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About Ben Quilty was born in 1973 in Sydney. He is a graduate of the Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney. Quilty's practice has insistently explored the role and role-play of young males in contemporary Western society. He has been a willing participant in the initiation processes that define the 'coming of age' of a young man. The imagery he employs comes out of the violence of a suburban male adolescence. Quilty is an artist who paints and the seemingly contested medium he uses with such excess is a middle finger up to the murderer of paint. His Irish convict ancestors began farming the Southern Australian land of the Gundungurra aboriginal people in the early 19th century. His practise has also explored the cultural destruction of these indigenous aboriginal people and the birth of a zealously patriotic 'white' Australia. The ongoing role of males in this paradigm also informs the broader context of Quilty's investigation. Quilty has completed residencies in Hill End, Sydney, Melbourne, Paris and Barcelona. |