Damien Minton Gallery

Once described as the Samuel Beckett of Newcastle painters, Dallas Bray returns to the Damien Minton Gallery for the solo exhibition, Special Interests.

Bray is one of the most loved of contemporary painters in the industrial city of NSW, having exhibited in Newcastle for over two decades.

In that time he has developed a unique position with his beguiling and disturbing vision of the mundane meeting the absurd.

Seemingly beautiful and luscious landscapes contain characters and scenarios which provoke a surreal narrative.

Bray’s work can be found in the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, when the then director James Mollison saw and purchased his work in 1986. The collector, curator and artist, Peter Fay has also been a fan, including his work in the seminal exhibition Home Sweet Home.

“He can be playful; pitting incongruous elements together in condensed compositions designed to intrigue. He is also alert to the humour in life’s simplest rituals. Quirky, sometimes caustic and often political. Bray’s paintings go behind the public facades in search of private stories to tell,” states Meryl Ryan, curator, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery.

Born

Moree, NSW

Education

1984Newcastle College of Advanced Education
Graduate Diploma in painting 1983Newcastle College of Advanced Education
Diploma in Art

Selected solo and group exhibitions

2008Middle Ground, Damien Minton Gallery Redfern2007Special Forces, Newcastle Art Space 2006Levity, Boutwell-Draper Gallery, Redfern 2006Nature Strip, John Paynter Gallery, Newcastle 2005New Paintings, Boutwell-Draper Gallery, Redfern 2004Bonus, Damien Minton Gallery, Newcastle 2003Home Sweet Home, Works from the Peter Fay Collection, Travelling Exhibition, NGA, Canberra 2003Night paintings, Damien Minton Gallery, Newcastle 2001New Work, Damien Minton Gallery, Newcastle 2001Mayfield Placemaking Artwork 1998Steelworks, University of Newcastle 1997Minim Signage Mural Art Project 1996Throsby Creek Art Project 1995General Knowledge, James Harvey Gallery, Balmain 1994Recent Works, James Harvey Gallery, Balmain 1991Slopes and Plains, Moree Plains Regional Gallery 1988Artist in Residence, Newcastle Region Art Gallery 1988New Generation, NGA, Canberra 1985Boomtime, Newcastle Workers Club, NSW

Collections

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Sydney University