Damien Minton Gallery

This exhibition, my twentieth solo since the early 70’s, will be a selection from my past two years of work and will encompass a variety of subjects. I continue to work on a small scale, from life, in oils or watercolour and to draw in pencil, ink and charcoal. This group of pictures shows a evolving interest in the inhabited landscape both urban and pastoral. Although I am not averse to conventional ideas of beauty, I don’t seek out the most spectacular landscapes. Instead, I am drawn to those which have a personal resonance. For example, in bushland not far from the house in Turramurra where my uncle lay dying recently I did a new painting of a particular sapling after each visit to him. I also like to return to places where I’ve had a picnic with friends and family. This show will include work from my 16th and 17th painting trips to Middleback and Myola Stations near Whyalla in South Australia and from a journey to North Queensland where I went fruit-picking with my oldest son.

Further afield, I have completed a set of watercolours of Singapore Harbour, done near the spot where my father fought his last gun battle with the Japanese before being taken prisoner. Closer to home I have painted lake scenes in Centennial Park and bathers at Coogee beach during the last hot days of Summer. Other cityscapes include oils the swooping concrete overpass of the M5 and views of my friends’ backyard in Fitzroy, a car wrecking yard and the steelworks in Whyalla.

A number of my male friends in their 50’s (like me) have kindly sat for portraits, including James Waites the theatre critic after he’d had his nose broken by muggers on the train.

I will include drawings of animals: of Stella, our recently deceased rabbit and of the meerkats at Taronga Zoo where my daughter and I are members. Whether I am painting a portrait or a landscape I love the feeling of immersion with my subject that I get when it’s going well and the sense of urgency that comes from working from life. In the words of Francis Bacon I want the paint to become the image and vice-versa. I see a lot of things I want to make a picture of, and by working small I can get more of them done.

I want these pictures to be about my life.

Year of Birth 1954

Studies

1973Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney

Solo Exhibitions

2008‘People, Paddocks, Coastlines’
Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor 2007Depot Gallery, Sydney 2006Council House 2, Melbourne 2005Depot Gallery, Sydney 2003Depot Gallery, Sydney 2000King Street gallery, Sydney 1998King Street Gallery on Burton, Sydney 1997King Street Gallery on Burton – Landscapes
King Street Gallery‘ – ‘Friends, Family, Places’ 1995King Street Gallery on Burton 1993King Street Gallery on Burton 1991Julie Green Gallery, Sydney 1989Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney – Landscapes
Robin Gibson Gallery – Portraits 1988Robin Gibson Gallery 1987Galerie Cannibal Pierce, Paris 1985Mori Gallery, Sydney 1983Hogarth Gallery, Sydney 1980Robin Gibson Gallery 197838 Oxford Street, Sydney 1976Nicholson Street Gallery, Sydney

Group Exhibitions

2009Hutchins Art Prize, Hobart
Tattersalls Art Prize, Brisbane
Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Regional Art Gallery, Mosman
Blake Prize for Religious Art, National Art School Gallery Sydney
Windows On Pain, Carriageworks and travelling to AGNSW
Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize, Sydney (commended)
Salon Des Refuses, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney 2008Salon des Refuses, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
‘Welcome to Coogee’, (inc. 14 works by Tom Carment)
Mary Place Gallery, Marlene Antico Fine Arts, Sydney
Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, NSW State Library
The Great Australian Barbeque, Wilson St Gallery, Newtown
The Coloured Digger, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney
Gallipoli Art Prize, Sydney (winner)
‘CH2’ (inc. 40 works by Tom Carment), Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney University
James Kiwi Watercolour Prize, Wollongong Art Gallery
Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Regional Gallery
WAYS Fundraiser Art Auction, Ravesi’s, Sydney
Paddington Art Prize, Sydney
Clovelly Artists, Gallery East, Clovelly
Guest artist, Australian Watercolour Institute,
Mosman Regional Art Gallery
End of year exhibition, Damien Minton Gallery
Stonevilla Studio Fundraiser, Chrissie Cottier Gallery, Camperdown 2007Salon des Refuses S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Just Imagine, Wollongong City Art Gallery
Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Regional Gallery
Hula Dreaming, Gallery East Clovelly
Artist’s Books, The Cross Art Projects
Maxine McKew Fundraiser Art Show, Depot Gallery Sydney
Paddington Art Prize, Sydney 2006Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of N.S.W.
Salon des Refuses, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
May Day, The Cross Art Projects
Art on the Rocks, Sydney
Archibald Prize Regional Tour, NSW & VIC
Fireworks, Regional Tour
Paddington Art Prize, Sydney 2005Paddington Art Prize, Sydney 2005The Year in Art. S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Kedumba Drawing Prize, Wentworth Falls, NSW
Art on the Rocks, Sydney
Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Regional Art Gallery (winner)
Tattersall’s Art Prize, Brisbane
Australian Icons, National Trust, Sydney
Salon des Refuses, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Small Offerings: Sri Lankan and Australian artists exhibition for
Tsunami Relief in Sri Lanka, The Cross Art Projects, Sydney 2005Fireworks, Mackay Regional Art Gallery and Museum and touring regional galleries in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria
Dugongs of Hinchinbrook Art Show, Centre of Contemporary Arts, Cairns 2004Archibald Prize. Art Gallery of N.S.W.
Archibald Prize, Regional Tour
Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of N.S.W.
Dobell Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of N.S.W.
Salon des Refuses, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
‘Same Place, Many Views – Painting the Australian Landscape’, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
Blake Prize for Religious Art, Regional Tour
‘Art on the Rocks’, Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority Tattersalls Art Prize, Brisbane
Mosman Art Prize, Sydney
Waverley Art Prize, Sydney
Whyalla Art Prize S.A.
Paddington Art Prize, Sydney
Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown City Art Gallery 2003Jeff Doring Benefit, Grant Pirrie Gallery, Sydney
Ned Kelly Framed, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Picturing Paradise, Save Public Land, Mori Gallery, Sydney
Waverley Art Prize, Sydney
Mosman Art Prize, Sydney
Tattersalls Art Prize, Brisbane
Banool Conservation Art Pr ize, Scone
King’s Cross Art Prize, TAP Gallery, Sydney
Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown City Art Gallery
Blake Prize for Religious Art, Sir Herman Black Gallery, Sydney
The Styx, Mori Gallery, Sydney 2002Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Archibald Prize, Regional Tour
A Silver Lining & A New Beginning, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Salon des Refuses, S.H. Ervin Gallery Sydney
Waverley Art Prize, Sydney
Mosman Art Prize 2001Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Salon des Refuses, S.H. Ervin Gallery Sydney
A Century of Collecting, 1901-2001, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
‘Over the Back Fence’, Bowen Gallery, Wellington, N.Z
Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Regional Art Gallery
Waverley Art Prize, Sydney
‘Floating’, King St. Gallery on Burton
Archibald Prize, Regional Tour
Willoughby Art Prize, Sydney
‘Our Place’, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery
Conrad Jupiter’s Art Prize, Gold Coast city Art Gallery Qld.
Gallery Artists, King St. Gallery on Burton 2000Waverley Art Prize, Sydney
Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Sporting Portrait Prize,Art Gallery of New South Wales
Dobell Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Archibald and Sporting Prizes Regional Tour
Salon des Refuses, S.H. Ervin Gallery Sydney
Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Regional Art Gallery
Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown City Art Gallery
Westpac Redlands Art Prize, Mosman Regional Art Gallery
Last Show of the Year, King Street Gallery on Burton
Things of Wood, King St. Gallery
Fleurieu Art Prize, S.A. 1999Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Prize Pictures, King Street Gallery on Burton
Millennium Art Prize, Schools and Universities Club, Sydney
National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsular Regional Art Gallery
‘Last Show of the year’, King Street Gallery on Burton
Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown City Art Gallery
Tattersall’s Art Prize, Brisbane
Mosman Art Prize, Mosman Regional Art Gallery
Blacktown Art Prize, Blacktown City Art Gallery
Waverley Art Prize 1998Margaret Throsby’s Selections from ArtBank, S.H. Ervin Gallery
Last Show of the Year, King Street Gallery on Burton
Waverley Art Prize
Mosman Art Prize
King Street Gallery on Burton, group exhibition
King Street Gallery, group exhibition
Wespac Art Prize, Sydney
Kedumba Drawing Prize, Wentworth Falls
Salon des Refuses 1997Archibald Prize
Kedumba Drawing Prize
Waverley Art Prize
King Street Gallery on Burton, group exhibition
King Street Gallery, group exhibition
Salon des Refuses 1996King Street Gallery, group exhibition
Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Salon Des Refuses
Waverley Art Prize 1995Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
Salon des Refuses
King Street Gallery on Burton, groupexhibition
Waverley Art Prize 1994Wynne Prize
Salon des Refuses
‘Prize Pictures’, Barry Stern Gallery, Sydney
‘Drawing on the Illawarra’, Wollongong University
Waverley Art Prize 1993‘Ink’, POD Gallery, Sydney
‘Saints and Sacred Places’, Barry Stern Gallery 1992Waverley Art Prize
‘Critic’s Choice’ (Jacques Delaruelle), Macquarie Gallery, Sydney
Environment Exhibition, Wollongong University
Salon des Refuses 1991Group Drawing Show, Julie Green Gallery, Sydney 1989Waverley Art Prize 1988Mosman Art Prize 1983Hogarth Gallery, Sydney 1984Delta Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe,
National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe 1979Inaugural Exhibition, Reid Gallery, Sydney 1978Wynne Prize 1975Wynne Prize 1974Archibald Prize

Collections

City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection National Gallery of Australia Art Gallery of New South Wales State Library of New South Wales Artbank Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris Kedumba Drawing Collection Macquarie Group Collection Qantas Wollongong City Art Gallery Wollongong University Geelong College Mosman Regional Art Gallery Hawkesbury Regional Art Gallery Waverley Council Maritime Union of Australia

Prizes and Awards

2008Gallipoli Art Prize 2005Acquired for collection – Kedumba Drawing Award
Mosman Art Prize 2004-2006Commission to paint & draw construction of Council House 2, Melbourne City 2003King’s Cross Art Prize 2002Mosman Art Prize – Alan Gamble Award (best depiction of the built environment) 2001Open section, Waverley Art Prize 2000Drawing section, Waverley Art Prize 1999Open and Works on Paper sections, Waverley Art Prize 1998Acquired for collection – Kedumba Drawing Award 1997Drawing section, Waverley Art Prize 1992Artist-in-residence, Wollongong University
Watercolour section, Waverley Art Prize 1988Drawing section, Mosman Art Prize
Open section, Waverley Art Prize 1984Artist-in-residence, Geelong College 1975Berrima District Art Prize

Published Writings (by the artist)

2007‘On site’, Heat magazine #13
Catalogue essay, Karl Schwerdtfeger photography, Wollongong City Art Gallery 2006‘CH2, The Construction of Australia’s Greenest Office Building – Painting, Drawings & Stories’ . 48pp illustrated book, published by the City of Melbourne 2003Essay, ‘Underrated – Horace Trennery’, Australian Art Review #2 2002Review, ‘Australian Gothic’ biography of Albert Tucker, HQ magazine 2001‘Illustrated Tales’ (stories and pictures), Heat Magazine (new series #2) 1999‘Fishing Camp’ (story and pictures), Bulletin Magazine
‘My Father’s War’ (illustrated essay), Good Weekend , Sydney Morning Herald 1998‘Telegraph Poles’, ‘Paris Underbelly’ (stories and drawings), HQ magazine 1997Three stories with drawings, Heat magazine #6 1995Short story ‘Ngomo Manza’, included in ‘Men/Love/Sex’, Random House 1986‘Days & Nights in Africa’ (110 pp illustrated book), Public Pictures
‘Africa’s Ruthless Peace’, Good Weekend, Sydney Morning Herald 1981-1982Articles, travel stories from Africa, Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Courier Mail