Garry Shead is one of Australia's most celebrated contemporary figurative painters, with his work steeped in allegory and symbolism, inviting spiritual, philosophical and historical interpretation.
Read MoreHis work has been his memories of his childhood in Australia and his ability to reveal allegories of relevance to Australian history and its people, making tangible issues such as the marginalisation of indigenous people and Australian sovereignty.
Shead attended the National Art School in Sydney 1961-1962 and from 1966 exhibited regularly with Sydney's Watters Gallery. In 1967 he received the Young Contemporaries Prize, travelling to Japan, France, Vienna, New Guinea and Budapest. During this period, Shead also worked in film and television, being a founding member of the Ubu Film collective and making experimental films.
In the late 1980s he developed the figurative paintings for which he is best-know; the Bundeena Paintings the D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo Series(1993) and the Queen Elizabeth II Series(1995).
Shead was the winner of the Dobell Prize in 2004.
His work is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
