Ben Quilty

Join us for a special evening with artist Ben Quilty, in-conversation, discussing his beautiful new book, a celebration of the last two decades of his work, to coincide with a major retrospective. Ben will be in-conversation with Robbie Buck of ABC breakfast radio.

About the Book

Ben Quilty is Ben’s body of work, along with essays by Richard Flanagan, Dr Lisa Slade, Vincent Namatjira, Frank Young and Justin Paton. It’s a companion to the touring exhibition starting at the South Australian Art Gallery in March.

Much-loved Australian author Richard Flanagan notes, ‘In an era when art was becoming ever more rarefied, as prices rose to stratospheric levels, and art and inequality seemed increasingly to complement each other, Quilty, without compromising his work, kept reminding Australians that art can have a moral dimension, that art does also deal with the world they live in, and finally that art matters. That he did this without compromising his work is no small achievement.’

About the Author

Ben Quilty is one of Australia’s best-known artists. Amongst many plaudits and achievements, he’s won the Archibold and the National Self Portrait prize, he has been an official War Artist in Afghanistan and internationally is the first artist to have held a solo exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London.

But Quilty is also renowned for his stance on political and social issues. He’s interested in refugees, the plight of indigenous Australians and what it means to be an Australian male. He also vigorously protested against the death of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in. Ben not only uses his art to shine a spotlight on these contentious and fraught subjects but as a way to come to terms with these issues himself. As he says ‘My work is about working out how to live in this world, it’s about compassion and empathy but also anger and resistance. Through it I hope to push compassion to the front of national debate.’