Tim Storrier

Born in Sydney, Tim Storrier gained early recognition as an artist when in 1968 at the age of nineteen he became the youngest recipient of the prestigious Sir John Sulman Prize for genre painting at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

His father was a stock dealer and grazier and Tim grew up with his twin sister on the family property, Umagarlee, near Wellington in rural New South Wales. In 1967 he enrolled at the National Art School in Sydney and commenced studying graphic design, after two years he abandoned his studies to take up a position as a graphic artist at the Australian Broadcasting commission.

Tim Storrier's work has always revealed certain nostalgia, and throughout his entire oeuvre he has focused on and developed a consistent style that has become instantly recognisable. His now famous blaze lines and fire paintings are as recognisable as Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly paintings or Arthur Boyd's Shoalhaven landscapes.

The blaze lines or burning ropes evolved from the early 1980's. With his technical competence and totally original vision he paints the essence of the country, explores the limitless space of nocturnal sky, the arid beauty of the endless horizon an the atmospheric light of the burning campfire.

His themes and iconic imagery are constantly changing as he continues to search for new poetic visions which have now extended to the green oceans and the Boys Own paper jet planes. Many of his paintings present the idea of a journey, they are about mortality, destruction and renewal. If culture is political then Storrier paints political pictures, his burning televisions and burning newspapers are his responses and objections to crass modern culture where escapism and voyeurism seem the norm - and where more media attention is awarded to a socialite's journey from geek show to freak show than is given to a great author or serious musician.

In 1994 he was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) for his services to contemporary Australian art. Tim Storrier is one of the most respected and sought-after artists. He achieved international recognition when several of his works were acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He is also represented in the National Gallery of Australia and all State and most Regional Galleries.

-Ken McGregor
(Edited extract from "Tim Storrier - MacMillian mini art series number four")

Biography

• 1949 Born Sydney, Australia
• Currently lives and works in Bathurst, NSW
• 1967 Studied at the National Art School, Sydney Collections

Solo Exhibitions

• 2008 Tim Storrier Photographic Works - Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne
• 2008 Tim Storrier - Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra
• 2007 Tim Storrier - Philip Bacon Galleries, QLD
• 2006 Pastoral Domestic - Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne
• 2004 Great Escapes - Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, NSW
• 2004 Fire Dreaming - University Art Gallery, The University of
• 2003 Dust & Ashes - Tim Storrier, Sherman Galleries, Sydney
• 2003 Lines of Fire - Tim Storrier, Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne
• 2001 STORRIER - Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne
• 2000 Still Life and Landscapes - Sherman Galleries, Sydney
• 1999 The Rose Crossing: Contemporary Art in Australia - Sherman Galleries, Sydney
• 1998 Pacific Drift - Sherman Galleries, Sydney
• 1997 Recent Work 1997 - Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
• 1996 Ritual - Sherman Galleries, Sydney
• 1996 Tim Storrier: The Prints - Australian Galleries, Sydney
• 1996 Colonial Postcolonial - Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
• 1995 Windows on Australia 1 - in association with the Australian Embassy, Tokyo
• 1995 Schubert Galleries, Queensland
• 1994 Sherman Galleries, Sydney
• 1993 Tim Storrier: a survey - Louis Newman Gallery, Los Angeles
• 1989 Burning of the Gifts - Australian Galleries, Sydney
• 1986 Ticket to Egypt - Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• 1985 Sporting Pictures - Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney

Awards

• 1994 Awarded an AM for services to contemporary Australian art in the Australia Day Honours
• 1984 Sulman Prize, The Burn Expedition to Egypt
• 1979 Mining Prize, Perth
• 1978 RM Ansett Hamilton Art Award
• 1968 Sulman Prize, Suzy 500
• 1967 Sakura Colour Products Prize
• 1962 Awarded 1st & 2nd Prize, Wellington Pastoral, Agricultural and Horticultural Society Annual Exhibition; Best Drawing, 16 years and under category

Achievements

• 1989 Appointed Trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (three terms)
• 1974 Designed sets for the movie Stone. Acquired Waverton Gas Works studio, Sydney
• 1972 Six-month tenure as Artist-in-Residence at Owen Tooth Memorial Cottage, Vence, France, under aegis of the Art Gallery o f New South Wales
• 1971 Designed backdrop for Peter Sculthorpe’s adaptation of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 4, performed by the Australian Ballet as part of the Canberra Arts Festival

Collections

• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
• Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
• Australian National University, Canberra
• Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria
• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
• Hamilton Art Gallery, Victoria
• New England Regional Art Museum, New South Wales
• Numerous private and corporate collections in Australia, the UK, the US and Europe