James GLEESON
Sidney, 1915

James Gleeson (b.1915) is Australia’s best known and most important Surrealist. Now in his eighty-eighth year, Gleeson has been painting and exhibiting consistently from the 1930s to the present. He has played a significant role in the Australian art scene, not only as a painter and poet, but as a critic, writer and curator.
Gleeson combines skillful draughtsmanship with a great facility in handling paint. Delving into the subconscious, Gleeson uses literary, mythological or religious subject matter to allow the viewer glimpses of extraordinary beauty. Regardless of their scale, the resulting paintings convey a sumptuous monumentality.
Gleeson is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, all state galleries, most regional galleries, university collections, Artbank, and many corporate and private collections.