George Gittoes

1949

Artist's CV

Represented by nanda\hobbs

Gittoes’ ongoing endeavour to reveal the horror and complexity of war is unique.

 George Gittoes is an eyewitness in the world's contact zones. Visiting the battle- and killing-fields of Rwanda, Iraq, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Bosnia and Afghanistan, Gittoescaptures the atrocities and attacks on basic human rights. He produces poignant, rare images of the aftermath of terror, shock and death on the edge of human experience.

Gittoes is described simultaneously as a figurative painter, a modernist, a postmodernist, a social realist, a pop artist and an expressionist. His painting The Preacher, winner of the Blake Prize for Religious Art in 1995, was completed following his visit to Rwanda in 1995 with the Australian peacekeeping forces.

Also an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, several feature films covering the war on terror have been released by Gittoes since 2004. 
Gittoes acknowledges his journey is one into the heart of human darkness: "I believe there is a role for contemporary art to challenge, rather than entertain. My work is confronting humanity with the darker side of itself."

Gittoes has received significant critical acclaim and is widely published, with a monologue on the artist's career released by Gavin Fry in 2003. His work is included in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the Powerhouse Museum, the State Library of NSW, the Queensland Art Gallery and the Museum & Art Gallery of NT, as well as in regional Galleries throughout Australia and private collections in Australia, Germany, the USA, Canada, the UK and Switzerland.

After being awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of NSW in 2008, Gittoes relocated to Berlin in early 2009, working closely with Mayen Beckmann, the distinguished German curator and granddaughter of the iconic German Expressionist painter Max Beckmann. It was in Berlin that Gittoes produced and exhibited his Descendence series (2009–10), before returning to the Tribal Belt of Pakistan.Gittoes’ ongoing endeavour to reveal the horror and complexity of war is unique.

 

\ Artworks

Head of the Beast

Oil on canvas \ 51x61cm

SOLD

Mirrow and Awilya II

1998 \ Oil on canvas \ 168x253cm

Old Sufi - Emerald Song

Oil on linen \ 183x121cm

Self Portrait Drawing in Somalia

Oil on canvas \ 168x228cm

Shazia - Shoe Shine Girl

2017 \ Oil on canvas \ 100x75cm

Smoker

2010 \ Oil, clear varnish and automotive metal flakes on canvas \ 200x160cm

Stainless Steel

2017 \ Oil on linen \ 42.5x43cm

Sufi

Oil on canvas \ 61x61cm

The Nuclear Trump

2017 \ Oil, clear varnish and automotive metal flakes on canvas \ 244x194cm

The Transparent Road

2017 \ Oil on linen \ 152.5x198.5cm

Tora Bora Puppy

2017 \ Oil, clear varnish and automotive metal flakes on canvas \ 198x102cm

SOLD

Yellow house garden

2014 \ Oil on canvas \ 152x244cm

\ News

News

Famous American artist endorses the work of George Gittoes

29 January 2019

Carolee Schneemann, described by MoMA as “one of the most influential artists of the second part of the 20th century”, has endorsed the work of George Gittoes in a recent interview.

Read more

\ Exhibitions featuring George Gittoes

Summer Exhibition

Group Exhibition

6 December 2017 — 20 January 2018

Contact Us

to find out more about George Gittoes.

12 - 14 Meagher Street Chippendale, NSW 2008
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.30pm Saturday, 11am - 4pm