Tony Ameneiro (born 1959

London, UK London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

arrived Australia 1968) is an Australian contemporary

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

whose work focuses around his

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

and

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...

practice.

Biography

Ameneiro was born in London in 1959 to Spanish parents and emigrated to Australia in 1968. He studied at the Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education 1979–1981. During his time at art school, he met Graeme Synold and together they formed the

Post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

group,

Tablewaiters Tablewaiters were an Australian Post-punk band active from 1980 to 1986. They were founded by Tony Ameneiro on synthesizer, synthesiser and Graeme Synold on lead vocals; by 1981 they included Gye Bennetts on drums, Ian Robertson on bass guitar, ...

in 1980. With Ameneiro on

synthesiser A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

and Synold on lead vocals, they were soon joined by other band members. As a member of Tablewaiters, Ameneiro provided the cover artwork for their single, "Scattered Visions" (1984) Known for his figurative work that often centres around references to

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

, Ameneiro works primarily in

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

monotyping Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The i ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

.
Ameneiro was the winner of the 2007

Fremantle Print Award The Fremantle Print Award is Australia's longest-running, most prestigious and largest printmaking award, and is awarded by the Fremantle Arts Centre, who also acquire the winning work. The award was established in 1976 with the support of Shell ...

. More recently Ameneiro was the winner of the 2022 Swan Hill Print & Drawing Acquisitive (Print Award) He has been twice selected as commissioned print-artist for the Print Council of Australia. He has also been a three-time finalist in 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 2003 2006 and 2012.
His work is represented in select major private and corporate collections, as well as public and university museum collections nationally and internationally including th
British Museum

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 ...

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 ...

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 Gallery ...

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...

and the

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 ...

. Illustrated essays, articles and reviews on his work have been published in selected Australian newspapers and recognised art press including

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

, Art Monthly Australia, Print Council of Australia's (PCA) quarterly journal IMPRINT Periphery and

Artlink Magazine ''Artlink'', formerly titled ''Artlink: Australian contemporary art quarterly'', is a themed magazine covering contemporary art and ideas from Australia and the Asia-Pacific. It covers a diverse range of issues, including social and environm ...

.
He has been a regular artist in residence at the ''Art Vault'' Mildura, along with other artists such as Geoffrey Ricardo

Mike Parr Mike Parr is an Australian performance artist and printmaker. Parr's works have been exhibited in Australia and internationally, including in Brazil, Cuba, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United States. In the 1970s, he ...

and

Rick Amor Rick Amor (born 3 March 1948 ) is an Australian artist and figurative painter. He was an Official War Artist for Australia. Life and work Rick Amor was born in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. He has a certificate in art from the Caulfield I ...

. His studio has

edition Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Recor ...

ed prints for various Australian artists including the 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, J. F. Archib ...

winning artist

Ben Quilty 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, and 2009 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. He has been described as one of Aus ...

and the 2011

winner

Anne Judell Anne Judell (born 1942) is an Australian artist and winner of the 2011 Dobell Prize for drawing. Judell was born in Melbourne in 1942, and studied at RMIT University. She moved to Sydney in 1977 and then to the New South Wales southern highlan ...

. In 2021 the book "Tony Ameneiro - Flowers Skulls & Heads" was published. His studio is based in

Moss Vale Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. It is located on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass. Moss Vale has several he ...

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

References

External links

* Artist's website * Images of Ameneiro's work held by the Art Gallery of New South Wale

Art Gallery of New South Wales online collection listing * Images of Ameneiro's work held by the Art Gallery of South Australi

Art Gallery of South Australia online collection listing * Images of Ameneiro's work held by the National Gallery of Australia

National Gallery of Australia online collection listing * Images of Ameneiro's work held by the British Museu

British Museum online collection listing

Biography

References

External links

Further reading