Adam Cullen

Artist’s Statement
"Endurance is more important than truth"

The artist was passionate about drawing from a very young age, and as a teenager drew cartoons for a local newspaper. He first gained recognition in the art world when he chained a decomposing pig’s head to his ankle for two weeks. Cullen was associated with the Grunge art movement in the early nineties. During this time he exhibited alongside artists such as Tony Schwensen, Mikala Dwyer and Nike Saavas.

(https://www.artserieshotels.com.au/cullen/adam-cullen/)
Biography
1965
Born, Sydney, NSW, Australia
1986
Bachelor of Fine Arts, City Art Institute, Sydney, NSW
1987
Graduate Diploma of Professional Art Studies, City Art Institute, Sydney, NSW
1999
Master of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
2000
Winner, Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
2008
Winner, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, NSW
2008
Researching PhD on Aesthetics of Death in Australian Art
2012
Year of death

(Bio from: http://www.artnet.com/artists/adam-cullen/biography)
Influences
Albrecht Dürer (Germany 1471-1528), Francisco Goya Y Lucientes (Spain 1746-1828), Francis Bacon (Ireland & England 1909-92), Sidney Nolan (Australia 1917-1992), Mike Parr (Australia b.1945), Martin Kippenberger (Germany 1953-1997)
Awards
2011
Minor Exaltation, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide (solo)
2011
Yesterday is still here today, Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay, Sydney (solo)
2009
A Death Like No Other, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide (solo)
2009
They You Trust, Them You Don’t, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne (solo)
2008
Let’s Get Lost, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (solo)
2008
International Manure / Evil / DNA/ Blood / Arse, Heiser Gallery, Brisbane (solo)
2007
Stupid Heaven, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide (solo)
2007
I Am The Cheese, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney (solo)
2006
Between the Lines: Works on Paper 1995-2005, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne;Penrith Regional Gallery and Lewers Bequest, Sydney (solo)
2005
Let Me Tell You About My Day, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
2005
Product of Compulsion, Michael Reid Art Dealer, Redfern, NSW
2005
Maintaining the Rage, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney
2004
Pure Sanctimony, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne
2004
On my Knees Looking Up, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney
2003
Future Dirt, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, Adelaide
2003
Far and Away, Yuill Crowley Gallery, Sydney
2003
Our Place in the Pacific, touring exhibition to regional galleries in Newcastle, Cairns, Gold Coast and Toowoomba
2002
UnAustralian, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney
2001
Night and Day, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney
2001
The Placebo Effect, Artspace, Sydney
2000
Value, ACCA, Melbourne
2000
Miss Gin Gin Showgirl (with Dale Frank), Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, NSW
2000
Interpersonal, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney
1999
Blind Side, Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide; Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
1999
Hotel/Motel, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney
1999
Genuine Imitation, First Floor, Melbourne
1998
Amateur Exorcist, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand
1998
Self-Loving, Fiat Lux, Auckland, New Zealand
1998
Touch and Go, Level 2 Project, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1998
World Fantasy, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney
1997
Special, Yuill Crowley Gallery, Sydney
1997
I Only think about you when I’m drunk, Test Strip, Auckland, New Zealand
1997
Life Fitness, Artspace, Sydney
1996
The Australian Labor Party, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney
1996
Live Rock, CBD Gallery, Sydney
1995
Class, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney
1995
Peace is Cool, CBD Gallery, Sydney
1994
Soft Material Facts, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney
1994
Special Galore Type, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne
Exhibitions
Selected exhibitions: Australian Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales (1993); Fluxibelstructures, Kunsthaus Oerlikon, Zurich, Switzerland (1995); Preambles, Australian Perspecta, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (1999); Art in the World, Pont Alexandre III, Paris, France (2000); Video-Salon, Week of Art and New Media, Brussels, Belgium (2000); 25th Bienale de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2002); Bitter Sweet, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2002); Identity and Desire, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (2005); CRASH (and other worldly pleasures) Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia, Perth (2006); Bon Scott Project, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle (2008) and Rough Trade, TANKS Art Centre, Cairns (1997) and Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart (1998). In mid 2008 Cullen’s work was the subject of a major survey exhibition, ADAM CULLEN. LET’S GET LOST, curated by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and was accompanied by a major catalogue published by the gallery. A finalist many times over in the Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, in 2000 he won the Archibald with his composition Portrait of David Wenham 2000. This success was followed by winning the Mosman Art Prize in 2005 and the 2008 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize with Pegasus Flying over Sydney 2008.