In October 2011, Ben Quilty toured with Australian troops as an official war artist for the Australian War Memorial, part of its scheme to document the experiences of Australians deployed to the frontline in Afghanistan. Quilty’s Sergeant P, after Afghanistan 2012 is a brave attempt to capture the intensity of experience felt by soldiers involved…
Ben Quilty is one of Australia’s most visible and most recognisable contemporary artists — known equally as well for his numerous humanitarian activities as for his ambitious impasto paintings. Quilty first came to attention for his images dealing with the risk-taking behaviour that he and his young male cohort would engage in — excessive drinking,…
Continue reading » “Ben Quilty’s ‘Captain Kate Porter, after Afghanistan’ is a picture of strength”
Ben Quilty’s striking portrait Sergeant P, after Afghanistan 2012 was acquired through the 2014 Foundation Appeal with generous support from Foundation members and donors, including a lead donation from the Returned & Services League of Australia (Queensland Branch). Commissioned by the Australian War Memorial in the role of official war artist, Quilty spent three weeks…
Continue reading » “Ben Quilty captures strength, fragility, trauma and resolve”
Every year, the QAGOMA Foundation Appeal seeks to add to the Gallery’s Collection a work that makes a compelling artistic proposition – one that somehow feels essential to us and might make others feel the same, in 2014, we are presenting a work by a leading contemporary Australian artist, Ben Quilty who is not yet…
Continue reading » “Ben Quilty’s view of Australia at war is a deeply human one”
This extraordinary portrait, Sergeant P, after Afghanistan 2012 by Ben Quilty, one of Australia’s acclaimed contemporary artists, tells an often unspoken story of modern military conflict. In 2011, Archibald Prize-winning artist Quilty reached a serious turning-point in his career when he was offered a commission by the Australian War Memorial to fill the role of official…
Continue reading » “An unspoken story: Ben Quilty’s ‘Sergeant P, after Afghanistan’”
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