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Born in Sydney, Garry Shead studied at the National Art School in 1961-2. With Martin Sharp, John Firth Smith and Ian van Wieringen he edited The Arty Wild Oat and published cartoons in the Oz, The Bulletin, The Sydney Morning Herald, and Honi Soit. He worked for several years as a scenic artist with the ABC before winning the Young Contemporaries Prize in 1967. In the ensuing years he travelled in Papua New Guinea, Japan and Europe and held several international art residencies. Shead's first solo exhibitions were at the Watters Gallery in Sydney from 1966; he has had numerous solo exhibitions since. His work is represented in the National Gallery, several state galleries and many public and private collections. A finalist in the Doug Moran Portrait Prize of 1987, he won the Archibald Prize in 1993 for his portrait of an old friend, Sydney publisher Tom Thompson.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Richard King 2008
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Accession number: 2008.49
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Adam Knott (age 27 in 1993)
Garry Shead (age 51 in 1993)
Tom Thompson (age 40 in 1993)
Richard King (16 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
Artists Garry Shead and Martin Sharp recount their friendship and the creation of Martin's portrait.
Martin Sharp fulfils the Pop art idiom of merging art and life.
Explore portraiture and come face to face with Australian identity, history, culture, creativity and diversity.