| GARRY SHEAD BORN SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES 1942 NEW SOUTH WALES |
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Garry studied at the National Art School, Sydney (1961-1962), worked as a cartoonist for OZ, The Bulletin and The Sydney Morning Herald and as a scenic artist for ABC Television. He has lived in France and Hungary. He has had thirty-three solo exhibitions since 1966, including The D H Lawrence series at the Art Gallery of NSW in 1993-1994. He is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, Parliament House Canberra, state galleries and in many other public and private collections. "It's the person that attracts me. "I saw Jacqui playing Ophelia in Hamlet and then as Saint Joan. She was so brilliant. Seeing her on stage from the first row, I was just carried away. She's an actress who's got a lot of passion and power. Jacqui is not an 'old' friend - I got to know her through the painting sessions we had. "A portrait has to be recognisable. Like Dobell's portrait of Joshua Smith, you can't imagine the person any other way than how they've been caught in the portrait. "You can't really put your finger on what makes a great painting because even the artist doesn't know. It just happens. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. "Painting's all about light. If a painting doesn't emanate light, it's dead. I think of light as being the presence of a spiritual element, whatever you choose to call that, the life force, God. That's what painting is really about, revealing the deep divinity of life. "I don't sketch much before I paint. I'm drawing with paint. The brush is something which, beyond words, becomes an extension of my mind." GARRY SHEAD, MEG STEWART 'Creative Spirit', Sydney Morning Herald, 14th Feb 1996 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 1988 finalist Martin Sharp
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 Jacqueline McKenzie OIL ON CANVAS 152 x 122 cm | |
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