K, Archimede Staffolini Gallery, Cyprus |
| John Moores Exihbition 21, Liverpool | |
| 1998 | Commission for British Embassy, Cairo |
| Source/Chanzo, National Museum, Dar es Salaam | |
| 1997 | Djanogly Art Gallery, Nottingham, Book |
| Slewe Galerie, Amsterdam | |
| A Cloudburst of Material Possessions, Purdy Hicks Gallery, London | |
| Antechamber, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London | |
| 1996 | Marks and Traces, Sandra Gering Gallery, New York |
| Absolute Vision: New British Painting in the 1990s, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford and tour | |
| In passing..., The Tannery, London | |
| Take it From Here, Sunderland Museum and Art Gallery | |
| 1995 | Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
| Made in L.A., Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles | |
| Cirrus, Los Angeles | |
| 1994 | The Contemporary Art Society Collection, Buttler Gallery, Kilkenny |
| 1993 | Enitharmon Press, Gilmour Gallery, London |
| Painters' Prints, Cirrus, Los Angeles | |
| Singer Friedlander Watercolour Competition, Mall Galleries, London | |
| Spit in the Ocean, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| Moving into View, Recent British Painting, Royal Festival Hall, London | |
| Strictly Painting, Cubitt Street Gallery, London | |
| 1992 | WaterCOLOUR, Curwen Gallery, London |
| Centre, Edinburgh; Barbican Centre, London (cat., ill.) | |
| Twelve Stars, Arts Council Gallery, Belfast; City Arts | |
| New Voices: Recent Painting For The British Council collection, Centre de Conference Albert Borshette, Brussels, (cat., ill.) | |
| Poiesis, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh | |
| 1991 | Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London |
| Whitechapel Open co-selector, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London | |
| 1990 | New Editions, Cirrus, Los Angeles |
| Broadgate Art Project, London | |
| British Art, Zellweger, Basel | |
| The Theory and Practice of the Small Painting, curated by Tony Godfrey, Anderson O'Day Gallery, London | |
| David Beitzel, New York | |
| Poiesis, Graeme Murray Gallery, Edinburgh | |
| Ciento, Barcelona | |
| 1988 | Mind the Gap, Espace Culturel Graslin, Nantes (cat., ill.) |
| Atlas 3, Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London | |
| Vanitas, Norwich School of Art, Norwich (cat., ill.) | |
| 1987 | Object and Image: Aspects of British Art in the 1980s, City Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent |
| On a Plate, Farnham College of Art and Serpentine Gallery, London (cat., ill.) | |
| 1986 | Riverside Open, Riverside Studios, London |
| New Art, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| Canvass: New British Painting, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton | |
| Canvass: New British Painting, the Exhibition Gallery, Milton Keynes | |
| Works on Paper, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| Between Identity and Politics: A New Art, Gimpel Fils | |
| 1985 | London and tour, Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer, New York (cat., ill.) |
| Riverside Open, Riverside Studios, London | |
| New Art 2, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London | |
| Young Masters, Solomon Gallery, London (cat.,, ill.) | |
| Royal College of Art Degree Show, Royal College of Art, London | |
| 2008 | Huntingdonshire District Council, Commissions East |
| 2014 | Happiness, Channel 4 |
| 2012 | The Gorgon’s Dream, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh |
| 2011 | Man Smoking, Reial Cercle Artístic, Barcelona |
| Crackers, ICA, London | |
| 2010 | End of Love, Grundy Museum, Blackpool |
| 2009 | Crackers, Word/ Play, Cinema, ICA, London |
| Smoking Moon, BFI, Southbank, London | |
| Man Smoking, Molise Cinema 7a Edizione Film Festival, Casacalenda | |
| 2007 | Crackers, 60th Festival del Film Locarno, Locarno |
| Crackers & Smoking Moon, Artprojx and Greenland Street, Liverpool | |
| Crackers, Artprojx, Prince Charles Cinema, London |
| 2023 | DAVID AUSTEN THE LAST TRAPEZE ARTIST, TOTAH New York |
| 2023 | THE BOYS: An Adventure, Ingleby |
| 2019 | Underworld, DCA Dundee |
| 2018 | David Austen : the stars above the ocean the ocean beneath the stars, TOTAH New York |
| 2018 | The Drowned , essay by Hisham Matar, Matt's Gallery London |
| 2017 | The Light That Fell Upon Us Burned, Ingleby Gallery |
| 2015 | Twightlight - A Wall of Gouaches, Ingleby Gallery |
| 2011 | David Austen, The Gorgon’s Dream, LemonMelon |
| 2010 | End of Love, Modern Art Oxford |
| 2007 | David Austen, Milton Keynes Gallery |
| 2006 | David Austen Green Electric Morning, Ingleby Gallery |
| 2005 | David Austen ‘Froth on the Daydream’, Broken Glass |
| 2004 | ‘Stood Up’David Austen and Rupert Thomson , Peer |
| 2001 | David Austen – Objects and Images from the Edge of the World, Wolsey Art Gallery, Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich |
| 1997 | David Austen, Mead Gallery, Warwick Art Centre, Coventry |
| 1992 | Tempest of Stars selected poems by Jean Cocteau, translated by Jeremy Reed with drawings by David Austen, Enitharmon Press, London, signed limited edition of 75 including one individual etching |
| 1990 | David Austen, Frith Street Gallery, London, Signed limited edition of 100 |
| 1989 | David Austen , Edited by Marco Livingstone,Art Random monograph, Kyoto Shoin |
| David Austen, Essay by James Peto, Castle Museum, Nottingham, UK | |
| 1988 | David Austen, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, UK |
| 1986 | David Austen Giotto's Dream, Essay by Barry Barker, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
| 2019 | The Aerodrome, An exhibition dedicated to the memory of Michael Stanley, William Davie, The Brooklyn Rail |
| 2019 | David Austen Underworld DCA, Kate McLeod, The Skinny, |
| 2019 | David Austen – interview: ‘I think Dr Seuss is as great as Picasso’, Studio International |
| 2018 | the stars above the ocean the ocean beneath the stars, H. Brock, The Brooklyn Rail |
| 2017 | Skies of Strathmore, D. Macmillan, The Scotsman Magazine |
| These Rotten Words, Niki Russell, Art Monthly | |
| These Rotten Words, L. Lloyd, Art Review | |
| 2014 | Our friend David Austen, Oliver Spencer Interview |
| 2013 | Gallery Round-up, S. Jones, The Herald |
| 2011 | David Austen: Papillon, Jessica Furseth, www.thisistomorrow.info, October |
| Refreshing Watercolours, Matilda Battersby, www.theindependent.co.uk, 15 February | |
| Q&A, Liz Jobey, FT Magazine, 12 February | |
| 2010 | The Guardian Guide, Skye Sherwin, 18 December |
| Gordon Brown’s ‘love inspired’ art collection, Roya Nikkhah, The Sunday Telegraph, 7 March | |
| MPs falling into hell among artistic Labour of love, Andrew Graham-Dixon, The Sunday Telegraph, 7 March | |
| 2009 | David Austen, James Clegg, Art Review, December |
| End of Love, www.qype.co.uk, 25 November | |
| End of Love opens at Stanley Picker Gallery, Will Gore, The Surrey Comet, 25 November | |
| Duncan Macmillan, The Scotsman, 3 November, Art reviews: A Model of Order; Concrete Poetry/David Austen | |
| David Austen Edinburgh, The Guardian Guide, 24 October | |
| David Austen: My love, I have been digging up my own bones in the garden again, Rosalie Doubal, www.list.co.uk, 23 October | |
| David Austen at The Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, Giles Sutherland, The Times (Scotland), 20 October | |
| 2008 | David Austen: Surfacing At The Crossroads, Martin Westwood, Turps Banana, Issue Five |
| David Austen and Man Ray, The Herald, 8 March | |
| Dark futures with a nod to a surreal past, The Scotsman, 14 March | |
| 2007 | I Have This Terrible Feeling; Heavy and Black; What’s David Austen Doing Making Films?, Martin Holman, Miser & Now, issue 10 |
| David Austen, Cameron Irving, Untitled, Issue 42, Summer | |
| Art Round-up, Lucy Bayley, The London Paper, 22nd May | |
| David Austen, Jessica Lack, The Guardian Guide 12-18th May | |
| Where the art is, Hugh Reilly, The London Paper, 16th May | |
| Artprojx: David Austen, Kultureflash.net, 16th May | |
| Where the magic happens, Helen Sumpter, Time Out, 9-15th May | |
| Pleasure, pain and the art of opposites, Hannah Duguid, The Independent, 8th May | |
| avid Austen, Exhibition at MK G, MK News, 21st March | |
| David Austen: Crackers, Gemma Tipton, A-N Magazine, March | |
| David Austen, Milton Keynes, Robert Clark, The Guardian Guide, 10th February | |
| The Secret Theory of Drawing, Tom Morton, Frieze.com, Tuesday 2nd January | |
| 2005 | David Austen on Alberto Giacometti's "Hour of the Traces" (1930), David Austen, Tate etc, issue 4 |
| 2004 | David Austen, Morgan Falconer, Modern Painters, Summer (ill.) |
| Stuff of Substance, Morgan Falconer, What’s on in London, 3-10 March (ill.) | |
| 2003 | Exodus, Jane Evans, a-n magazine, September (ill.) |
| Bible Lessons, Joanna Pitman, The Times, 22 July (ill.) | |
| The sands of time, Sue Hubbard, The Independent, 22 July (ill.) | |
| Double Vision, Andrew Mead, The Architects’ Journal, 17 July (ill.) | |
| The List, Ruth Hedges, 3-17 July (ill.) | |
| Jessica Lack, The Guardian, 23 June | |
| Exodus, Amber Cowan, The Times, 21 June (ill) | |
| Exodus, Robert Clark, The Guardian Guide, 21-27 June (ill.) | |
| Peter Chapman, The Independent, 14 June (ill.) | |
| Exodus, Sotiris Kyriacou, Contemporary, issue 52 (ill.) | |
| Austen in the Desert, Craig Burnett, Previews, Modern Painters, Summer (ill.) | |
| David Austen, Robert Clark, The Guardian Guide, 14-20 June (ill.) | |
| David Austen – Ingleby Gallery, Amber Cowan, The Times, June 7-13 (ill.) | |
| David Austen, Scotland on Sunday, 8 June (ill.) | |
| Helen Pickles, Financial Times, 10/11 May (ill.) | |
| 2001 | Modern Painters, Artist commission, Winter (ill.) |
| The Show asks: Only connect, Helen Clarke, East Anglian Daily Times 11 June (ill.) | |
| Around the Galleries: Edinburgh, Giles Sutherland, Times, Wed 14 February | |
| 2000 | Artists who paint by digits, Sean Dodson, The Guardian, 30 November (ill.) |
| David Austen, Izi Glover, Time Out, 12-19 April (ill.) | |
| Jorn Ebner, Frankfurter Allgemeiner Zeitung, 8 April, Tiefer Griff in die Familienkiste | |
| John McEwen, ‘Art’ Sunday Telegraph, 2 April | |
| The colour that changed the World, Charles Darwent, Independent on Sunday, 20 February | |
| 1999 | Glyn Hughes, The Cyprus Weekly, 17-23 December |
| Cyprus Weekly, 24-30 December | |
| Frecher Hasenfuss, David Austen stellt Aus, Stuttgarter Zeitung N.245 | |
| Simerini, 15 December | |
| Politis, 10 December | |
| Alithia, 6 December (ill.) | |
| Philelefttheros, 6 December | |
| 1998 | Light in a corner of the bar, John McEwen, The Sunday Telegraph, 31 May |
| David Austen, Susanna Beaumont, The List, 20 May (ill.) | |
| 1997 | Antechamber, Juan Cruz, Art Monthly, p.31-32, No 206, May (ill.) |
| About Vision, Joëlle Rondi, Art Press, January, p.64-65 (ill.) | |
| Once, twice, 74 times a lady, Kate Kellaway, Observer Review, 13 April | |
| It’s all a matter of life and death, Waldemar Januszczak, The Sunday Times, 6 April (ill.) | |
| David Austen, Andrew Lambirth, What’s On, 12-19 March (ill.) | |
| Cloud pleasers, William Feaver, The Observer, 9 February | |
| 1996 | Crooked Style, William Feaver, The Observer, 17 November |
| It’s Young, it’s British, it’s Cool, John McEwen, Sunday Telegraph, 17 November | |
| 1995 | A Dream without Sound interview, Paul Bonaventura, Modern Painters, September |
| 1994 | David Austen, Sue Hubbard, Time Out, 16-23 March (ill.) |
| Exhibition highlights new wave of painting "unbound" for success, Geraldine Norman, The Independent on Sunday, 14 March (ill.) | |
| David Austen, David Pagel, Art Issues, No. 31, January/February | |
| 1993 | Strictly Painting, David Lillington, Time Out, 10-17 March |
| William Feaver, The Observer, 28 February | |
| Charles Hall, The Guardian, 12 February | |
| 1991 | James Hall examines some new interpretations of Minimalism in the light of several current shows, James Hall, The Independent, 2 April |
| British Painting for the 90s, Tony Godfrey, Art in America, April (ill.) | |
| Jody Zellen, ArtScene, March | |
| Kristine McKenna, The Los Angeles Times, February, (ill.) | |
| 1990 | The Guardian, September, (ill.) |
| David Austen, Frith Street Gallery, Sarah Kent, , Time Out, 4-11 July (ill.) | |
| David Austen, Frith Street Gallery, Sue Hubbard, Galleries, June (ill.) | |
| 1989 | David Austen, Marco Livingstone (ed.), pp 23, 40 full colour illustrations, Kyoto Shoin International Co Ltd |
| David Austen at Anthony Reynolds, Tony Godfrey, Art In America, September (ill.) | |
| 1988 | Sarah Kent, Time Out, 16-23 November (ill.) |
| Studies the Atlas, Sarah Kent, Time Out, Aug 24-31 (ill.) | |
| Artbreak, Alice Lumsden, Vogue, July (ill.) | |
| Hung for Less, Sarah Howell, World of Interiors, June, (ill.) | |
| 1987 | The Fine Art of Investing, Brian Sewell, Sunday Express Magazine, 29 November (ill.) |
| Drawings and Sculpture, Sarah Kent, Time Out, 5-12 August (ill.) | |
| On a Plate, Sarah Kent, Time Out, 8-15 April | |
| Flash Art, Barry Barker, February - March (ill.) | |
| Margaret Garlake, Art Monthly, January (ill.) | |
| Mark Currah, City Limits, 20-27 November (ill.) | |
| Preview, Margaret Garlake, Art Monthly, November | |
| Works on Paper, Sarah Kent, Time Out, 6-12 March | |
| 1986 | Between Identity and Politics, a New Art, Mark Currah, City Limits, 7-13 February |
| Between Identity and Politics: A New Art (Part 1), Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton, Arts Review, 31 January, vol. XXXVIII, no. 2 | |
| Riverside Studios: Open Exhibition, Mog Johnstone, Artline, vol. 3, no. 1 (ill.) | |
| London, R. Costa, Juliet, December - January 1986, no. 23 | |
| 1985 | New Art I and II at Anthony Reynolds, Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton, Artscribe International, December 1985 - January 1986, no. 55 |
| Sarah Kent, Time Out, 22-28 August 1985 | |
| On Paula Rego, William Feaver, The Observer, 8 September | |
| New Art, Waldemar Januszczak, The Guardian, 27 August | |
| New Art II, Nigel Pollitt, City Limits, 30 August-5 September (ill.) |