Ben Quilty (born 1973) is an Australian artist and social commentator, who has won a series of painting prizes: the 2014 Prudential Eye Award, 2011

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

, and 2009

Doug Moran National Portrait Prize The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize is an annual Australian portrait prize founded by Doug Moran in 1988, the year of Australia's Bicentenary. It is the richest portrait prize in the world with A$150,000 awarded to the winner. The prize is a ...

. He has been described as one of Australia's most famous living artists.

Early life and education

Quilty was born in Sydney in 1973, and grew up in Kenthurst in Sydney's north-west. He was educated at Kenthurst Public School and Oakhill College, where he exhibited his HSC artwork in ARTEXPRESS in 1991 (or 1992). Subsequently, Quilty was selected as the recipient of the Julian Ashton Summer School Scholarship. After high school, Quilty followed his interest in art and obtained a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Painting from

Sydney College of the Arts The Sydney College of the Arts (SCA) is a contemporary art school that was a faculty of the University of Sydney from 1990 until 2017, when it became a school of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Until the end of 2019, the campus was loc ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

, graduating in 1994. He earned a Certificate in Aboriginal Culture and History in 1996, and went on to study visual communication, design and women's studies at

Western Sydney University Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 2001.

Career

In 2002 Quilty won the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, which increased his exposure to the public, and he has been working full-time as an artist since then. He has been described as one of Australia's most famous living artists.

Official war artist

From 11 October until 3 November 2011, Quilty was attached to the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Fo ...

(ADF) observing their activities in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Ac ...

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the ca ...

and Tarin Kowt. His task was to record and interpret the experiences of Australian service personnel who are deployed as part of ''Operation Slipper''. After his return, Quilty spent six months producing work for the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving p ...

's National Collection. Such work is in the tradition of war artists that began in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

with artists Arthur Streeton,

George Lambert George Lambert may refer to: Politicians *George Lambert, 1st Viscount Lambert (1866–1958), British MP and peer *George Lambert, 2nd Viscount Lambert (1909–1989), his son, also a British MP and peer * George Lambert (Australian politician) ( ...

and Frederick McCubbin. Quilty's experiences as a war artist and the work he produced as a result of it was explored in the ABC TV's ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 2 ...

'' program "War Paint" screened on 3 September 2012.

Style, subjects and practice

Quilty's work has been influenced by a number of life experiences, including the

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhal ...

and

drinking culture Drinking culture is the set of traditions and social behaviors that surround the consumption of alcoholic beverages as a recreational drug and social lubricant. Although alcoholic beverages and social attitudes toward drinking vary around the w ...

of his youth, later

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

, and his experience as a war artist (see

below Below may refer to: *Earth * Ground (disambiguation) * Soil * Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) * Less than *Temperatures below freezing * Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fr ...

). In 2002 he exhibited a series of paintings featuring his beloved Torana car, signifying the rituals of mateship among his cohort. A few years later, ''Van Rorschach'' (2005) represented a white

minivan Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe i ...

, a more practical vehicle. While, despite the name, this painting did not use the Rorschach technique (aka inkblot technique, used for psychological evaluation), he started using this technique in his later work, to explore the often violent colonial history of Australia. Quilty is known for his distinctive style of

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest ...

and a range of topics which includes portraits (he won the

for his portrait of artist and friend

Margaret Olley Margaret Hannah Olley (24 June 192326 July 2011) was an Australian painter. She was the subject of more than ninety solo exhibitions. Early life Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales. She was the eldest of three children of Jo ...

), examination of masculine culture, expression of psychological interiors, and others which show his engagement with a range of social issues, such as the death penalty, asylum seekers, and massacres of Indigenous Australians. He lives and works in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.

Other roles and activities

Quilty was a driving force in the establishment of a new gallery, the first in the Southern Highlands, situated in the grounds of historic Retford Park at

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, about ninety minutes southwest of Sydney. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and Highlands. Bowral once served ...

. Called Ngununggula (meaning "belonging" in the local Gundungurra language), the gallery was created out of an old

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

, after Quilty led a major fundraising campaign and was spent on its restoration and conversion. It opened in October 2021, and in mid-2022 featured a major exhibition of the work of brothers

Abdul Abdul (also transliterated as Abdal, Abdel, Abdil, Abdol, Abdool, or Abdoul; ar, عبد ال, ) is the most frequent transliteration of the combination of the Arabic word '' Abd'' (, meaning "Servant") and the definite prefix '' al / el'' (, mea ...

and

Abdul-Rahman Abdullah Abdul-Rahman Abdullah (born 1977) is an Australian artist based in Western Australia, an elder brother of artist Abdul Abdullah. He works mainly in sculpture and art installation, installations. Early life and education Abdul-Rahman Abdullah w ...

, along with video works by

Tracey Moffatt Tracey Moffatt (born 12 November 1960) is an Indigenous Australian artist who primarily uses photography and video. In 2017 she represented Australia at the 57th Venice Biennale with her solo exhibition, "My Horizon". Her works are held in th ...

Honours and awards

* 2018: Elected as a Fellow of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

* 2015: Honorary Doctorate of Creative Arts,

* 2014: Prudential Eye Award (Overall), Singapore * 2014: Prudential Eye Award (Painting), Singapore * 2012: Finalist,

, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney * 2012: Finalist, Gold Award, Rockhampton Art Gallery, Rockhampton * 2012: Winner,

Redlands Art Prize , motto_translation = Let Your Light Shine , established = , type = Independent co-educational secondary day school , denomination = Anglican , affiliations = , educational ...

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts ...

Gallery, Sydney * 2011: Winner,

, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, for his portrait of Australian artist

(after previously being a finalist for the prize several times) It was his seventh entry to the prize. * 2009:

, Sydney, for his painting of Australian musician

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-s ...

* 2007: National Self Portrait Prize, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, for the painting ''Dead (Over the Hills and Far Away)'' * 2004: Kings School Art Prize, Sydney * 2004: Metro 5 Art Prize, Melbourne * 2002: Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney * 1991: Julian Ashton Summer School Scholarship, Sydney * 1989: Rocks Painters Picnic, Age and Open Winner,

Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney that runs for three weeks every January, since it was established in 1977. The festival program features in excess of 100 events from local and international artists ...

Exhibitions

Quilty's works have been exhibited at many locations, both

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ' ...

and group exhibitions.

Solo exhibitions

In 2019 ''Quilty'', a major touring survey exhibition, the first in a decade, curated by

Lisa Slade Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), ...

of the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), was hosted first at AGSA (March 2019), then at the

Queensland Gallery of Modern Art The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) is an art museum located within the Queensland Cultural Centre in the South Bank precinct of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. GOMA, which opened on 2 December 2006, is the larges ...

and the Art Gallery of New South Wales (October 2019). The exhibition included works from his time in Afghanistan, Greece, Serbia and Lebanon, and celebrated his connection to artist

as well as including new Rorschach-based works documenting the

Myall Creek massacre The Myall Creek massacre was the killing of at least twenty-eight unarmed Indigenous Australians by twelve colonists on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek near the Gwydir River, in northern New South Wales. After two trials, seven of the twelve ...

and an hitherto unrecorded massacre in the

Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or ''the Lands'', is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the aṉan ...

(APY lands) in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, titled ''Irin Irinji''. The run at the Art Gallery of New South Wales coincided with the release of the documentary ''Quilty – Painting the Shadows'', made by Catherine Hunter, on ABC Television on 19 November 2019. A book, Quilty, was published to accompany the exhibition, which includes essays Slade, Quilty's close friend, author

Richard Flanagan Richard Miller Flanagan (born 1961) is an Australian writer, who has also worked as a film director and screenwriter. He won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel '' The Narrow Road to the Deep North''. Flanagan was described by the ''Washin ...

, and head curator of International Art at the Art Gallery of NSW, Justin Paton. Other solo exhibitions include: *''Ben Quilty LIVE!'' University of Queensland Art Museum,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

(2009) *''Trashed, LOST Projects'',

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

, Philippines (2010) *''A Convergence of Birds'', Goulburn Regional Art Gallery,

Goulburn, New South Wales Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

(2011) *''Ben Quilty'', Jan Murphy Gallery at Korean International Art Fair,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

(2012) *''Trigger-Happy: Ben Quilty's Brave New World'', Drill Hall Gallery,

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

, Canberra (8 November 2013–15 December 2013) *''Ben Quilty'',

Saatchi Gallery The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art and an independent charity opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985. Exhibitions which drew upon the collection of Charles Saatchi, starting with US artists and minimalism, moving to the ...

, London (4 July 2014–3 August 2014) *''Ben Quilty'', Galerie Allen, Paris (17 September 2014–11 October 2014) *''Ben Quilty, Kuta Beach'', Hong Kong Art Fair with Tolarno Galleries, Hong Kong (2014) *''Ben Quilty'',

Bendigo Art Gallery Bendigo Art Gallery is an Australian art gallery located in Bendigo, Victoria. It is one of the oldest and largest regional art galleries. History The gallery was founded in 1887. The gallery's collection was first housed in the former Bendigo ...

, which included works from the Saatchi exhibition (12 December 2014–1 March 2015),

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, mak ...

, Victoria *''Ben Quilty: After Afghanistan'',

Special Exhibitions Gallery, Canberra, touring (2014–2016) *''Ben Quilty: Straight White Male'', Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong (16 January 2015–1 March 2015)

Group exhibitions

Group exhibitions include: *''An Oeuvre Both Abundant and Diverse'', SCA Galleries,

(2010) *''Together in Harmony for 50 Years: Linking Australian and Korean Arts'', Korea Cultural Exchange Centre, Seoul (2011) * ''Rapture of Death'', Gippsland Art Gallery, Victoria (2012) *''Divide and Context'', Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales (2013) *''Dark Heart'': Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art (1 March 2014–11 May 2014) * Melbourne Art Fair (13 August 2014–17 August 2014) *''Embodied'', Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong (7 November 2014–10 January 2015) * ''Australian Artists in Bali: 1930s to Now'', McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, Langwarrin, Victoria (2015) *''Length & Breadth: new acquisitions from the Parliament House Art Collection'',

Parliament House, Canberra Parliament House, also referred to as Capital Hill or simply Parliament, is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, and the seat of the legislative branch of the Australian Government. Located in Canberra, the Parliament building ...

(2016) * ''Sappers & Shrapnel: Contemporary Art and the Art of the Trenches'',

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

(11 November 2016–29 January 2017) *''NGV Triennial 2017'',

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited ar ...

(15 December 2017–15 April 2018) *Art Basel Hong Kong, Tolarno Galleries, Hong Kong (2017)

Other work on display

In December 2018, a

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern G ...

created by Quilty and artist Mirra Whale out of refugees' discarded lifevests was displayed in

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. It is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Archbishop of Melbour ...

Collections

As well as being held in private collections in Australia and around the world, examples of Quilty's work are held in a number of public collections in Australia, including: * Art Gallery of New South Wales (''Golden Soil, Wealth for Toil'' (2004), acquired 2005, ''Fairy Bower Rorschach'' (2012), acquired 2012, and ''Self Portrait, the Executioner'' (2015), acquired 2015), *Art Gallery of South Australia (''Self portrait (as Cook ...)'' (2011), and ''Self portrait (as Cook with sunglasses)'' (2011)), *

, Canberra *Bendigo Art Gallery (''Kuta Rorschach No 2'' (2013), acquired 2014), *Goulburn Regional Art Gallery (''Torana'' (2007), and ''Skull Rorschach'' (2009)) * Macquarie Bank, Australia *

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), located on George Street in Sydney's The Rocks neighbourhood, is solely dedicated to exhibiting, interpreting, and collecting contemporary art, from across Australia and around the world. It is ...

(''Van Rorschach'' (2005), acquired 2007), *

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in t ...

, Canberra *

, Melbourne *

Newcastle Art Gallery The Newcastle Art Gallery (formerly the Newcastle City Art Gallery, Newcastle Region Art Gallery) is a large, public art museum in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. History Founded in 1945 with an art collection consisting of 123 works ...

''Cullen 'before and after'' (2006). *Parliament House, Canberra (''Lead Shot Rorschach'' (2013)), *

Queensland Art Gallery The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away. The Queensland Art Galler ...

(''Sergeant P, after Afghanistan'' (2012)). * University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane

References

External links

* *Video
Artscape - Ben Quilty and the Maggots
(no longer active)
Review of Fiji Wedding
at Das Platforms. {{DEFAULTSORT:Quilty, Ben 1973 births Living people Artists from Sydney Australian painters Archibald Prize winners Doug Moran National Portrait Prize winners Western Sydney University alumni People educated at Oakhill College