Garry Shead is an Australian artist and filmmaker. His paintings are in many galleries in Australia and overseas, and he has won several awards, including the

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, J. F. Archib ...

in 1992. He has spent time in Japan,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, France, Austria, and Hungary, returning to Australia in the 1980s.

Early life and education

Born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, he studied at 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 p ...

in the 1960s.

Career

He was a founding member of the

Ubu Films Ubu Films was an experimental film-making collective based in Sydney that operated from 1965 to around 1970. It was formed by Albie Thoms, David Perry,Mudie, Peter ''Albie Thoms–David Perry: Selected filmwork (1964–1992); Dialogues (1994)'' ...

collective in the late 1960s, with whom he made numerous experimental film works,Peter Mudie - ''Sydney Underground Movies: Ubu Films 1965-1970'' (UNSW Press, 1997) and he also worked for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

as an editor, cartoonist, filmmaker and scenic painter before his first major solo exhibition with

Watters Gallery Watters Gallery (1964–2018) was a private art gallery in Riley Street Sydney, Australia, run by Frank Watters (1934 – May 2020) with his business partners and friends Geoffrey and Alex Legge. It was influential and well-known, hosting exhibit ...

. He was a friend of

Brett Whiteley Brett Whiteley AO (7 April 1939 – 15 June 1992) was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. He held many exhibitions ...

and participated in the famous Yellow House activities. He has shown in more than seventy group exhibitions and had over fifty solo exhibitions, as well as illustrating numerous books. He spent six months in Paris in 1973. In the 1980s he spent time in France, Spain, Italy and Holland. During a residency at the Karolyi Foundation, in Vence in southern France, he met Hungarian sculptor Judith Englert, and spent a year in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

with her before returning to Australia. In 1987 they eventually settled in the seaside suburb of Bundeena, south of Sydney. During the late 1980s his style (figurative, allegoric, lyric, moody) crystallized with the Bundeena paintings, the Queen series and the

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

series. This last is based mainly on Lawrence's novel ''

Kangaroo (novel) ''Kangaroo'' is a 1923 novel by D.H. Lawrence. It is set in Australia. Description ''Kangaroo'' is an account of a visit to New South Wales by an English writer named Richard Lovat Somers and his German wife Harriet in the early 1920s. This ap ...

'', which was inspired by the Lawrences' stay at Thirroul, near

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

. Shead became interested in Lawrence after he came across letters by the author while on an expedition with the ABC to the Sepik Highlands in

in 1968. The 21st century saw him branch out into a complex set of paintings celebrating the

Ern Malley The Ern Malley hoax, also called the Ern Malley affair, is Australia's most famous literary hoax. Its name derives from Ernest Lalor "Ern" Malley, a fictitious poet whose biography and body of work were created in one day in 1943 by conservativ ...

series of hoax poems.

Awards

Shead won the Young Contemporaries Prize in 1967. He won the Archibald Prize in 1993 with a portrait of Tom Thompson. He also painted a portrait of Brett Whiteley's ex-wife

Wendy Whiteley Wendy Susan Whiteley (; 1941) is best known as the former wife of the Australian artist Brett Whiteley, and as the mother of their daughter, actress Arkie Whiteley (1964–2001). She has become a notable cultural figure, particularly since her ...

for the Archibald Prize, but that entry did not win.Picture this: Steve Meacham, Brisbane Times, 23 February 2008
/ref> He was a finalist in the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. He won the

Dobell Prize The Dobell Drawing Prize is a biennial drawing prize and exhibition, held by the National Art School in association with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation.The prize is an open call to all artists and aims to explore the enduring importance ...

in 2004 with ''Colloquy with John Keats''.

Collections

Shead is represented in the

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 th ...

and all state galleries, many regional galleries and numerous private and corporate collections, both nationally and internationally.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shead, Garry Archibald Prize winners Australian painters Living people Artists from Sydney People educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School 1942 births