News archive
The Consolations
Wednesday Sunset East 2022 acrylic on linen 150 x 120cm
Exhibition Dates:
May 10 through May 28 2022 tuesday-saturday 10-5pm
Jan Murphy Gallery | 486 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, QLD | Ph +61 7 3254 1855
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Posted on Sunday 8th of May, 2022
What Is Left Behind
A new gallery has been posted to the website. You can view it here.
Posted on Saturday 12th of October, 2019
The Venal Garden
A new gallery has been posted to the website. You can view it here.
Posted on Tuesday 9th of October, 2018
Enlighten Festival 2018
Enlighten Festival 2018, Australian Parliament House, Canberra, ACT. Featuring artwork - James Guppy, Red Poppy, 2005, Parliament House Art Collection. Image credit DPS.
LEST WE FORGET
The 11th of November 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day and the end of hostilities on the Western Front in World War I. After the war the red poppy became a recognisable symbol of remembrance following the publication of the poem In 'Flanders Fields'. James Guppy's evocative painting of a single red poppy against a dark background is a silent tribute to the 62,000 Australians who fought and died in the Great War.
James Guppy
Red Poppy, 2005
Parliament House Art Collection
Posted on Sunday 1st of April, 2018
Counterpoint
Kissing the Wrist 2016 acrylic on linen 61 x 55 cm
Counterpoint
Exhibition Dates:
29 Oct to 24 Nov 2016
Opening Drinks:
Saturday 29 Oct, 3-5pm
Brenda May Gallery
2 Danks Street Waterloo NSW Australia 2017
www.brendamaygallery.com.au info@www.brendamaygallery.com.au
tuesday-friday 11-6 saturday 10-6 t.02 9318 1122
Posted on Friday 14th of October, 2016
James Guppy at Tweed Regional Gallery
James Guppy will present a solo exhibition titled In Flagrante Delicto at Tweed Regional Art Gallery.
The body work reflects Guppy’s outlook on the business of the world and those involved in the key decisions made on behalf of the people. Pondering our choice to look to these leaders as models of ethical behaviour, Guppy questions the actions of these people and the systems by which they gain their power.
Having gained an Honours degree in Economics forty years ago, Guppy’s critical lens on such issues sees him aim to highlight the often reprehensible behaviour of those in positions of power. The latin title In Flagrante Delicto is a term used to indicate somebody being caught committing a criminal act. Pairing this critique of contemporary capitalism with pre-modernist notions of beauty the artist has created a visual language for the viewer unravel and consider their own thoughts on such issues.
For more information on this exhibition please click here.
In Flagrante Delicto
Tweed Regional Gallery
30 September 2016 – 12 February 2017
Image credit: James Guppy Negotiated Settlement 2015 acrylic on polycotton in timber frame 120.0 x 82.0 cm
Sunday 20 November
2.00pm
Caught In The Act
All are welcome to join James Guppy for an exhibition talk in the Anthony Gallery as he discusses In Flagrante Delicto.
This will be followed by an illustrated talk in the Frances Mills Education Centre when the artist will share images of his earlier works and inspiration.
Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olly Art Centre | Murwillumbah
A Tweed Shire Council Community Facility
PO Box 816 (2 Mistral Road) Murwillumbah South NSW 2484
P: 02 6670 2790 F: 02 6670 2797
E: tweedart@tweed.nsw.gov.au W: artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au
Open: 10am - 5pm (DST) Wednesday to Sunday Free admission
Posted on Friday 14th of October, 2016
James Guppy in Byron Arts Magazine
James Guppy features on the cover of the current issue of the Byron Arts Magazine in an interview with editor Alana Wilson.
To read the full article please click here.
Image courtesy of Byron Arts Magazine. Photograph by Natalie Grono.
Posted on Friday 14th of October, 2016
James Guppy in Paddington Art Prize 2016
James Guppy is a finalist in the Paddington Art Prize 2016 for his work The Romantic.
The $25,000 national acquisitive prize for a painting inspired by the Australian landscape is awarded annually with the announcement of the 2016 prize made on 20 October. The judges for the 2016 prize are Wayne Tunnicliffe, Head Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales; and artists Craig Waddell and Wendy Sharpe.
For more information on the prize please click here.
Paddington Art Prize 2016
111 – 113 Queens Street, Woollahra NSW 2025
20 – 30 October 2016
Image credit: James Guppy The Romantic acrylic on polycotton 120.0 x 80.0 cm
Posted on Friday 14th of October, 2016
James Guppy in 2016 Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize
James Guppy is a finalist in the 2016 Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize for his work Negotiated Settlement 2016. Held at The Gallery at Bayside Arts and Cultural Centre, the $15,000 painting prize will be announced at the official opening on Thursday 12 May 2016.
The 2016 judging panel consists of Guy Abrahams, CEO & Co-founder, CLIMARTE; Kirsty Grant, Director & CEO, Heide Museum of Modern Art and Julie Skate, Gallery Supervisor, The Gallery @ Bayside Arts & Cultural Centre.
For further information on the prize please click here.
2016 Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize
The Gallery at Bayside Arts and Cultural Centre
7 May – 26 June 2016
Posted on Friday 14th of October, 2016
Upcoming Exhibition - In Flagrante Delicto
Negotiated Settlement 2015
BRENDA MAY GALLERY
2 Danks Street Waterloo NSW Australia 2017
www.brendamaygallery.com.au
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Read the ARTIST PROFILE piece on his new work
Read the ART COLLECTOR interview with the artist
Posted on Monday 24th of August, 2015
How Sweet is the Sheperd's Sweet Lot!
September 9-27 2014
Intangible Assets acrylic on linen 54.0 x 43.0 cm
I discovered that in the south of France, shepherds would use stilts every day. They went everywhere on them, even sitting on their stilts knitting as they watched their flocks.
As I began work on this series, I did my usual thing which is to look at a lot of Goya’s work. I found an intriguing painting he did of men on stilts and it really buried itself in my brain. I started googling images of men on stilts and somehow the idea was born. It has fleshed itself out with my increasing preoccupations over our crumbling, inequitable society, the rampages of climate change and the seeming disinclination of our people in power to change the course of destruction we are on.
In our current society, while lip service may be paid to an idea of "stewardship"; men in power seem to have other priorities. Rather they exist separated by the entitlements wrought from power. They are far above the rest of us as they walk among the clouds, but those long stilts do look very slender and fragile as the society beneath crumbles.
The central motif of this series has evolved as the suited man in the landscape. The suit is the uniform of Power. The suited man goes about his business immune to what occurs around him. Meanwhile... something is descending upon us that is almost beyond control.
The old ornate frames became a perfect surround for these apocalyptic works as a fitting complement to the historicism inherent in the paintings. I do like playing with time... suggesting the future in the language of the past.
I suppose yet again these are not "happy" little bits of decorative painting. I paint what consumes my thoughts.
James Guppy 2014
+61 7 3254 1855
enquiries@janmurphygallery.com.au
Posted on Friday 26th of September, 2014
The Secrets of Dark Contemplation
James Guppy
The Secrets of Dark Contemplation
A Survey Exhibition
opens Thursday July 10 at 6:00 pm
artpiecegallery.com.au
02 6684 3446
70 Burringbar St, Mullumbimby
Dakini
acrylic on linen
180 x 90 cm
"The works I have been creating over the last few years are my attempt to revisualise our earliest past... a time when the line between human and animal was permeable and the earth that we came from still clung to our bodies."
So opens Guppys artists statement for this survey exhibition at art piece gallery. It is the first time in twenty five years that this local artist has exhibited in the shire and it is an honour to host this show.
Guppy is much more comfortable in the world of fairytales and myths – his work refers to the fantastic stories of his English childhood. This is his way of understanding the land he was growing up in, offering another way into the mysteries of his psyche.
If animals were the starting point for this collection of paintings, Guppy was not interested in domesticated creatures but in the way their untamed forebears move within our psyche. "Animals weave within all our old stories, explaining our complex humanity to us. I’m trying to locate the oldest stories from those primitive interior places where human and animal coexist."
Guppy has also included the intimate, sometimes provocative, photographs behind some of these mythical, narrative paintings. The photographic scenes are carefully constructed in collaboration with his wife Trude who fabricates the garments and headdresses.
Local luminary, passionate art lover and one of the models for these paintings, Lynda Dean opens the show. Expect revelations.
Posted on Friday 11th of July, 2014
James Guppy - Mudworks
JAMES GUPPY
MUDWORKS
Photographs from the Studio
7 to 25 May 2013
Drinks with the Artist
Saturday 11 May, 4-6pm
Resting 2013 13 x 21 cms
For the first time, James Guppy has decided to show the intimate, sometimes provocative, photographs behind his mythical narrative paintings of the last few years. These photographic scenes are carefully constructed in collaboration with his wife Trude who fabricates the garments and headdresses. Some of these will also feature in the exhibition.
MUDWORKS provides an interesting peek into the artist's studio and allows a different understanding of James' process.
at BRENDA MAY GALLERY
2 Danks Street Waterloo NSW Australia 2017
www.brendamaygallery.com.au info@brendamaygallery.com.au
tuesday - friday 11-6 saturday 10-6 t. 02 9318 1122 f. 02 9318 1007
Posted on Tuesday 30th of April, 2013
Website Update
Welcome to the new version of the James Guppy website. Please bear with us as we get the rest of the old site updated. Main changes include:
- Simpler navigation
- Larger images in the galleries
We hope you enjoy the new look.
Posted on Tuesday 21st of February, 2012
James Guppy - Anima Rising
James Guppy, 'An Embrace of Swallows' (detail) 2012, acrylic on linen, 120 x 180 cm
JAMES GUPPY
Anima Rising
6 to 24 March 2012
Join us for a glimpse into the surreal world of James Guppy as he demonstrates life drawing during Art Month, Thursday 8 March 7-9pm
Spaces are limited so please RSVP to the Gallery, info@brendamaygallery.com.au
Artist Talk, Saturday 10 March 2:30-3pm
Opening drinks with the Artist, Saturday 10 March 4-6pm
BRENDA MAY GALLERY
2 Danks Street Waterloo NSW Australia 2017
www.brendamaygallery.com.au
info@brendamaygallery.com.au
tuesday - friday 11-6 saturday 10-6 t. 02 9318 1122 f. 02 9318 1007
Posted on Saturday 18th of February, 2012
James Guppy Exhibition October/ November 2011
The Suitor 2011 acrylic on linen 120 x 60 cm
Showing at Jan Murphy Gallery 25 October - 12 November 2011
486 Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley Brisbane Queensland
View the gallery online
Posted on Monday 24th of October, 2011
New Gallery - "New Works"
A new gallery entitled New Works has been added to the site. You can check it out in the gallery section of the website.
Posted on Wednesday 24th of November, 2010
James Guppy Exhibition 2010
Death and The Maiden, 2010, acrylic on linen (detail) 180 x 120cm
23 November to 19 December 2010
Drinks with the Artist
Saturday 27 November 4-6pm
"From primitive interior places, where human and animal coexist; from those deep dark spaces within... where tales begin, I offer these."
James Guppy 2010
This exhibition co-incides with:
Seduction and Subversion: The art of James Guppy 1989 - 2009
3 December 2010 to 30 January 2011
Manly Regional Gallery & Museum
02 9976 1416
Posted on Wednesday 10th of November, 2010
Other Hands, exhibition of new works by James Guppy
Rhinoceros and the Teapot, 2009, acrylic on linen, 90.0 x 180.0 cm
Studio Wall, September 2009
James Guppy's exhibition of new works Other Hands opens October 13, 2009 at Jan Murphy Gallery 486 Brunswick St Fortitude Valley Brisbane.
Gallery hours: 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Saturday or by appointment.
Go to http://www.janmurphygallery.com.au/current.php to see the rest of the works in the exhibition.
Posted on Tuesday 13th of October, 2009
Seduction and Subversion - James Guppy Exhibition
Gynaeceum V 1994 - synthetic polymer paint on linen - Private Collection
SEDUCTION AND SUBVERSION
The art of James Guppy 1989 - 2009
A Tweed River Art Gallery Touring Exhibition
2 October - 15 November 2009
Tweed River Art Gallery
You are warmly invited to attend the official exhibition opening by Writer and Presenter, Andrew Frost.
at Tweed River Art Gallery
on Friday 2 October 2009 at 6:30pm
All are welcome to join us for the free public programs below:
Saturday 3 October at 11:00am DST
Exhibition Floortalk: Andrew Frost interviews James Guppy
Saturday 31 October at 2:00pm DST
Susi Muddiman, Gallery Director in conversation with James Guppy
Exhibition Tour Itinerary:
Tweed River Art Gallery: 2 October – 15 November 2009
Ipswich Art Gallery: 28 November 2009 – 17 January 2010
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery: 5 February – 21 March 2010
Manning Regional Art Gallery: 9 April – 23 May 2010
Wollongong City Gallery: 4 June - 25 July 2010
Orange Regional Art Gallery: 6 August – 19 September 2010
Logan Art Gallery: 13 October – 13 November 2010
Manly Art Gallery & Museum: 3 December 2010 – 30 January 2011
Coffs Harbour Regional Art Gallery: 11 February – 15 April 2011
Albury Regional Art Gallery: 6 May – 26 June 2011
Posted on Friday 9th of October, 2009
Andrew Frost reviews James Guppy
Andrew Frost reviews James Guppy in September 09 'Art Collector.
Read the full review on our Reviews & Quotes page.
Posted on Wednesday 23rd of September, 2009
Fay Gallery Opening
James Guppy, “Etiquette” (detail), 2008, acrylic on linen, 61 x 150 cm
JAMES GUPPY
Fay
9 September to 4 October, 2008 - Drinks with the Artist Saturday 13 September 4-6pm
These works are about women, aging and power. In the Shorter Oxford Dictionary “Fay” means both fairy and dross. The traditional fairy had always been an invisible power, but over time, has been reduced from a place of cautious respect to quaint irrelevance. This echoes the words I hear from women as they age... of being submerged by invisibility and irrelevance.
The fairy element is also a tribute to my mother who gave me fairies as a child. She maintained she had seen one, so as a loyal son I will not say that I do not believe in fairies. I certainly believed in my mother. She was a testament to a mature woman’s power.
I grew up with the safe Edwardian fairy folk of Arthur Rackham, only later in my teens discovering the Victorian fairy painter Richard Dadd. This is a long way from today’s Post-Tolkien “World of Warcraft” universe of elves and dwarves.
My fairies are not the delicate quaint creatures of my childhood; nor the contemporary flouro-coloured fusion of American and Manga cartooning. They are powerful creatures of the gaps - both generous and vindictive in turns, the spirit of the siren and sphinx embodied in flesh.
James Guppy 2008
B R E N D A M A Y G A L L E R Y
2 D a n k s S t r e e t W a t e r l o o N S W A u s t r a l i a 2 0 1 7
www.brendamaygallery.com.au tues-sat 11-6 f.02 9318 1007
info@brendamaygaller y.com.au t.02 9318 1122
Posted on Wednesday 27th of August, 2008
Fay
The Fairy of Sharp Edges is my first step towards a new body of work which will be exhbited at Brenda May Gallery in Sydney in September 2008. Below are some discordant impulses as I begin.
The Shorter Oxford dictionary says that the word Fay means both fairy and dross. This seemed relevant to me. The traditional fairy had always been an invisible power, but over time, has been reduced from a place of cautious respect to quaint irrelevance.
I grew up with the safe Edwardian fairy folk of Arthur Rackham, only later in my teens discovering the demented Victorian fairy painter Richard Dadd. This is a long way from today's Post-Tolkien, "World of Warcraft" universe of elves and dwarves.
The other impulse is my empathy for the aging of women around me. As a bastard male born to a single mother in 1950s England, I grew up surrounded by strong women. I remember my mother saying she felt herself becoming invisible as she aged. Now I am hearing the same thing from my partner and middle aged female friends. My experience of women's power has been a positive one, so I am distressed by their feelings of disempowerment.
I hope the study shows clearly that my fairies will not be the delicate quaint creatures of my childhood; nor the contemporary flouro-coloured fusion of American and Manga cartooning. I want them to be powerful creatures of the gaps - both generous and vindictive in turns; the spirit of the siren and sphinx embodied in flesh.
James Guppy 2008
The Fairy of Sharp Edges 2007, acrylic on linen, 25.5 x 25.5 cm
Posted on Thursday 13th of December, 2007
Guppy wins Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize
Smoke Signals 2006, Synthetic polymer paint on linen, 180 x 180 cm
"A work of ‘ominous beauty"’ wins inaugural
Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize
Judge Anthony Bond of the Art Gallery of NSW commented:
“James Guppy is an artist who has followed a very personal direction, often painting very small but intense paintings with surreal qualities exploring human dramas. The body would often appear under threat from various forms of painful invasion. This new work is on a grand scale compared with much of what we have previously seen and the figure has given way to a sweeping cloudscape. The billowing vapors seem almost toxic suggesting an apocalyptic vision of climate change yet at the same time it is a scene that strongly appeals to a romantic tradition in western painting. The British 18th century painter John Martin comes to mind, in particular a grand landscape from the Tate collection in London.”
Bond went on to say...
“Guppy has offered the Gold Coast a major example of his work... many more famous artists sent minor pieces to this exhibition, which however good, do not show us their work at its best.
While it is great that they entered at all, lets hope that in future they, like Guppy pull out their best. Having said that, I genuinely believe that this is the best selection of works I have seen in any prize exhibition anywhere.”
The work is a large painting of clouds and Guppy writes...
“For the last few years I have been exploring the unease shadowing our lives.
The news on our screens and the special effects in our movies are filled with clouds. Clouds erupt from disaster after disaster: smoke clouds from burning buildings or raging bushfires, clouds of dust and debris from volcanoes and exploding munitions, clouds of water from cyclones and tornadoes.
"Hidden behind, beneath or within these clouds is an approaching menace. We don’t see the torn bodies and dismembered lives; just the ominous beauty of these billowing veils shrouding Armageddon.
"Over the years I have often painted people floating; not with the weightless ecstasy of a Chagall lover but rather a rootless inability to remain connected to the earth. With these works I wanted the audience floating so the paintings needed to be large, to fill the viewer's vision, to create the sensation of being up there in the clouds, immersed in the seductive chaos and disruption.”
James Guppy is represented by Brenda May Gallery Sydney and Jan Murphy Gallery Brisbane. His work is represented in a number of public and private collections including the Queensland Art Gallery, Artbank, Griffith University and the regional Galleries of Lismore, Stanthorpe, Warrick and Tweed River.
This is the inaugural Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize, however the Prize itself began in 1968. It has been known as the Conrad Jupiters Art Prize since 1990 and retired surgeon Stan Duke has taken on the sponsorship of the prize through his foundation.
Guppy has not only received the $10,000 first prize but his work has also been separately acquired for the Gold Coast City Gallery Collection.
The exhibition opened on Saturday 1 December and will run till 10 Feb 2008.
Reprinted courtesy of Gold Coast City Art Gallery
Click here to view the online gallery.
Posted on Thursday 6th of December, 2007
New Flower Paintings
A new series of Flower paintings has just been completed. They are available for viewing:
In Sydney, please contact Brenda May Gallery 2 Danks St Waterloo
P: 02 9318 1122 E: info@brendamaygallery.com.au W: www.brendamaygallery.com.au
In Brisbane, please contact Jan Murphy Gallery 486 Brunswick St Fortitude Valley
P: 07 3254 1855 E: jan@janmurphygallery.com.au W: www.janmurphygallery.com.au
If you would like to be put on the mailing list to receive an invitation to James' next exhibition, please contact us with your details at james
jamesguppy.com .
Posted on Thursday 6th of December, 2007
The Weather Reports
Clothed in Clouds 2006, Acrylic on linen, 180 x 180cm
A new gallery entitled The Weather Reports is now available for viewing.
Click here to view the online gallery.
Posted on Monday 22nd of January, 2007
james.guppy