Staff Profiles

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Intrinsic to the work of Peter Sharp is the evolution of line. Displaced, abstracted, and skewed beyond recognition, the essential character persistently remains, be it whale or ancient mariner. This is most readily apparent in the suite of monoprints he has produced in collaboration with printmaker, Brenda Tye, where line and form are raw and direct. The paintings, however, deliver Sharp’s astonishing ability to transform a curve or angle into a composition of dynamic activity that denies the figurative while engaging the essence. 

For this body of work, Sharp has taken the hand of the Winged Victory of Samothrace (190 BC) as his starting point. Since its discovery in 1863 the winged, but armless statue has become the iconic image of Western art. This is largely due, as André Malraux has argued, to its mutilation, which denied the restorers a definitive position for the arms. In 1950, when the almost fingerless hand came to light, the puzzle was solved; however, the statue had attained such recognition that there was little point in making adjustments. As such, the hand was given its own glass case and plinth, and through Sharp, a new life. 

Reduced to a thumb and ring finger, the hand is, like Sharp’s paintings, simultaneously recognisable and remote. Viewed from different angles, the familiarity of the hand within the broken fragment becomes further abstracted, and it is here that Sharp has commenced his deconstruction of the figurative. By isolating sections and truncating angle or line, the drawings Sharp created in the Louvre allow the familiar to slip in and out of our grasp until the work takes on the ‘uncanny’ to scratch at our unconscious. 

Sketching many drawings at a time, and causing the Louvre floor to become smeared and littered with charcoal, Sharp absorbed every curve and nuance of the hand’s three-dimensional presence. In doing so he developed a language of line and form, specific to that particular hand, in which he alone is proficient. This is important in understanding his work, as it is not a spontaneous gesture but an inherently known set of shapes that Sharp is drawing on. In effect, it is Sharp’s complete understanding of the hand’s form that allows him so freely to paint these figurative shards from memory. 

Using these lines and shapes in their simplest form, Sharp’s eye for composition places them within the frame to intriguing effect. The shapes are amorphous and lineal with subtle plays between positive and negative space. The sea tones of Sharp’s palette exploit this well, with delicate separations and connections playing against one another to push and pull the composition without denying the form itself. Sharp’s choice of medium further disassembles the figurative, with texture and line used in layers of paint and stain, often washed or eroded back to near bare linen. Again the mind recognises the hand, as the layers enfold one set of lines within another in a palimpsest of visual narrative. Sharp’s use of stain as an under-layer for the large painting, Handle, creates a conflict of surface dynamism. The deep brown stain has been dribbled and pushed to a sinuous organic form. Simmering below the surface, washed over and erased, the tendrils of stain should be all but invisible beneath the sturdy lines of the painting’s principal form, yet their presence hauntingly invade the overlaying shapes. This duplicity of tension is fundamental to Sharp’s work, which refuses to let the eye rest on the surface. 

The medium of printmaking plays an interesting role in Sharp’s work, being not only demanding of a confident hand but also an inherent provider of visual tics in the form of bubbles and texture. Give and Take, the series of unique monoprints that Sharp has created for this exhibition, exemplify his use of line and form with robust simplicity. The Sharp palette is at its most beautiful here, with gentle greens, mauves and greys used to emphasise spatial composition. Tye has been working with Sharp for many years; a proficient and established printmaker in her own right, she works well with Sharp, fusing her feel for the medium with Sharp’s keen sense of line. The simple two-pronged forms are the most recognisable from the Louvre drawings, but like the sculptures, they are also the most removed. 

The sculptures, perhaps, are the most literal figurative abstractions of the hand as they physically depict the thumb and finger. Yet their likeness to the hand is the least apparent. This is due largely to the reductive medium of rough-hewn timber, which physically confines Sharp’s use of line to broad strokes. This is not to say that the works are clumsy or obvious; in fact, the opposite is true. Typical of Sharp’s sculptural works, these pieces are elegant and elongated abstractions with a defined sense of stature and linear presence. 

Sharp’s work is hallmarked by certain qualities including his use of line and colour, but so too is it recognisable for the deconstruction of figurative elements into abstraction. The amorphous shapes, the language of line, and Sharp’s primordial soup of colour draw the audience to the sea - in this case to a hand found at the bottom of the ocean. 

"Hand" by Gillian Serisier, 2010, Exhibition essay


Born in Sydney in 1964, Sharp completed a Bachelor of Art Education at City Art Institute, Sydney in 1987 before graduating with a Masters of Fine Art at the University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts in 1992. From 1989-1999 he held regular solo exhibitions at Coventry Gallery, Sydney. In 1996 he was awarded the Jacaranda Drawing Prize and in the following year was granted a residency at the Cite' des Arts Internationale, Paris, where he collaborated with French printmakers to make a series of lithographs and etchings. In 1999 Sharp was invited to exhibit at Kunstraum 34 in Stuttgart, Germany and in 2001, he participated in the award winning television documentary Two-Thirds Sky, which culminated in an exhibition of the same title held at the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery. His paintings have been exhibited in the Wynne Prize(1996, 2003) and Sulman Prize (1998, 2008) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, as well as in numerous regional gallery exhibitions throughout Australia. Sharp was recently a finalist in the 2009 Dobell Prize for Drawing at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Sharp’s work is represented in numerous public institutions and corporate collections including the National Gallery of Australia, The Holmes a Court Collection, Artbank, The Macquarie Group Collection, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, New England Regional Art Museum, Grafton Regional Gallery and the University of Wollongong as well as private collections in Australia and overseas. Peter Sharp lives and works in Sydney.

PETER SHARP             

1964   Born Sydney, Australia

1989-1992   Master of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales

1987   Post Graduate Diploma in Painting, City Art Institute, Sydney

1983-1986   Bachelor of Art Education, City Art Institute, Sydney 

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS  

2010 Handle, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

2008   Web, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

2007   Spider, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

2006   Close to the bone, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

2005   Sounding, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

2004   Whale, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

2002   John Miller Galleries, Newcastle

2001   Blueprint, Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney

1999   Elbow Room, Coventry Gallery, Sydney Kunstraum 34, Stuttgart, Germany

1997   Coventry Gallery, Sydney

1995   Coventry Gallery, Sydney Chapman Gallery, Canberra

1994   Coventry Gallery, Sydney

1993   Coventry Gallery, Sydney

1991   Coventry Gallery, Sydney

1989   Coventry Gallery, Sydney  

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011

Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award, Sydney

Artist Artists, Benalla regional gallery, Victoria

2010

Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing, Adelaide Perry Gallery, Pymble Ladies College, Croyden

Dobell Prize for Drawing, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

 2009           

Summer Exhibition, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney                        

Dialogue: New Paintings & Print Collaborations, King Street Gallery, Sydney 

Taronga Foundation Artists in Residence Program, Taronga Zoo, Sydney

 

2008           

Paddington Art Prize, Sydney, New South Wales Fisher Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, New South Wales

Silk and Sand: Chinese & Australian Prints, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, University of New South Wales, Sydney and The Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China

Robert Jacks Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria Melbourne Art Fair 2008, (Liverpool Street Gallery), Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne 

Contemporaneous: Australian Contemporary Painting 1, Wangaratta Exhibitions Gallery, Victoria Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Salon des Refuses, S H Ervin Gallery, The National Trust, Sydney

Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize, Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Sydney

 

2007           

Double Visions, COFA Artspace, University of New South Wales, Sydney and touring to Orange Regional Gallery, New South Wales

Art on Paper: The 2007 Hazelhurst Art Award, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney 

Kedumba Drawing Award, The Kedumba Gallery, Wentworth Falls, Blue Mountains, New South Wales

Salon des Refuses, S H Ervin Gallery, The National Trust, Sydney Five x Five, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, University of New South Wales, Sydney

Summer Exhibition, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

 

2006                       

Swell: The Art of Contemporary Beach Culture, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, New South Wales             

Cicada Press, Michael Nagy Gallery, Sydney                        

Going Bush, ILIRI Alliance Francaise, Paris

Melbourne Art Fair 2006, (Liverpool Street Gallery), Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

Assembled: Works from the Holmes  Court Collection, Holmes a Court Gallery, Perth

Summer Exhibition, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

Kedumba Drawing Award, Kedumba Gallery, Wentworth Falls, Blue Mountains, New                                 South Wales

 

2005                         

Liverpool Street Gallery 2005, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney                        

Tubular Cels, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney                        

The Collectors Exhibition, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney                        

Salon des Refuses, S H Ervin Gallery, The National Trust, Sydney                        

Thai-Australian Contemporary Prints, Chiangmai University, Thailand                        

Southern Exposure IV ‘God’s Own Country’, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney

Art on Paper Awards, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney                        

Custom Prints Unpacked, Delmar Gallery, Sydney                        

(Going) Out There, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney

 

2004                       

Liverpool Street Gallery 2004, Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney

Melbourne Art Fair 2004, (Liverpool Street Gallery), Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

The Year in Art 2004, S H Ervin Gallery, The National Trust, Sydney

Salon des Refuses, S H Ervin Gallery, The National Trust, Sydney

 

2003                       

Place Mark, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney

Steven Harvey, Peter Sharp, Kate Turner: A Tribute to Western Australia, Holmes a Court Gallery, Perth

Art on Paper: The 2003 Hazelhurst Art Award Art on Paper Awards, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney 

Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney                        

Southern Exposure III ‘Food for Thought’, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney

Works on Paper, Delmar Gallery, Sydney

 

2002                       

SCEGGS Redlands Invitational Art Prize, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney                        

Two Thirds Sky, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney                        

Southern Exposure II, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney

 

2001                       

Paris Studio Exhibition, S H Ervin Gallery, The National Trust,

Sydney Drawing Symposium Exhibition, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney 

Fremantle Print Prize, Fremantle Arts Centre, Western Australia                        

Salon des Refuses, S H Ervin Gallery, The National Trust, Sydney                        

Artists and the Desert, King Street Gallery, Sydney                        

Southern Exposure I ’Federation’, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney

Summer Show, Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney

 

2000                       

Inaugural Survey Exhibition, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney                        

Dogma, King Street Gallery, Sydney

 

1999                       

Silver, 25 Anniversary, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales

Marks and Matter, Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney                        

Paintings of the Nineties, Coventry Gallery, Sydney

 

1998                       

Etchings, Coventry Gallery, Sydney                        

Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney                        

Salon des Refuses, S H Ervin Gallery, The National Trust, Sydney                        

Remnants of the Real, Access Gallery, Sydney

 

1997                       

Cite’ Internationale des Arts Printmakers Exhibition, Paris                         

Cite’ Internationale des Arts Residents Exhibition, Paris

 

1996                       

Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

 

1995                       

Fremantle Print Prize, Fremantle Arts Centre, Western Australia                        

Australia Felix, Benalla, Victoria

 

1994                       

Twenty Artists, Twenty Years, Coventry Gallery, Sydney                        

50/50 Exhibition, New England Regional Art Museum, New South Wales

Obsession, Campbelltown City Art Gallery, Sydney

 

1993                       

Outback Art Prize, Broken Hill City Art Gallery, New South Wales                        

Chandler Coventry - A Private Collection, Campbelltown City Art Gallery, Sydney

 

1992                       

Aspects of Landscape, Coventry Gallery, Sydney                        

Jacaranda Drawing Prize, Grafton Regional Gallery, New South Wales

 

1991                       

Kinchega Exhibition, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney

New Work, New Art Five, Coventry Gallery, Sydney

 

1989                       

Intimate Drawing, Coventry Gallery, Sydney

 

1987                       

Post Graduate Exhibition, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney                        

Douglass Art Award, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney      

RESIDENCIES  

2004   Melbourne Aquarium Residency

1997   Cite’ Internationale des Arts Residency, Paris    

 

AWARDS

2007   The Kedumba Drawing Award, The Kedumba Gallery, New South Wales

1996   Jacaranda Drawing Prize, Grafton Regional Gallery, New South Wales      

   

PROJECTS 

2008   Collaboration with printmaker Brenda Tye (Web Nocturne and Day Web prints), Sydney

2007   Collaboration with printmaker Brenda Tye (Spider Prints), Sydney

2006   Collaboration with printmaker Brenda Tye (Day instrument, Night instrument, Blue instrument prints), Sydney

2005   Collaboration with Salvatore Gerardi and Brenda Tye for Sydney Printmakers Collaboration with printmaker Brenda Tye (Heads or Tails print), Sydney

2003  Collaboration with printmaker Brenda Tye (Whale Prints), Sydney  

2002  Collaboration with printmaker Brenda Tye (Strange Fruit), Sydney

2001  Sean O’Brien and Sophie Jackson, ‘Two Thirds Sky: Artists in Desert Country’, Documentary Film, Collaboration with printmaker Michael Kempson, Sydney, Collaboration with printmaker Brenda Tye, Sydney

2000  Collaboration with printmaker Basil Hall, Northern Editions, Darwin, Collaboration with potter Cameron Williams, Lithgow Pottery

1998  Collaboration with printmaker Bronwyn Reese, Paw Prints, Brisbane, Collaboration with Brenda Tye (Zoe Prints), Sydney

1997  Lithography Edition at Michel Casse Atelier, ParisCollaboration with printmaker Bronwyn Reese, (Paw Prints), Brisbane

1996  Group residency at Bundanoon, Arthur Boyd’s Studio, Collaboration with printmaker Bronwyn Reese, (Paw Prints), Brisbane

1995  Book Project between things (eleven woodcuts) with poet Greg Minors

 

COLLECTIONS          

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Allens Arthur Robinson Artbank Baker and McKenzie Law Grafton Regional Gallery Holmes à Court Collection Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery Macquarie Bank New England Regional Art Museum  Oz Corp Pan Continental Mining Sports and Entertainment Limited St Vincent’s Hospital The Kedumba Gallery University of Southern Queensland University of Wollongong Private collections in Australia and overseas      

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  

Tracey Clement, ‘NSW WRAP’, Australian Art Collector, issue no.45, July – September 2008, p.199 Kelsey Munro, “Spider”, Open Gallery, The Sydney Morning Herald, 22-23 November 2007 “Beach Beauty”, Vogue Living, September/ October 2007, p150, (colour illustration) Jo Bosben, “Fully Immersed”, COFA Magazine, issue 19, Alumni Edition, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2007 “Peter Sharp: Freestyle”, Artist Profile, Sydney, Spring, 2007 Jill Stowell, “Coast Watchers”, Herald Weekender, 28 January 2006, p14. Janis Lander, “Sounding: An Artist’s Talk”, The College Voice, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney, issue 3, no.3, October 2005, <http://www.arc.unsw.edu.au/COFA/CVoice/Archive/26.aspx> Anabel Dean, “Sounding Boards: The Collaborative Work of Peter Sharp and Brenda Tye”, COFA Magazine, spring, issue 14, September 2005 John McDonald, “Modern Dilemmas”, Spectrum, The Sydney Morning Herald, 27-28 August 2005, p28-29. Li Jingzhe, Australian Contemporary Painting, Shanghai People & Fine Arts Publishing House, 2005 Lenny Ann Low, “Exhibitions”, Sydney Morning Herald, 6 July 2004 Janis Lander, “The Art of Collaboration”, The College Voice, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney, issue 3, volume 2, April 2004, <http://www.arc.unsw.edu.au/COFA/CVoice/Archive/64.aspx> Peter Hill, “All Together Now”, Sydney Morning Herald, 7-8 February 2004 Simon Blond, “Paint and Process”, The Western Australian, October 2003 Nyanda Smith, “Today”, The Western Australian, 16 September 2003 Victoria Hynes, “Metro”, Sydney Morning Herald, 13-19 June 2003 John McDonald, Ben Nicholson Essay, Annandale Gallery, 18 September-2 November 2002 Pilar Arevalo, “Two Thirds Sky”, HQ Magazine, no. 94, October-November 2002 Peter Hill, “Metro”, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 September-3 October 2002 Jim Buckell, “The View”, The Australian, 19-25 September 2002 Bryce Hallet, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 September 2002 Janice Lander, “Two Thirds Sky”, 27 August 2002, digital biscuit Jill Stowell, Newcastle Herald, 17 August 2002 Andrew Frost, Australian Art Collector, July- August 2002 John McDonald, “Two Thirds Sky”, Australian Financial Review, 13 June 2002 Stuttgart Zeitung, ‘Kulture’, 24 April 1999 Sasha Grishin, “Sulman Prize”, Canberra Times, 4 April 1998 Neville Drury, Images Three, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1998 Sasha Grishin, Canberra Times, 9 September, 1995 John McDonald, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 May 1995 Neville Drury, Images Two, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1994 Joanna Mendelssohn, The Bulletin, 26 January-2 February 1993 Elwyn Lynn, “Arts Review”, The Weekend Australian, 14-15 November 1992 Neville Drury, New Art Five, Craftsman House Press, 1991 Elwyn Lynn, Arts Review, The Weekend Australian 1-2 July 1989