Art Wank

John Peart (1945–2013) was one of Australia's most respected abstract painters. Across a career spanning almost five decades, he developed a deeply personal visual language shaped by observation, intuition and a lifelong commitment to painting. From his early years in Brisbane to his long association with Watters Gallery and the artists' community at Wedderburn, Peart continually pushed his work in new directions while remaining true to the act of looking, questioning and making. His achievements included winning the Wynne Prize in 1997 and the Sulman Prize in 2000, and his work is held in every major Australian public collection.In this episode, Julie Nicholson and Gary Seller are joined by artists Euan Macleod and Joe Frost to celebrate Peart's life, work and enduring influence. Rather than a formal biography, this is a conversation between artists who knew him personally and whose own practices have been shaped by his generosity, intelligence and remarkable paintings.Together they discuss Peart's relentless curiosity, his openness to experimentation, his connection to landscape and abstraction, and the way his work balanced structure with freedom. They reflect on his role within the Wedderburn community, his years teaching at the National Art School, and the impact he had on generations of Australian painters. They also consider why his work continues to resonate and what today's artists can learn from his approach to painting as an ongoing process of discovery. About Euan MacleodEuan Macleod is one of Australia's leading contemporary painters. Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, he moved to Sydney in 1981 and has built an internationally recognised career exploring the relationship between the human figure and the landscape. Known for his expressive surfaces and psychologically charged paintings, Macleod has received numerous major awards and has taught painting at the National Art School. He knew John Peart for many years and contributed to the 2004 John Peart: Paintings 1964–2004 retrospective publication. About Joe FrostJoe Frost is a Sydney-based painter whose practice moves between observation and abstraction, drawing on memory, place and the experience of everyday life. Exhibiting since 1999, he has developed a distinctive body of work through an improvisational and layered approach to painting. Frost knew John Peart personally, has written extensively about his work, contributed essays to both the 2004 retrospective and the recently published John Peart monograph, and brings unique insight into Peart's practice and legacy. This episode is a thoughtful tribute to one of Australia's most significant painters and a rare opportunity to hear two artists reflect on the life, ideas and lasting influence of a friend, mentor and extraordinary painter.

Osvaldo Budet: Upriver DownriverMaitland Regional Art Gallery opens July 11th 2026, opening night 24th July and 25th July a talk and Q & A with Dr Nancy Cushing from University of Newcastle.Puerto Rican Australian artist Osvaldo Budet joins Art Wank to discuss Upriver Downriver, his exhibition at Maitland Regional Art Gallery exploring one of the Hunter region's most debated public monuments: Maitland's Black Boy statue, now more commonly referred to as Jocko Graves.For more than a century, the cast iron figure has stood in the centre of Maitland's civic life. Celebrated by some as a beloved local landmark and questioned by others for its racial imagery and colonial associations, the statue has become a focal point for conversations about history, memory, race, and heritage.Budet's work is informed by his experience growing up in Borikén, Puerto Rico, a place still shaped by colonial structures and histories. In Upriver Downriver, he considers how inherited images and public monuments continue to shape contemporary understandings of identity, authority, and belonging. Rather than offering simple answers, the exhibition asks how communities engage with historical objects whose meanings shift over time.This conversation explores the power of monuments, the persistence of colonial narratives in public space, and the ways artists can help us reimagine our relationships with difficult histories.Osvaldo Budet (b. 1979) is a Puerto Rican artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans painting, drawing, photography, video, and research based projects. His work examines the physical, historical, and political dimensions of colonisation and post colonisation, exploring how systems of power shape culture, identity, and memory.Budet received a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he studied under Grace Hartigan. Since 2008, he has lived and worked across Puerto Rico, Germany, the United States, and Australia. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, me Collectors Room Berlin, the Museum of Latin American Art, and numerous galleries and institutions throughout Europe, the Americas, and Australia.Through Upriver Downriver, Budet brings a global perspective on colonialism, representation, and historical memory to a distinctly local Australian story, inviting audiences to consider how we preserve, reinterpret, and reckon with the complex objects of our past.

Inga Dalrymple is a visual artist whose practice explores painting and drawing as a dialogue between material, gesture and perception. Working between abstraction and observation, she is interested in how paint can hold traces of movement, memory and experience.Inspired by nature and the feelings it can evoke, Inga works through processes of layering, erasing and reworking. These actions become a record of time and thought, revealing decisions and changes made during the making of a work.Gesture sits at the centre of her practice. For Inga, each mark carries memory, emotion and a sense of place, while also acting as a way of thinking through painting. Forms appear and disappear, allowing the surface to guide the work as it develops.In this episode of Art Wank, Inga talks about painting as a process of thinking, the role of gesture and memory, and how abstraction can give form to experiences that are difficult to define.Inga is represented by Otomys.

Australian artist Chris Horder joins Art Wank to discuss a painting practice shaped by intuition, chance and decades of experimentation.Known for his atmospheric stain paintings, Horder draws on influences ranging from Eastern ink traditions to Abstract Expressionism, creating works that embrace unpredictability and the unexpected. In this episode, he reflects on leaving school early to pursue art, the influence of travel and literature on his thinking, and the ongoing search for meaning through painting.Chris shares insights into his studio process, the balance between control and accident, and the importance of remaining open to discovery. The conversation ranges from art history and bohemian life to the realities of sustaining a creative career.Horder is a finalist of multiple major art prizes and scholarships including the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship and Dobell Prize. His paintings are in major public and private collection in Australia and around the world.Chris is represented by Nanda Hobbs in Sydney.

Australian artist Rosemary Lee joins Art Wank to discuss the quiet power of observation, the language of drawing, and finding beauty in the everyday.Awarded the 2025 Dobell Drawing Prize $30,000 acquisitive prize for her work 24–1 (2024), Lee’s meticulously rendered pencil drawing explores the changing urban landscape of Sydney’s Inner West, capturing construction sites, demolition zones and the constant cycle of renewal that shapes contemporary life. Selected from 965 entries, the work impressed judges with its extraordinary detail, visual intensity and nuanced reflection on place and transience.In this episode, Rosemary talks about her artistic journey, the meditative process of drawing, and why subjects that many people overlook have become a source of endless fascination. From the complexities of gentrification and urban change to the challenges and rewards of maintaining a sustained studio practice, she shares the thinking behind the work that earned one of Australia’s most significant drawing awards.

In this episode of Art Wank, we sit down with acclaimed Australian artist Joe Furlonger, @joefurlonger one of the country’s most respected and enduring painters of landscape and place.For more than four decades, Furlonger has built a remarkable career through an unwavering commitment to drawing, observation and the lived experience of the Australian environment. Known for his expressive mark-making and dynamic compositions, his work moves between figuration and abstraction, capturing the vastness, volatility and poetry of the Australian landscape. From floodplains and drought-stricken country to coastal waters and working harbours, Furlonger’s paintings reveal a deep engagement with the rhythms of the natural world. Born in Cairns and now based in Samford, Queensland, Furlonger has been a finalist in the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes on multiple occasions, and his work is held in major public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and QAGOMA. His celebrated survey exhibition Horizons continues to tour regional Queensland, introducing new audiences to the breadth of his practice.We discuss the central role drawing plays in his daily life, the challenges and rewards of maintaining a long artistic career, and the ways landscape painting can become a vehicle for contemplation, memory and human connection. Joe reflects on his relationship with the Australian sublime, his years spent travelling and working in remote regions, and the enduring importance of looking closely at the world around us.The conversation coincides with Furlonger’s current exhibition, Into the Blue, showing at @defiancegallery from 6–27 June 2026. The exhibition presents powerful new works inspired by coastal Australia, continuing his exploration of landscape as both physical reality and emotional terrain.This episode offers a rare opportunity to hear from a painter whose work has shaped contemporary Australian landscape painting for generations.#joefurlonger #art #artpodcast #artist

In this episode, we speak with Andrew Jensen, founder and director of Fox Jensen, one of Australia's leading contemporary art galleries and Fox Jensen Mccrory, alongside Emma Fox and Sarah Mccrory. Andrew discusses the evolution of the gallery, from its beginnings to its current presence in both Sydney and New Zealand. We explore the changing landscape of contemporary art, what makes a successful artist gallery relationship, and how a commercial gallery balances artistic vision with the realities of the art market.The conversation also touches on collecting, the international art scene, the enduring significance of painting, and the role galleries play in supporting artists throughout their careers. Andrew shares insights from decades of experience working closely with established and emerging artists, offering a candid look at the challenges and opportunities facing contemporary art today.Whether you're an artist, collector, curator, or simply interested in contemporary culture, this episode provides a thoughtful perspective on the business, passion and commitment behind running a leading gallery.'Andrew Jensen opened the gallery in New Zealand in 1988 and over the course of more than thirty-five years it has set itself aside in terms of its seamless presentation of international work alongside the most considered practices from the region. In early 2011 the gallery expanded to Australia opening a second gallery in Sydney.Multiple exhibitions by major artists such as Imi Knoebel, Fred Sandback, Tony Oursler, Helmut Federle, Günter Umberg, Winston Roeth, Lawrence Carroll, Elisabeth Vary and Callum Innes altered and enriched the local conditions. These exhibitions continued to provide the basis for an increasingly expansive approach that has seen the curated aspect of the gallery grow. There have been numerous notable projects over the last decade or more including E=MC2, Naked, The Architecture of Colour, Six Degrees of Separation, Points of Orientation, Detox, Melancholia, The Authority of Death, Farben, Saturation, There’s Joy in Repetition, Portrait without a Face, Eros, Permafrost and more recently Raven, Plastic Soul, Terrain, No One’s Rose & Rain. The galleries’ programs have developed a welcome richness and energy with the inclusion of a newer generation of international artists including Jan Albers, Mark Francis, Hanns Kunitzberger, Sofie Muller, Erin Lawlor, Liat Yossifor, Koen Delaere, Jane Bustin and Gideon Rubin. Alongside this, artists from the region include Aida Tomescu, Tomislav Nikolic, Matthew Allen, Geoff Thornley, Robert Malherbe, Jenny Topfer, Todd Hunter and Gary McMillan. The galleries are also privileged to hold the Estate of Bill & Pip Culbert.With the opening of the major new gallery space in Sydney in late 2025 the galleries have both expanded and consolidated its program. In 2026 the galleries are presenting works by celebrated artists Ian Davenport (UK), Paul Czerlitzki (POL), Ingo Meller (GER), Ulrike Schulze (GER), Gerold Millar (GER) and Lucienne O’Mara (UK). Fox Jensen, Sydney and Fox Jensen McCrory, Auckland are run in close partnership with its artists by Andrew Jensen, Emma Fox and Sarah McCrory. It participates annually in art fairs whilst remaining deeply committed to its galleries’ programs and to publishing.' - Fox Jensen Website  Thanks for Andrew Jensen and Emma Fox for having us in their home for the converstauon.Fox jensen Gallery, cnr Brennan &, McEvoy St, Alexandria NSW 2015Fox Jensen Mcrorym, 10 Putiki St, Gtey Lynn, AKL 1021

In this episode of Art Wank, we speak with Mason Kimber, a Sydney based artist represented by N.Smith Gallery and Sophie Gannon Gallery. Kimber’s practice moves between textural painting, sculptural relief and installation, exploring the relationship between architecture, memory and surface.We discuss how childhood experiences wandering through his father’s Perth nightclubs shaped his fascination with interiors, texture and built environments, and how these memories continue to inform his paintings today. Kimber reflects on expanding the language of painting through moulding, casting and framing, creating works that sit somewhere between painting, object and architecture.The conversation also touches on studying fresco painting during his residency at the British School at Rome, completing a PhD focused on expanded painting practices, and balancing studio work with teaching at the National Art School and UNSW Art & Design.A conversation about memory, materiality, architecture and the possibilities of painting beyond the flat surface.Magenta House

Lustre is a new temporary exhibition that explores the Allied campaigns in Greece and Crete in 1941 through the works of contemporary artists who walked in their footsteps in 2025.Lustre Force was the code name for the combined Australian, New Zealand and British army units deployed to protect Greece from Nazi attack in 1941. The Allied defence of Greece was overwhelmed in three and a half weeks in April 1941 and in May, Crete fell to a Nazi airborne invasion in just ten days.To record those heroic but doomed campaigns, Australia and New Zealand sent war artists and a photographer. Eighty-five years later, artists from Australia and New Zealand retraced their footsteps, walking the battlefields and visiting the cemeteries where the men and women of Lustre Force and their German foe lie.Lustre showcases the impressions they made of the impact of that journey. Some of the images show that the land and its people have recovered over time; others reveal that some scars take longer to fade.The exhibition opens on 15 May 2026 and is in the Memorial’s Auditorium on the Lower Floor. The Memorial is open every day, 9am to 5pm. Please note that access to the exhibition is dependent on the Auditorium’s use for education and other programs, so we encourage you to call the Memorial in advance on (02) 8262 2900.Entry is freeArtists: Amanda Penrose Hart, Euan Mcleoud, Joanna Logue, Alan Daniel Jones, Deirdre Bean, Riste Andrievski, Angelika Androutsopolous, Michael Bradfield, Michelle Hiscock, Steve Lopes, Natalie OConnor and Rodney PopleHistorian: Brad Manera, the Senior Historian and Curator of the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney