Ben Quilty
Elwood Park Farewell winter 2006
oil and aerosol on linen
150 x 160 cm
Private Collection
Courtesy of the artist, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane and GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney
8 May – 19 July 2009
"More hotted up cars than the car park of a 24-hour McDonalds. More skulls than Yorrick’s family reunion." – Craig Reucassel
"Like most people, Ben Quilty defies caricature... A petrol-head who buys his art supplies at Bunnings, yet carries tiny notebooks full of the most exquisite pen-and-ink sketches of Venice done in his recent youth." – Don Walker
Ben Quilty paints like there is no tomorrow. In less than a decade he has become one of the country’s favourite artists. Quilty uses licks of luscious paint to conjure his subjects which include his beloved LJ Torana, his ‘wasted’ mates, his son Joe and more recently himself. His subjects are modern day memento mori; pithy reminders of our mortality and a call to live life in the fast lane.
Painting itself is also the subject of Ben Quilty’s work. He summons his subjects with a palpable physicality. Abstract slabs of vivid colour, often underpinned by urgent aerosol drawings, bring his subjects to life. This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of Ben Quilty’s painting and includes loans from private and public collections.
Curator: Lisa Slade
Video
Tour dates
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TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria 15 August – 15 November 2009
Media
View 'Quilty art exhibition to rock the establishment' here