A full life focus for artist’s first show

AN exhibition at Art Space Ballarat is set to showcase a lifetime of works for a debuting artist as John Sullivan makes his creative introduction with decades of works across three different mediums.

The show will be Sullivan’s first, and at nearly 80 years old, he said it will serve as a legacy for his personal and creative journey.

“I’ve had lots of adventures which is partly why I’ve decided to do this,” he said. “It’s a culmination of a life.

“There’s two about an illness I had last year. There’s a series of four paintings called The Dance of Love about two people holding onto each other but not connecting. Some of these are ridiculous.

“I’ve never exhibited before and I’ve got more than 30 years’ work to show people. I want to disseminate these works so people can see what I’ve done.

“The whole point of art is to make something people can see otherwise why would you paint or take photos?”

The show features about 50 photographs as well as acrylic, oil and watercolour paintings ranging from macro landscapes to abstract self-portraits.

A website including extra works has been created to complement the show, which will also feature a screen linking to Sullivan’s videos about his experiences and international travels.

Sullivan’s creativity journey began when he was a child drawing aeroplanes.

He said his creative side has stuck with him for much of his life during his roles as a teacher and as manager of the Amphitheatre Hotel at Avoca.

Sullivan also said his multimedia works set his show apart from others.

“Most exhibitions just have the one medium, like painting, photography, whatever. I’ve been fairly eclectic and I switch from one to the other,” he said.

“Sometimes, they’ll interact. For example, there’s some long prints of five photos each that relate to differences in time which is what film is.”

John Sullivan’s exhibition will run from Saturday, 11 March until Sunday, 9 April and his website can be found at johnbrendansullivan.com.