Lucy Culliton is a contemporary realist painter who creates works across landscape, still life and portraiture.
To give you an idea of Lucy Culliton’s popularity, in 2014 Sydney’s Mosman Art Gallery held a major survey of her work which contained over 100 works. That exhibition attracted more than 20,000 visitors.
This year she was named as a finalist in all three Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes at the Art Gallery of NSW and she has been a finalist in those competitions many times before. She has received many art awards including the Portia Geach Memorial award, the Mosman Art prize and the Kedumba drawing prize. She has exhibited in over ten solo exhibitions and her work is held in many public and private collections including the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of NSW.
I met Lucy Culliton at her home in Bibbenluke, a small town in south eastern NSW. She showed me around her property and introduced me to her many animals. She also opened up her studio to my iphone! You can see a short video taken on the afternoon below.
In our conversation Lucy talks about her childhood years when she would draw horses over and over again. She talks about how her dyslexia affected her first job in graphic design and what caused her to leave that career to pursue a career as a full time painter. We also discuss how she met dealer Ray Hughes who would represent her for many years until his gallery closed its doors last year and how her animals have played a large role in her life and continue to inspire her work.
Upcoming shows
- ‘The Popular Pet Show’, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT, 4 November 2016 to Monday 13 March 2017
- Solo exhibition with Beaver Galleries, Canberra, ACT, 10 November 2016 to 27 November 2017
- Lucy has another two solo shows scheduled for next year with King Street Gallery in Sydney (May) and with Jan Murphy Gallery in Brisbane (November).
Links
- Lucy Culliton at King Street Gallery
- Lucy Culliton at Beaver Galleries
- Lucy Culliton at Jan Murphy Gallery
- Work with the Hughes Gallery (now closed)
- Aida Tomescu
- Frank Auerbach
- Leon Kossof
- Susan Rothenberg
- Lucian Freud
- Chaim Soutine
- Richard Diebenkorn
- Margaret Preston
- Fred Williams
- Euan McLeod
- McLean Edwards
- Talking with Painters YouTube clip of Lucy Culliton (below)
‘Monaro/Ando’ oil on canvas 170.5 x 170.5cm (Wynne Prize finalist 2016)
Lucy Culliton in her studio with Mayday
‘Ray in Paris’ oil on board 200 x 80cm (Archibald prize finalist 2011)
‘Spark Plugs’ (2008) oil on board, 80cm x 80cm
‘Pigeons’ oil on canvas 148.5cm x 148.5cm (Sulman prize finalist 2016)
‘Lucy and fans’ (2016) oil on canvas, 170.5 x 170cm (Archibald prize finalist 2016)
‘Cactus’ (2004) oil on canvas, 116cm x 102cm
‘Hartley Landscape, view from the studio’ (2002) oil on canvas 200 x 120cm – this is the painting hanging in the Good Room which we talk about in our conversation
Thank you for such a great interview- Lucy is a delight to listen to- such an honest person with a direct connection to her painting and all things beautiful. So much can be gained by painters and lovers of art by this interview.
Thanks Marvene. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Maria
This was very a delight to listen to- Lucy seems to wear her heart on her sleeve and we all benefit from her generosity and honesty.
I listened to this episode with great relish. Lucy is such an engaging artist. She made me want to get out there and paint with thick slabs of colour. Not surprised she had 20 thousand visitors to her retrospective. Her art is so joyful. The Ray Huges portrait just before he hoes into the gelato exudes with gleeful anticipation. So much character. So full of life. A real antidote to all those dead portraits you usually see.
I agree Nick! Thanks for your comments. Maria
Just love Lucy. Such a down to earth no nonsense person, but what a talent. She is a giant in the art world whose amazing success has not gone to her head. A giving human being. If only more artists were as generous as she is. She inspires my art and I thank her for that.