Luke Thurgate is an Australian painter and mural artist.

Early life and education

Luke Thurgate graduated with Bachelor of Fine Arts from

University of Newcastle, Australia The University of Newcastle (UON), informally known as Newcastle University, is a public university in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1965, it has a primary campus in the Newcastle suburb of Callaghan. The university als ...

in 2007, and went on to do a Masters of Fine Arts at the National Art School, where he also teaches drawing.

Career

Thurgate's extensive exhibition history in Australia and New Zealand including exhibitions at Burra Regional Art Gallery, Bergman Gallery,

Backwoods Gallery Backwoods Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood, Australia. Founded in August 2010 the gallery exhibits Australian and international artists with a focus on urban contemporary art, street art St ...

, National Art School, Adelaide Central Gallery, M.Contemporary, Mop Project Space, John Miller Gallery, Watt Space Gallery and John Paynter Gallery. His works are often featured in LGBTI+ festivals and events such as

Sydney Mardi Gras The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or Sydney Mardi Gras is an event in Sydney, New South Wales attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. One of the largest such festivals in the world, Mardi Gras is the ...

, Sydney WorldPride, and

Auckland Pride Festival The Auckland Pride Festival is an annual festival held in Auckland, New Zealand. It began in 2013 and is New Zealand's largest Pride Festival. The festival has also brings together a number of other queer and queer supporting festivals and events ...

Recognition

In 2009, Thurgate was a finalist in the Dobell Drawing Prize. In 2020, he was a finalist in the Tom Bass Figurative Sculpture Prize and the Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award. Thurgate's finalist 2019 Dobell Drawing Prize entry was featured in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

. His finalist 2023 Dobell Drawing Prize was a performance piece drawn on the opening night, a big mural that is semi-permanent, where it was eventually covered with wall paint, and no traces of the drawing would remain. This is common with Thurgate's work, where it is drawn on the walls with charcoal and displayed for a limited time only.

Residencies

* 2018: The Burra Archive, Burra Regional Art Gallery * 2017:

Seymour College (I will grow by serving) , established = 1922 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , denomination = Uniting Churchpreviously Presbyterian Church of Australia , slogan ...

, Adelaide * 2017: Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Adelaide * 2015: Artlab Australia, Adelaide * 2005: Rocket Art, Antique Boys Artist in Residence, Newcastle

Collections

Thurgate's works are in numerous private and public collections, including National Art School,

Maitland Regional Art Gallery Maitland Regional Art Gallery or MRAG is a public art museum in Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. History Maitland City Council began purchasing works of art in 1957 which formed the basis of the collection as it is today. In 1975 Brough ...

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

, University of South Australia, Catherine Croll Collection, and

Alex Seton Alex Seton (born 1977) is an Australian artist, known for his contemporary use of marble carving. He also works in sculpture, photography, video and installation. He has been a two-time finalist in the Wynne Prize, won the Woollahra Small Scul ...

Collection.

Exhibitions

Selected solo and collaborative exhibitions

* 2024: ''Lucas Grogan and Luke Thurgate: Heralds,'' Bergman Gallery, Auckland,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

* 2023: ''Dress Code, .''M Contemporary, Darlinghurst, Australia * 2023: ''Adore You,'' Sydney WorldPride, NAS Gallery, Sydney, Australia * 2022: ''Lisa Jones & Luke Thurgate'', .M Contemporary, Darlinghurst, Australia * 2018: ''The Burra Archive'', Burra Regional Art Gallery, Australia * 2016: ''Face Off'', Floating Goose Studios, Adelaide, Australia * 2016: ''Efface'' (with Chelsea Lehmann), Strange Neighbour Gallery, Melbourne, Australia * 2010: ''How to Draw Sex, Violence and Death the Luke Thurgate Way'', Firstdraft, Sydney, Australia * 2005: ''Yellow Socks Brigade'' (with Lucas Grogan), Watt Space Gallery, Newcastle, Australia

Selected group exhibitions

* 2024: ''Aotearoa Art Fair'', Bergman Gallery,

Viaduct Events Centre The Viaduct Events Centre is a stand-alone, multi-purpose events centre built on the Halsey Street extension wharf, Wynyard Quarter of Auckland, New Zealand. It was owned and operated by Regional Facilities Auckland, an organisation under the con ...

, Auckland, New Zealand * 2023: ''Sydney Contemporary Art Fair'', M.Contemporary, Sydney, Australia * 2023: ''Holy Smokes'',

, Collingwood, Australia * 2023: ''Pride & Prejudice, Part 1,'' Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand * 2010: ''Labelled Queer'',

, Maitland, Australia * 2017: ''The Drawing Exchange'', Adelaide Central School of Art & National Art School, Australia * 2015: ''Adorn'', Adelaide Central Gallery, Adelaide, Australia * 2014: ''Gematria'', Adelaide Central Gallery, Adelaide, Australia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurgate, Luke Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Artists from Sydney 21st-century Australian painters Australian artists