David Bromley (born 1960) is an Australian artist best known for his painting and sculpture, in particular his portraits, and his paintings of children, birds, butterflies and female nudes. He began his career in Adelaide as a potter. He has exhibited widely in Australia, and also in Asia, Europe, Africa and America, and has been a finalist at the Archibald Prize six times. With his wife Yuge Yu and they own Bromley & Co, which has both galleries and stores in Australia and China.

Early life

Bromley was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, in 1960. His family migrated to Adelaide in South Australia in 1964, spending his early years in Adelaide, and teens and twenties in south-east Queensland.

Career

In his mid-twenties he started working with clay and painting. In the 2000s he lived in St Kilda, Melbourne, and established a studio in Daylesford in country Victoria, but in 2012 he auctioned his collection and moved to Byron Bay, moving back to Melbourne in 2013.

Art practice

David Bromley's artworks include two major bodies of work – the Boys Own adventure project and the Female Nude series. He has painted many portraits, including Kate Fischer, Kendall and

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, Miranda Kerr,

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, Poh Ling Yeow, Megan Gale, Kristy Hinze, Hugo Weaving, film director

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, weightlifter

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, and artist

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. He takes inspiration from childhood books, popular culture and artists such as Andy Warhol,

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. Hi ...

, and

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. Bromley's nudes portray the female form in contemporary fashion. He makes use of layering and texturing techniques while employing mediums such as metallic paint and leaf combined with black outlines on bold colours.

Recognition

David Bromley has been an Archibald Prize finalist on six occasions:David Bromley
Art Prizes Database at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

* 1999:

(film director) * 2000:

(Olympic gold medal weightlifter) * 2001: Long Tom (Artist Long Tom Tjapanangka) * 2002:

(artist) *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

McLean & friends (artist McLean Edwards) *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Louise Olsen (fashion designer) Bromley has been listed by the ''

Australian Art Collector ''Art Collector'', formerly ''Australian Art Collector'', is a quarterly art magazine. It primarily covers Australian contemporary and Indigenous Australian art, and also features New Zealand and international artists. History ''Art Collector' ...

'' magazine as one of Australia's 50 most collectible artists (in 2001, 2002 and 2009).

In film

The 2023 documentary film, ''Bromley: Light After Dark'', was made by filmmaker

Sean McDonald Sean McDonald is executive editor and vice president of Farrar, Straus and Giroux and publisher of its experimental imprint, MCD/FSG. Career Authors he has edited include Sloane Crosley, Junot Díaz, Nuruddin Farah, James Frey, Gorillaz, Nicola ...

over a period of five years, during which he got to know the family well. The film was selected as one of four nominees for the CinefestOZ Film Prize, worth , in September 2023.

Exhibitions

Since the mid-1980s, Bromley has had more than 30 solo exhibitions in Australia, as well exhibiting regularly throughout Europe, the UK, South Africa, Asia and the United States.

Personal life

Bromley has suffered from a number of mental health issues, including anxiety and phobias. He has found that "art appeased the voices in his head and helped him find beauty in the world again". In May 2013 Bromley married Yuge Yu and they formed Bromley & Co. Bromley has seven children: four with previous partners, and three with his wife Yuge. As of 2014 the family were dividing their time between Melbourne and Daylesford. In 2018 he and his wife bought the heritage-listed

Old Castlemaine Gaol The Old Castlemaine Gaol is a former prison, located in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. The building was modelled on Pentonville prison in London, replacing the original, designed by Inspector General John Price, which was never occupied. Buil ...

References

External links

David Bromley's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bromley, David 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Australian contemporary artists Artists from Adelaide 1960 births Living people Australian male painters Artists from Queensland Artists from Sheffield English emigrants to Australia