Martin Wilson is a visual artist, based in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia.

Early life and education

Martin Wilson graduated from the

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 ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1994.

Art practice

Wilson works primarily in painting and textile media. Among his most prominent works is ''The Fuzzy Prime Ministers'' – a series of latch-hook rug portraits of each

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

. The series was created to mark Australia's Centenary of Federation in 2001 and was exhibited at Object Gallery in Sydney during the

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 over 100 events from local and international artists and inclu ...

, the

National Portrait Gallery (Australia) The National Portrait Gallery, also known as the National Portrait Gallery of Australia (NGA or NPGA) in Canberra is a public art gallery containing portraits of prominent Australians. It was established in 1998 and moved to its present buildin ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

and regional art galleries throughout Australia. Following his election in November 2007, a portrait of

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

– the 26th in the series – was first shown at the Flinders Street Gallery in Sydney. Wilson's other major works include ''Blue Budgie on Pink'' (2003) and ''Raw Prawn'' (2007). In April 2009 at the University of Newcastle Gallery, Martin presented ''Post'' (2009), a series of rug portraits of

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...

workers for the ''Making Our Times'' exhibition,Making Our Times
/ref> which he also co-curated with Jason Martin of the Flinders Street Gallery. Wilson has exhibited extensively in

artist-run space An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...

s in Newcastle,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, and was co-founder and co-director of Newcastle artist-run space Rocketart from 1999 to 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Martin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian artists People from Newcastle, New South Wales