Ragged Glory 2016
Koala 2016
The Plot 2016
Sleepwalkers 2016
The Last Night 2016
One Night Stand 2016
Article 19
In The Middle 2016
The Idea Of North 2016
Dog And Pony Show 2016
TIM McMONAGLE
There is something eerily familiar about the trees that have begun to sprout up in Tim McMonagle’s work in recent times. An artist who has spent almost two decades disseminating human nature’s foibles and absurdities through his whimsical compositions, McMonagle has increasingly found himself compelled to consider the curious lifecycle of our majestic native gums. Already rich with folkloric, religious, and cultural symbolism, trees take on even greater significance in a country such as Australia, where the bush and outback landscapes are so closely intertwined with our national identity. Endlessly diverse in form, character and colour, their broken limbs and struggle for new growth provide McMonagle with the ideal allegory from which to contemplate the complexities of humanity and our connection to environment. Knotted, gnarled, and rather like a surreal Australian version of Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree, they dominate his canvases the way they do the outback, anthropomorphised to appear as the ultimate survivors in an unforgiving landscape.
But it isn’t solely McMonagle’s unique observations on life and the milieu that makes these works so compelling. Concurrent to his propensity for quirky imagery is a deep and abiding respect for the act of painting. Each canvas is a testament to his commitment to technique and mark making, and the enjoyment he gets from pushing paint around while lost in the creative process. Though an important element of his work, his subject matter becomes less about conveying sentiment than it is a device for capturing attention and luring his audience in. Doggedly devoted to his artistic practice, he rehearses each piece by sketching and drawing his ideas multiple times so as to become intimately acquainted with every line and detail. By the time he is ready to commit to the canvas, he knows the image well enough that he is able to make his brushstrokes appear spontaneous and organically formed. Seen up close, each fragment of the whole could potentially be observed as its own abstracted composition, such is the detail of his work.
Born in New Zealand, Tim McMonagle has spent the majority of his life working and studying in Melbourne, Australia. Winner of the 2010 Fletcher Jones Art Prize for his work The happy song, he was named a finalist in the 2012 Archibald Prize for his portrait of art collector Michael Buxton, and has twice been amongst the Wynne Prize finalists (2015/16) for this series of tree landscapes. A veteran of over forty solo and group exhibitions, his work is held in major public, private and university collections throughout Australia.
JULIAN MEAGHER
Julian Meagher's delicate oil paintings are often based around masculine rituals and symbols, such as disembodied heads of sporting heroes and old beer bottles found by divers in Sydney Harbour. Meagher's interest in both personal and collective inherited history including links to our national identity, is evident in much of his subject matter.
In his latest show 'Everybody talk in their sleep' Meagher celebrates the infamous goon bag, long ago seared into our national psyche almost as a rite of passage. Our memories lie trapped within the endless reflections and refractions of its surface. His paintings whimsically reference Warhol's Silver Clouds work, as well as Christo's wrappings as a form of revelation through concealment. Meagher states too that he has been disappointed by Sydney's recent lock out laws that have amputated much of the important late night cultural landscape of the city, his work 'Article 19' directly referencing our right to freedom of expression.
In 2009 and 2012 he was the recipient of the New Work Grant from the Australia Council of the Arts. He has been a finalist multiple times in the Doug Moran Portrait Prize, the Salon des Refuses, the Metro Art Prize and the Blake Prize for Religious Art. He was been a finalist in the Art Gallery of New South Wales' Archibald Prize in 2014 and 2015, the Wynne Prize in 2015 and the Gold Award in 2016.
July 25, 2023
TIM MCMONAGLE'S PAINTING 'PLAZA' (2005) IS CURRENTLY ON VIEW AT AGNSW
Tim McMonagle's painting 'Plaza' is currently on view at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the 'brick vase clay cup jug' exhibition.
Guest curator Glenn Barkley selected the artworks in 'brick vase clay cup jug' by typing the words of the exhibition title into the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ online collection database, retrieving objects linked only by a word or medium. Unlike the typical approach to making an exhibition, where works are grouped conceptually according to meanings or historical associations, this selection process is non-hierarchical and echoes the random groupings seen in gallery storage. Usually guided by pragmatic considerations – maximising space and access or caring for the collection – these incidental groupings can create inspiring and surprising links between disparate objects, art-handling equipment and exhibition furniture.
Barkley has then taken cues from these search results, either aesthetic or conceptual, to cast a wider net through the collection, creating new connections – many of which are personal, visual, intuitive and emotional – between artworks.
- Art Gallery New South Wales
The exhibition is open until January 2024
IMAGE:
Plaza (installation view) 2005
oil on linen
180 x 180 cm
July 8, 2021
JULIAN MEAGHER FEATURED ON THE DESIGN FILES WITH CRAIG 'FOZZY' FOSTER
Art, Activism And The Archibald
CREATIVE PEOPLE
Art has always been a vehicle for social dialogue, and a window into current political issues. When Sydney artist Julian Meagher met former professional soccer player, commentator and human rights advocate Craig ‘Fozzy’ Foster AM, he was inspired.
June 9, 2021
TIM McMONAGLE FINALIST IN THE BAYSIDE ART PRIZE
Established in 2015, the Bayside Painting Prize is one of the most generous non-acquisitive painting prizes in Australia. The exhibition draws together a breadth of artists with varied approaches to painting. This allows the Bayside City Council to futher promote artists to the Bayside community from across Australia, providing painters with support to continue their practice.
Tim McMonagle's work 'Put Upon' 2020 is a finalist in this year's prize.
IMAGE:
Put upon 2020
oil on linen
138 x 138 cm
June 8, 2021
JULIAN MEAGHER FEATURED IN ARTIST PROFILE MAGAZINE
WORDS EMMA-KATE WILSON
A few years ago, Sydney-based artist Julian Meagher welcomed the birth of his son and found himself working more instinctively. ‘I think I’m making better works because I am taking a lot more risks, I make so many more bad paintings that end up in the bin now than I used to,’ he comments.
When his daughter was born eight months ago, he went through a whole new level of sleep deprivation and heartbreak, with their little girl suffering reflux for six months. ‘Sleepwalking’ channels this energy, exploring the space between altered states, the subconscious and dreaming.
Alongside ultra-romantic pink and blue landscapes, complete with rainbows, built through active painting, raw brushstrokes and delicate fades, Meagher presents his sleeping family. The small and intimate portraits connect with the large glitchy, idyllic landscapes. ‘I’m trying to make sense of the complex human existence through the power and beauty of nature,’ he adds, ‘I feel like a rainbow next to a little sleeping baby is what we need right now … A hope that things will get better on both a personal and collective level.’
Meagher’s palette is deliberately muted, soft, subtle. He says, ‘I think painting is only good if you’re true to yourself. Painting is a kind of meditation for me in a way; I want the end result to slow down my breath rate.’
To construct his portraits and colour fields – which can be read as landscapes, abstracted, or the sky out of his studio window – Meagher applies thin layers and begins to remove the colour as it starts to dry. Working against the drying time of the paint stops the artist from ‘overcooking’ them. By revealing the linen below, the canvases hold luminosity, adding a watercolour effect evocative of the ocean-inspired landscapes. ‘We’ve all seen those storms out to sea; it’s in our collective consciousness,’ he explains, ‘most can associate strong memories and rites of passage with these coastline images.’
February 10, 2021
TIM McMONAGLE IN LOVELOCK AT GREENWOOD STREET PROJECT
'Lovelock' is the presentation of a new suite of paintings by Tim McMonagle that have been directly informed by a new suite of sound works, produced for this project by Paul Knight, who is resident in Berlin.
Transference. The change of elemental states. The search for a place not here nor there.
These were our early concepts for the exhibition. Be careful what you wish for. Despite an unpredictable year in all corners of the globe, the original framework for the project is in place: to commission work from one artist to inform the work of the other. The idea & process is elliptical and is revealed over a period of time in three sections.
The fulcrum is a set of paintings by Tim McMonagle. They will be made using source imagery around the idea of “A Place Between / Not here nor there”. We approached Paul Knight in Berlin to create source images generated by this diaristic photographic practice. Then the pandemic happened, and nothing was the same.
In isolation in Berlin, Paul had immersed himself in his music practice, making soundscapes without traditional song structures, using sources completely derived from synthetic sounds: purely electronic space. The fit with the original concept was perfect. We devised a limit of the 12” LP to set the duration of the material. The square of the LP cover echoes Tim’s exclusive canvas ratio, the square.
The six tracks are to be issued as source material to McMonagle for his body of paintings. Tim has always hankered to work with a non-visual source for a group of paintings & this serendipitous outcome has both artists exhilarated by the possibility of extending their practice.
- Greenwood Street Project
The final part of this work is the unification of the germinal sound work by Paul Knight. Tim McMonagle’s paintings, and documentation of the exhibition to be presented at Greenwood Street Project in early 2021 in an LP/catalogue.
May 22, 2019
TIM McMONAGLE FEATURED IN ARTIST PROFILE MAGAZINE
Tim McMonagle intimately confronts both the fragile and robust nature of life. With an obsession for mark-making and the act of painting, he depicts humanised landscapes with whimsical contradictions of impasto and swathing washes. His paintings require a closer inspection, as dangling branches and wailing trees act like entwined torsos to question humanity’s relationship to the environment. Artist Profile spoke to McMonagle in his Melbourne studio for Issue 46.
- Ellinor Pelz, Artist Profile
IMAGE:
Magnificent Pavlova With Bananas 2019
oil on linen
77 x 77 cm
February 28, 2019
JULIAN MEAGHER FINALIST IN THE GLOVER PRIZE 2019
After receiving a record-breaking 482 entries this year and careful deliberation from the judges, the Glover Prize has announced its 42 finalists for 2019. These finalists represent the Judges’ selection of the best artworks of the Tasmanian landscape, chosen from the 482 entrants coming from every Australian state and territory, as well as a number of submissions from New Zealand, Italy, and the United Kingdom. These 42 artworks will be on display at the Glover Prize Exhibition at Falls Park Pavilion in Evandale, Tasmania during March this year.
The judges for the Glover Prize 2019 are Art Fairs Australia CEO and director, Barry Keldoulis; Sydney artist Joan Ross; and Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) director, Janet Carding. The judges next task is to carefully narrow down the 42 finalists to choose the winner of the $50,000 cash prize. After its display at the exhibition, the John Glover Society Inc. will acquire the winning artwork for its collection.
Julian Meagher's work Democratic Mountain has been selected as one of the finalists. The exhibition commences on the March long-weekend, running from Saturday the 9th of March, 2019 and continuing until the end of the following weekend on Sunday the 17th of March, 2019, at the historic Falls Park Pavilion in Evandale.
October 4, 2018
THE KINGS SCHOOL ART PRIZE
Miranda Skoczek, Julian Meagher and John Aslanidis are finalists in The Kings School Art Prize 2018.
The King’s Art Prize is a $20,000 acquisitive award presented to the best contemporary artwork created by an artist resident in Australia and represented by a commercial gallery, supporting both the artists and the fine arts industry. Entry is by invitation only and the finalists are selected by an appointed Art Prize panel.
September 30, 2018
JULIAN MEAGHER IN THE PADDINGTON ART PRIZE
Congratulations to Julian Meagher who is a finalist in the Paddington Art Prize 2018.
The Paddington Art Prize is a $30,000 National acquisitive prize, awarded annually for a painting inspired by the Australian landscape. The prize encourages the interpretation of the landscape as a significant contemporary genre, its long tradition in Australian painting as a key contributor to our national ethos, and is a positive initiative in private patronage of the arts in Australia.
Of his entry 'Wapengo Lake Tideline', Julian says
I wanted this work to chase the spontaneity and freedom of a watercolour. It was painted at a time of great change just before my son was born. A time of giving in to forces far greater than me, of tides, cycles and connection to country.
May 14, 2018
JULIAN MEAGHER IN THE SALON DES REFUSES AT SH ERVIN GALLERY
The Salon des Refusés was initiated by the S.H.Ervin Gallery in 1992 in response to the large number of works entered into the Archibald Prize which were not selected for display in the official exhibition. The Archibald Prize is one of Australia’s most high profile and respected awards which attracts hundreds of entries each year and the S.H. Ervin Gallery’s ‘alternative’ selection has become a much anticipated feature of the Sydney art scene.
Julian Meagher's work 'Wapengo #1' was selected in 2018. Wapengo #1 is from a series painted after a recent residency on the Sapphire Coast where Meagher spent a month with his pregnant wife Beejal in Mimosa Rocks National Park. He says:
‘I wanted these oil paintings to chase the spontaneity and freedom of a watercolour. They are unashamedly romantic, painted at a time of great change just before my son was born. A time of giving in to forces far greater than me, of tides, cycles and connection to country.’
May 14, 2018
JULIAN MEAGHER FINALIST IN THE ARCHIBALD PRIZE 2018
Julian Meagher is a finalist in the Art Gallery of New South Wales' Archibald prize, the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. His work is of Man Booker prize recipient Richard Flanagan. Meagher says:
'Richard Flanagan’s novels are published in 42 countries and have received numerous honours and awards, including the 2002 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the 2014 Man Booker Prize and the 2016 Athens Prize for Literature.
‘He is one of my favourite novelists but it is his writing and interviews on literature, the environment, art and politics that particularly make him one of Australia’s most important voices,’ says Julian Meagher. ‘Herb, Richard’s writing partner, was pretty insistent that he be included in the painting.’
Born in 1978 in Sydney, Meagher still lives and works there. This is his third time in the Archibald Prize. He has also been a Wynne finalist.
May 14, 2018
TIM McMONAGLE, FINALIST IN THE 2018 WYNNE PRIZE
Tim McMonagle is a finalist in the 2018 Wynne Prize for landscape painting at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
In my painting 'Shadow captain' I was interested in capturing an imagined anthropomorphic nature. In the changing low light of dawn or dusk the large eucalyptus seems to twist and contort, fastened to the ground where it is anchored.'
- Tim McMonagle, 2018
IMAGE:
Shadow Captain 2018
oil on linen
50.5 x 50.5 cm
May 3, 2018
JULIAN MEAGHER IN VOGUE LIVING MAY/JUN 2018
Julian Meagher is featured in the May/June edition of Vogue Living magazine.
March 30, 2018
JULIAN MEAGHER AT PENRITH REGIONAL GALLERY
5 x 5 – the Artist and the Patron
The artist-collector relationship has existed for millennia, manifesting in multiple forms with varying outcomes. During the Renaissance, the patronage of the Medici family enabled Raphael and Leonardo DaVinci to focus solely on art. Just outside Melbourne, during the mid twentieth century, at their home Heidi, John and Sunday Reed invited a young Sidney Nolan inside their world, creating a consummate creative union. In Sydney, Judith Nielsen has helped usher contemporary Chinese artists from emerging to legendary status. Each partnership has yielded significant outputs reverberating throughout different cultures.
5X5 recognizes the cultural significance of these types of pairings by exploring the trajectories of five artists and their parallel collector relationships:
- Amanda Love / Tracey Emin
- Dr. Dick Quan / Uji ‘Hahan’ Handoko Eko Saputro
- Lisa Paulsen / Patrick Hartigan
- James Emmett / Julian Meagher
- The Private Collector / Nigel Milsom
Marking a twenty-five-year relationship, artist Julian Meagher and collector James Emmett have the longest standing association of all the collector-artist pairings showcased in 5X5. Their journey begins when they went to high school together. The pair would become closer friends when Emmett’s partner, Peter Wilson commissioned Meagher to paint Emmett’s portrait during their university years (included in this exhibition).
The works included in this exhibition span the entire period of the Emmett and Meagher’s art collecting/ art making histories. Interestingly, Meagher admits that some of these earlier works are no longer representative of his current practice, revealing the temporal nature of collecting. Often new acquisitions redefine the collection or an artist’s output as a whole by casting new light on past works or acquisitions and suggesting possible directions for the future. Nevertheless, this relationship timestamps their shared experiences as they developed into their adult selves.
March 6, 2018
JULIAN MEAGHER FEATURE / SEMI PERMANENT
Tides and cycles
By Christopher Barker, Tuesday February 13, 2018
For Sydney artist Julian Meagher, 'Inlet/Outlet' is a new type of beast.
Not so much in its challenge to Australia’s contemporary cultural identity (something he is largely known and regarded for), but for translating those ideals to landscape works inspired by the far South Coast of New South Wales Australia. The result, a 21-piece exhibition at the Bega Valley Regional Gallery, chases freedom, the tide and slow looking. The effect on him, profound as it may be, is outlined in our interview below.
March 6, 2018
JULIAN MEAGHER / ARTIST PROFILE MAGAZINE
Julian Meagher's three week residency at the Myer House at Blithry Inlet on the south coast of New South Wales and the resultant solo exhibition at Bega Regional Gallery is profiled on the Artist Profile blog.
'Sydney artist Julian Meagher's latest exhibition 'Inlet Outlet' is the fruit of a 2017 residency with Bega Valley Regional Gallery (BVRG). A pilot project for a long-term partnership between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and BVRG, the inaugural residency signals 'another key step in the development of the arts in the region and provides the opportunity for visual artists to draw from the unique natural environment of the local region, connect with regional communities and expand their practice outside of metropolitan studios', says BVRG Director Iain Dawson.'
March 6, 2018
JULIAN MEAGHER AT BEGA REGIONAL GALLERY
In April 2017 Bega Valley Regional Gallery welcomed prominent Sydney artist Julian Meagher as inaugural artist in residence. A pilot project for a long term partnership between the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the BVRG, the residency offered the opportunity for visual artists to draw from the unique natural environment of the local region, whilst connecting with regional communities and expanding their practice outside of metropolitan studios.
Meagher spent time at the beautiful Sir Roy Grounds-designed Myer House set on Bithry Inlet in the pristine Mimosa Rocks National Park and Inlet Outlet showcases the artistic fruits of that stay.
Exhibition on until 10 march 2018
February 28, 2018
JULIAN MEAGHER AT BYRON AT BYRON
Byron Bay's Byron at Byron Hotel recently completed a renovation which included a suite of works by Julian Meagher.
Designed by well known interior designer Luchetti Krelle, art takes pride of place within the newly renovated walls, with finalist of the 2015 Archibald Prize, Julian Meagher commissioned to paint a series of still life paintings featuring Australian natives for the hotel.
September 29, 2017
JULIAN MEAGHER & VIPOO SRIVILASA: 2017 NATIONAL STILL LIFE AWARD
Congratulations to Julian Meagher and Vipoo Srivilasa for being finalists of the 2017 National Still Life Award at Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery.
The acquisitive Award offers a major award of $20,000 as well as a People’s Choice Award of $5,000. This years' judge is Lisa Slade, Assistant Director of Artistic Programs at Art Gallery of South Australia.
Finalist works exhibited Friday 24th November 2017 to Saturday 20th of January 2018 at Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery.
August 7, 2017
JULIAN MEAGHER: LIFE DRAWING FOR NAVA
Hosted by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) in Sydney on 18 August, you now have the chance to learn life drawing from some of the best in the business, with a one-off class led by Archibald Prize finalists.
Supporting NAVA, the 15-person only event will see past Archibald finalists Jasper Knight, Julian Meagher, Dean Brown and Oliver Watts give out tips via way of a life drawing class, discuss their work and also tour their Darlinghurst studio.
“One of the things I like most about life drawing is the communal nature of it. Oliver, Jasper and I spent many of our teenage years together at life drawing classes. I'm looking forward to getting the band back together! Art can be a lonely pursuit so it is magical when you can bounce ideas and create work alongside your peers. NAVA plays a key role in our community and I think it is fitting to be able to support it in this way,” says Julian Meagher, who was selected as a 2015 Archibald finalist for his Daniel Johns portrait.
Visit NAVA to book.
May 8, 2017
TIM McMONAGLE FINALIST IN THE SUNSHINE COAST ART PRIZE 2017
The Sunshine Coast Art Prize is a national contemporary acquisitive award presented by Sunshine Coast Council. The Award is open to any artist who is an Australian resident, working in a 2D medium.
Forty finalists have been selected for an exhibition at the Caloundra Regional Gallery and the winning work will be added to the Sunshine Coast Art Collection.
Angela Goddard is the judge for the Sunshine Coast Prize 2017. Angela is the Director of Griffith Artworks, responsible for the Griffith University Art Collection and the Griffith University Art Gallery, Brisbane. Angela was previously the Curator of Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). Winners announced 31 August.
IMAGE:
In The Middle 2016
oil on linen
122 x 122 cm
May 8, 2017
JULIAN MEAGHER FINALIST IN THE SUNSHINE COAST ART PRIZE
The Sunshine Coast Art Prize is a national contemporary acquisitive award presented by Sunshine Coast Council. The Award is open to any artist who is an Australian resident, working in a 2D medium.
Forty finalists have been selected for an exhibition at the Caloundra Regional Gallery and the winning work will be added to the Sunshine Coast Art Collection.
Angela Goddard is the judge for the Sunshine Coast Prize 2017. Angela is the Director of Griffith Artworks, responsible for the Griffith University Art Collection and the Griffith University Art Gallery, Brisbane. Angela was previously the Curator of Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). Winners announced 31 August.
Image: Julian Meagher | The Ashes Fall - The Wine Spills | 2016 | oil on linen | 152 x 122 cm
December 21, 2016
TIM McMONAGLE ON CULTURAL FLANERIE BLOG
Carrie McCarthy has written a thoughtful piece about Tim McMonagle's recent exhibition at Edwina Corlette Gallery for her brilliant blog Cultural Flanerie. The article coincided with Tim's first exhibition at the Gallery which continued his exploration of our majestic native gum trees.
There is something eerily familiar about the trees that have begun to sprout up in Tim McMonagle’s work in recent times. An artist who has spent almost two decades disseminating human nature’s foibles and absurdities through his whimsical compositions, McMonagle has increasingly found himself compelled to consider the curious lifecycle of our majestic native gums.
- Carrie McCarthy, Cultural Flanerie
IMAGE:
Install view of Tim McMonagle 'Recent work', image courtesy the artist
December 7, 2016
JULIAN MEAGHER, BEGA VALLEY REGIONAL GALLERY RESIDENCY
Museums & Galleries of New South Wales is delighted to announce five residencies have been awarded through the Artist or Curator Residency Program for 2017. Generously supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund, each residency of $11,250 will provide artists and curators the space and time to immerse themselves in a unique place, community or collection within a regional gallery, boosting their creative process.
Bega Valley Regional Gallery, New South Wales
In partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Services, Bega Valley Regional Gallery will host contemporary painter Julian Meagher on a month long residency within the south east NSW region. Over the month long residency Julian will deliver three workshops and one masterclass.
October 28, 2016
TIM McMONAGLE IN 'PAINTING, MORE PAINTING' AT AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART
Tim McMonagle's work 'Ken Pearler' recently featured in the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art's exhibition 'Painting. More Painting'.
Presented in two chapters across ACCA’s four exhibition galleries, Painting. More Painting was a big-picture focus on contemporary Australian painting, featuring the work of over 70 living Australian artists.
Conceived by ACCA Curator Annika Kristensen and Associate Curator Hannah Mathews, and developed in collaboration with ACCA’s new Artistic Director/CEO Max Delany, Painting. More Painting brought together a range of painting practices that reflected the medium’s enduring importance and its recent return to the centre of much public debate.
May 31, 2016
Julian Meagher Finalist, Shirley Hannan Bega Portrait Prize
Julian Meagher has been selected as a finalist for the Shirley Hannan Bega Portrait Prize at the Bega Valley Regional Gallery. The prize is a $50,000 non-acquisitive award for realistic portraiture. The winner will be announced by the judge Dr. Christopher Chapman, Senior Curator at the National Portrait Gallery, Friday 17 June.
View Julian’s available works here.
April 6, 2016
Julian Meagher Gold Award Finalist, ROCKHAMPTON ART GALLERY
Congratulations to Julian Meagher who has been selected as a finalist in the 2016 Gold Award at Rockhampton Art Gallery. The Gold Award is a national invitation painting award with an acquisitive cash prize of $50,000 made possible through a generous bequest from the Estate of Moya Gold. The winning artist will be announced by Chris Saines, Director Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.
The exhibition is current from 23 July – 4 September 2016.
November 7, 2015
Sarah Werkmeister on Julian Meagher for Art Guide
Featured in the November issue of Art Guide Australia, Sarah Werkmeister writes of Julian's current show,
"It’s fair to say that Australia has a rocky history. Julian Meagher’s new exhibition, Alone in the Sun, interrogates the scars left behind, in both the national consciousness and in the landscape itself, with a deft poeticism...
Meagher’s trademark bottles and flora feature in the show as well, making reference not only to the artefact – he worked with a scuba diver to source bottles from Sydney Harbour and scoured op shops too – but also to the need to drink to deal with hardship. Instead of imbuing the typical Australian masculinity onto notions of drinking, the delicacy and translucency of the paint allude to the passing of time through an object, speaking to an understanding of human nature and the way it influences our psychic environment.
Meagher seems to suggest that we’re all implicated in Australia’s scars and that the only way to move forward is to start by looking back."
Read the full article here.
October 7, 2015
Julian Meagher's portrait of Johnathan Thurston
Julian Meagher's portrait of superstar National Rugby League player Johnathan Thurston is on the cover of the October issue for Rugby League Player Magazine. Meagher was a finalist in the 2015 Archibald Prize with his portrait of Daniel Johns. The Thurston portrait is part of a suite of works from the 'Code' series which shines a light on the vulnerability of some of Australia's biggest football heroes, dramatising the precarious fragility in each man’s isolated facial expression.
Julian Meagher's solo exhibition 'Alone in the Sun' is on from 3 - 27 November 2015.
October 6, 2015
Julian Meagher FINALIST in the Doug Moran Portrait Prize
We are pleased to announce that Julian is a semi-finalist with his portrait Paul Ryan for the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. Julian was also a finalist with his work Floating In A Darkened Sky for the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award (EMSLA) at Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery.
Julian will be exhibiting new works for Alone in the Sun at Edwina Corlette Gallery, November 3 - 21, 2015. This series of new work further investigates how our past inhabits our present. 'As I have grown older I have become interested in the concept of both collective and personal notions of inherited history,' he says.
July 18, 2015
Julian Meagher, sensitive masculinity
In one of life’s more curious turns, I ended up owning a cocktail bar about six years ago. Me, the chick with no hospitality experience, who’d never waited tables, never pulled a beer and didn’t knowthe difference between an ale and a lager, was suddenly having to work out how to change a beer keg and what the hell people meant when they asked for a “CC and dry.” To say it was a steep learning curve is an understatement. It was a world away from my previous life in writing and interior design.But the patrons and Isurvived the rocky start and now its almost second nature to me. I’ve even won awards for my espresso martinis – go figure!
Howeverowning a bar, even now that I’m rarely actually the one serving drinks, is something that has never sat easily with me. On a daily basis I rely on the…
View original 635 more words
December 19, 2014
Julian Meagher + Belvoir St Theatre 2015 Catalogue
Julian Meagher has been commissioned by Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney to bring the Company’s actors to life with a suite of drawings for their 2015 catalogue. Belvoir’s position as one of Australia’s most innovative and acclaimed theatre companies has been determined by such landmark productions as The Wild Duck, The Diary of a Madman, The Blind Giant is Dancing, The Book of Everything, Cloudstreet, Measure for Measure, Keating!, Parramatta Girls, Exit the King, The Alchemist, Hamlet, Waiting for Godot, The Sapphires, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Stuff Happens and Medea.
December 19, 2014
Julian Meagher – 2014 Archibald Prize Finalist at the Art Gallery of New South Wales
When Julian Meagher first met John Waters ‘He was rehearsing Looking Through A Glass Onion with Stewart, my girlfriend’s father, in his lounge room. They were making a lot of noise, laughing and playing Norwegian Wood. It was great to meet the man I had watched on Play School, now far removed from Big Ted’.
John Waters is an English film, theatre and television actor best known in Australia, which he’s called home since 1968. Meagher says ‘I wanted to paint John in a puffy shirt, both as a nod to his theatrical profession and to re-imagine him as a kind of colonial character. ‘He has such a strong face, which really suited my painting style. It was my hope to capture a complex expression. Rather than looking back at the viewer, he is engaged with something outside our understanding’.
Born in Sydney in 1978, Meagher left work as a medical doctor nine years ago to paint full time and has exhibited regularly since then both locally and internationally. He studied the Atelier method in Florence, Italy. He has been a finalist five times in the Salon Des Refuses. He was a finalist in the Doug Moran Portrait Prize in 2009 and 2012, as well as in the Metro Art Prize and Blake Prize for Religious Art.
14 December 2024 – 2 February 2025
‘THE SUMMER SHOW’ featuring Rhys Lee, Tim McMonagle, Sally M Nangala Mulda, Paul Ryan, Vipoo Srivilasa, Sally Anderson, Ces McCully, Bundit Puangthong, Stefan Dunlop, Dan Kyle
3 – 24 September 2024
THE SPRING SHOW
7 – 21 December 2023
SMALL WORKS - Click and Collection
9 August 2023 – 5 September 2023
Tim McMonagle ‘Silver and Gold’
18 October 2022 – 5 November 2022
‘Light Matter’ featuring Julian Meagher & Marisa Purcell
8 – 11 September 2022
SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY
3 January 2022 – 1 February 2022
THE SUMMER SALON
23 November 2021 – 15 December 2021
THE ART OF CHRISTMAS | ONLINE ONLY
13 – 31 July 2021
Tim McMonagle ‘Under Time’
28 October 2020 – 18 November 2020
Julian Meagher ‘Sleepwalking’
26 June 2019 – 17 July 2019
THE NEW GALLERY SHOW — A Group Exhibition
17 May 2019 – 5 June 2019
TIM McMONAGLE 'Wonderful Things'
18 September 2018 – 10 October 2018
Julian Meagher ‘Tidelines’
29 August 2018 – 15 September 2018
THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION
24 October 2017 – 14 November 2017
Tim McMonagle ‘New Paintings’
7 – 10 September 2017
SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR — CLARA ADOLPHS, SALLY ANDERSON, JULIAN MEAGHER, BUNDIT PUANGTHONG, PAUL RYAN, MIRANDA SKOCZEK
24 August 2017 – 30 September 2017
COAST — LAURA JONES, PAUL RYAN, TIM McMONAGLE, JULIAN MEAGHER, JUDITH SINNAMON, FRANK NOWLAN + THE ARTISTS FROM MANINGRIDA
8 – 29 November 2016
‘Recent Work’ featuring Tim McMonagle & Julian Meagher
11 – 14 August 2016
Julian Meagher ‘Everybody Talks in Their Sleep’ (Melbourne)
3 – 25 November 2015
Julian Meagher ‘Alone In The Sun’
14 – 17 August 2014
Melbourne Art Fair
10 September 2013 – 12 October 2013
5th Anniversary Exhibition
16 April 2013 – 4 May 2013
Julian Meagher ‘The Space Between Clouds and Mud’
6 – 24 March 2012
Collectors Show
17 October 2011 – 5 November 2011
Julian Meagher ‘The King of Good Times’ (Gallery 1)
2 January 2011 – 19 February 2011
Summer Show
27 September 2010 – 16 October 2010
Spring Exhibition
12 April 2010 – 1 May 2010
Julian Meagher ‘Portable Shrines’