Nanda Hobbs is pleased to announce its representation of leading Australian artist Julian Meagher, whose atmospheric paintings explore the shifting boundaries between landscape, abstraction, memory and hope.
Born in Australia in 1978, Meagher has established a distinctive place within contemporary Australian painting. His work draws on the traditions of Neo-Romanticism while pursuing a deeply personal engagement with the natural world, light and the passage of time.
“I see painting as a physical act of hope with poetic intention. I’m drawn to moments of transition, those brief passages of light and time that hold the possibility of renewal,” Meagher says.
Across his practice, elements of landscape continually fold into one another. Cotton-candy skies dissolve into fields of colour, while moments suspended between dawn and twilight create an ambiguous space between dreamscape and reality. Light functions as both subject and metaphor, allowing Meagher to consider cycles of change, loss and renewal.
At the heart of the work is a meditation on family, nature, mortality and hope. His paintings move between the intimate and the expansive, inviting viewers to consider both the emotional weight and quiet possibility contained within fleeting moments.
Meagher is a five-time finalist in the Archibald Prize, as well as a finalist in the Wynne Prize and a three-time finalist in the Salon des Refusés. His portraiture has also been recognised through finalist selections in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award and the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture. His broader exhibition history includes finalist selections in the Glover Prize, Paddington Art Prize and Mosman Art Prize, reflecting the breadth of his contribution to contemporary Australian painting.
Meagher’s work is held in numerous public and institutional collections, including the National Portrait Gallery, Australian War Memorial, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery and Artbank Australia. His paintings are also held in private collections across Australia and internationally.
We're delighted to bring Julian's work to our program.
