Ivan Durrant is one of Australia’s most accomplished realist artists. Often described as a controversial and provocative artist, his work spans five decades and is represented in the Australian National Gallery, Canberra; National Portrait Gallery, Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria; The Art Gallery of South Australia; Art Gallery of Western Australia; Rockhampton Art Gallery, Queensland; Geelong Art Gallery; Latrobe Valley Arts Centre; Caulfield Arts Centre; The Art Gallery of Ballarat; Hamilton Art Gallery and the Benalla Art Gallery.
Born in 1947 in Melbourne, Durrant’s not-so-happy childhood (from the age of 7 to 15) was endured in an orphanage. However, short reprieves from this reality came in the form of holiday visits to local farms where his love for birds and animals – and shearing sheds – became apparent. As a teenager, his already skilled ability to draw soon developed into an interest in painting, and in 1970 he held his first exhibition at Tolarno Galleries, St Kilda, with a collection of naïve style paintings of pigeons, cattle dogs, cows and domestic animals.
Over the decades, his subject matter has ranged from farm animals (both alive and dead) to horse racing; from rock stars to shearing sheds. His approach has progressed from a naïve and childlike style to compelling photo realism portraits of everyday events and people; the most recent works explored the colours and action of Australian Rules football. His means of expression has varied from public performances and installations to short films, photography, sculpture and painting.
However his most notorious statement was in 1975 when he sparked heated debate and challenged horrified onlookers and art critics alike by dumping the carcass of a recently slaughtered cow on the forecourt of the National Gallery of Victoria, as an act of animal rights and artistic statement. In light of the recent suspension of Australia’s live cattle exports to Indonesia due to inhumane treatment, perhaps Durrant was an artist and activist ahead of his time?
In The Great Shed Show, Durrant revisits the same sheds he painted in the early 1990′s. This time he takes us on a deep trip into his inner emotions; his heart-felt response to the thrill of entering a shed for the very first time. By bending and twisting shapes and exaggerating light and colour, we find ourselves viewing a wonderland and loving the fantasy. Yet because the works are still so steeped in photographic reality, they awaken us to how simply amazing the world really is.
The final product is twelve beautifully crisp lithographs, ink-jet printed on canvas, in a limited edition of two.
Selected Biographical Detail
1947
Born Melbourne, Australia
1969
Graduated Monash University BEc.
1975
Slaughtered Cow happening, NGV Forecourt, Melbourne
Awarded Maude Vizard-Wholohan Art Prize, SA
Awarded Caulfield Arts Centre Acquisition Art Prize
1976
Art Council of Australia Artist in Residence, New York City
1980
Awarded AFI Best Experimental film: Self Portrait Blood Red
1994-1995
Artistic Director Australia Felix Arts Festival, Benalla
2009
Awarded Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Canberra
Selected Exhibitions
1970-1979
Tolarno Galleries, St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria
1979
Survey 8: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1982-1986
United Artists Gallery, Melbourne
1988
‘White Light – Black Spaces’: Shed paintings touring exhibition to Regional Art Galleries, Victoria
1989
Luba Bilu Gallery, Melbourne
1991
War – There are no artists, only arseholes with paint: installation, United Artists Revisited (Galerie Chez Nous), Melbourne
Heads and Sheds: Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney
1992
Realist Survey 70′s-90′s: Benalla Art Gallery, Victoria; Westpac Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria; Shepparton Art Gallery, Victoria
1993
The Great Australia Light Show: Shed installation and paintings, Benalla Art Gallery, Victoria
1994
A Day at the Caulfield Races: Caulfield Arts Complex, Victoria
1995
Australia Felix Arts Festival
1998-2001
The Great Shed Show: Toured nationally
1999
Horses for Courses: Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria (group exhibition)
2003-2005
Rainbow Cowboy: Toured nationally
2004
Racing Paintings: Australian Racing Museum, Federation Square, Melbourne
Paddock to Plate: Durrant 1968-2004 major survey,
Monash Gallery of Art, Victoria
2005
Paddock to Plate: Rockhampton Art Gallery, Qld.
2007
Boundary Rider: Latrobe Valley Art Gallery; Benalla Art Gallery
how now cow: Ballarat Fine Art (group exhibition)
2008
Boundary Rider: Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria
2009
Boundary Rider: Wangaratta Exhibitions Gallery, Victoria
2010
Boundary Rider: Ararat Art Gallery, Ararat, Victoria
2011
Landscapes and Horses, Mornington Peninsula Regional Art Gallery, Victoria