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Adam Cullen
Born 1965. Lives and works in Sydney.
"I think art is about asking a lot of questions."
Scandalising the art snobs when he walked away with the
prestigious Archibald Prize in 2000 for his portrait of actor David
Wenham, Adam Cullen has since been identified as one of Australia's
most collectable contemporary artists. He is top of the AGNSW
Contemporary "12 Hottest" list, and has numerous solo exhibitions
and a lengthy bibliography of art discourse behind him.
Cullen's work provokes us and makes us wonder. He has an
extraordinary sense of humour and pathos and plays a delicate
balancing act between "punk brashness" and a relentless honesty,
expressing his own grave doubts about himself and the world around
him.
The content of his comic repertoire often revolves around issues
of national and gendered identity - addressing racial intolerance,
bigotry, sexism and political and social hypocrisies.
Cullen's work displays a keen eye for abstraction and for more or
less traditional painterly qualities. Stylistically, particularly
in his graphics, Cullen borrows from popular graffiti and by doing
so, questions the boundaries that traditionally separate art from
life.
As an artist Cullen says he's not exactly trying to find the
truth: "I think art is about asking a lot of questions." Mission
accomplished.
Prizes include: Archibald Prize 2000 (Winner); finalist 2002-03;
ARCO 2002 Madrid; Sulman Prize 2003; Finalist, Mosman Art Prize
2000; and Winner, Mosman Art Prize 2005.
Public Collections include: Australian National Gallery, Canberra,
ACT; The Gold Coast City Art Gallery, QLD; Griffith University,
QLD; Geelong Art Gallery, VIC; The Art Gallery of NSW; The National
Gallery of Victoria; Monash University Gallery; The Art Gallery of
SA; The Art Gallery of Western Australia; Art Bank, NSW; and AMP
Australia; as well as numerous private collections in Australia and
overseas.
