Adam Cullen merges social satire with technicolour excess. An ‘enfant terrible’ of the art world, he launched onto the Australian art scene by chaining a pig’s head to his ankle for two weeks. This punk stunt was followed by a career spent painting tough, uncompromising and challenging subjects, captured with a pop art twist.

The subject of ‘Joe Byrne (Kelly Gang)’ is Joe Bryne, a member of Ned Kelly’s gang of bushrangers. Byrne was a tragic figure, meeting death (despite his tin armour) at the gang’s infamous confrontation with the police in Glenrowan, 1980. Like Byrne, Cullen was of Irish descent and considered himself an outcast. His work repeatedly returned to the Kelly gang, finding contemporary and autobiographical resonance in their myth of fateful rebellion.

Exploring masculinity, crime and animalism, Cullen’s work is imbued with an unexpected vulnerability. In his lifetime, he was a winner and multi-time Archibald Prize finalist, honoured with a 2008 retrospective at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and an Art Hotel in Prahran, cementing him as one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists.

Quintessential Cullen, this work is a prize for collectors of significant contemporary art and portraits.

Adam CULLEN (1965 - 2012)
'Joe Byrne (Kelly Gang)' 2011
acrylic on canvas
Image Size: 91 x 91 cm
Dimensions: 91 x 91 x 4 cm
Signed: Signed with initials A C lower left and right
Comes with Letter of Provenance

Exhibited: Art is Pain Relief, Manly Art Gallery & Museum: 3 October - 10 December, 2023

Literature: Art is Pain Relief, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, catalogue (hard back publication) p,39

Condition is Very Good
(c) Adam Cullen / Copyright Agency