King Street Gallery on William

Luke Sciberras

Artist Luke Sciberras was born in Sydney in 1975. He attended the National Art School in Sydney from 1995 to 1997.

Since the 1990s, Sciberras has held more than 40 solo exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne and numerous regional galleries. Regional group exhibitions include Jamberoo Mountain Road at Shoalhaven Regional Art Gallery, River on the Brink: Inside the Murray-Darling Basin at S.H. Ervin Gallery Sydney and Salient: Contemporary artists at the Western Front (an exhibition commemorating the centenary of the Great War).

Sciberras has also been a finalist in the Hadley’s Art Prize and the Kedumba Drawing Award, as well as in the Wynne Prize and the Tattersalls Landscape Prize on multiple occasions.

Luke’s work is represented in a number of collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Parliament House Collection Canberra, the ANZAC Memorial Sydney, the Union Club Sydney, Macquarie Bank and regional gallery collections including Manly, Shoalhaven, Bathurst, Orange, Port Macquarie, Broken Hill, Penrith and Newcastle.

‘To make an impression, a gesture or a glimpse of a memory is one of our most universal and natural instincts. The impulse to tell a story or more strongly, to share is the urge to embed a place or circumstance with the human condition. Painting and drawing is, to me, the very essence of all these expressions. Perennially, I travel around and into Australian landscapes to visit and revisit people and places which hold for me a resonance and compelling painterly allure.
Invariably I have worked alongside people who occupy and understand these places best. The indigenous peoples of the central desert, Arrernte, the Walpiri in the Tanami, Wanambaal Wunguur on the Kimberley coast, Kamilaroi at Moree and the Barkindji of Wilcannia all illuminate my experience profoundly and I warm to their friendship and generosity.
In the same spirit I have learned a great deal and enjoyed long friendships with graziers, environmentalists and other non indigenous custodians who have opened their doors and gates to allow me to form intimate and sustained acquaintances with some of Australia’s most staggering beauties. This is the reason I deeply feel that an artist doesn’t go out to the landscape but into it.
These wonderful chapters in my life and the subsequent time spent in the studio come to form a series of bodies of work which enduringly reward me as much as they spur me on to the next.’

– Luke Sciberras, 2020

Exhibitions

Films

Luke Sciberras: Side of the Sky Documentary - Catherine Hunter and Bruce Inglis

Commissioned by Bathurst Regional Art Gallery and Campbelltown Arts Centre for the exhibition 'Luke Sciberras: Side of the Sky'. At BRAG: 11 June – 7 August 2022 At C-A-C: 4 June - 7 August 2022 Bathurst Regional Art Gallery (BRAG) in partnership with Campbelltown Arts Centre (C-A-C) presents a comprehensive survey exhibition of acclaimed artist, Luke Sciberras. Held concurrently across the two venues and covering 25 years of practice, Side of the Sky will focus on Sciberras’ extensive travels, and highlight his connection to Wedderburn, Hill End and the Central West region. The exhibition will also foreground Sciberras’ drawing and print practice. Luke Sciberras draws inspiration from the immediate environment, working directly in the landscape, capturing elements, symbols, shapes and textures of places, usually over a series of visits. Upon return to his studio, he processes this raw material and, drawing on his memories and connections to local people, creates work that is as much about the process of painting as it is about the landscape where he began, and the place of the people within it. Sciberras was born in Campbelltown and spent his formative years assisting artists in the Campbelltown artist-community of Wedderburn. From one artist-community to another, Sciberras has lived in historic Hill End since 2000, a town he first visited in 1997 as a National Art School student. C-A-C and BRAG both represent the artistic communities that are of central importance to Sciberras’ life and work. A Bathurst Regional Art Gallery and Campbelltown Art Centre partnership. Luke Sciberras is represented by King Street Gallery, Sydney and Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne. Artist documentary video produced by Catherine Hunter and Bruce Inglis. Copyright 2022 Catherine Hunter Productions PtyLtd & Sync Pictures

Episode 130 - Talking with Painters by Maria Stoljar - LUKE SCIBERRAS UNCUT

This is the uncut recording For over 25 years, previous podcast guest Luke Sciberras has been immersing himself in landscapes across the world, returning to his studio to draw on the smaller works created from life. His paintings are bold and have a commanding presence. Many of those works, as well as drawings and prints, have been brought together for the first time in two excellent survey shows. The exhibitions, titled ‘Luke Sciberras: Side of the Sky’, are running concurrently at Campbelltown Arts Centre and Bathurst Regional Art Gallery in NSW and include works sourced from public and private collections around the world. A beautiful monograph also accompanies the exhibitions (link below). The shows end on 7 August 2022. I interviewed Luke in 2019 in his studio in Hill End, NSW – an old stone church built in the 19th century – and the conversation we recorded is episode 64 of the podcast. I also recorded video on that day and this episode is the full audio recording from that video. The popular 4 minute YouTube video made from the recording can be seen on the Talking with Painters YouTube channel.

Maria Stoljar takes you to the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW

2020 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Awards.

Australia’s Lost Impressionist, John Russell ABC -Trailer – directed by Catherine Hunter

Salient: Contemporary artists at the Western Front

Maria Stoljar interview with Luke Sciberras in his studio

The Drill Hall Gallery - Return to ANZAC Cove 'Your friend the enemy'

Luke Sciberras video from Bruce Inglis

The Making of Bridle Track, 2019, Luke Sciberras | Australian Tapestry Workshop

Solo exhibitions [selected]

2023
From Scratch, King Street Gallery on William, Sydney

2022
Arms Reach- Letters from Home Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
25 Year Survey Bathurst Regional Art Gallery & Campbeltown Arts Centre

2021
Close to Home King Street Gallery on William

2020
Black & Blue Scott Livesey Gallery Melbourne

2019
Belle Ile with Euan Macleod King Street Gallery on William
Rose into view King Street Gallery on William

2018
Belle Ile with Euan Macleod Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney NSW
Escarpment Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, Vic
Out There King Street Gallery on William

2016
West of the Darling King Street Gallery on William
About Place Scott Livesey Galleries

2015
Flying Goose Hill (With Elisabeth Cummings) Nock Art Foundation, Hong Kong
Human Condition Olsen Irwin Gallery, Sydney
Human Condition Glasshouse Regional Gallery, Port Macquarie, NSW

2014
On Country Scott Livesey Galleries
From My Travels Olsen Irwin Gallery Annex, Sydney
Tu-Whit! Tu-Whoo! Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Tu-Whit! Tu-Whoo! Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, NSW

2013
Signs of Life James Makin Gallery, Melbourne
Road Show (with Guy Maestri) Tim Olsen Gallery

2011
Highways and Other Recipes Tim Olsen Gallery

2010
Under a High Desert Wind James Makin Gallery, Melbourne

2009
More the Desert Reveals Tim Olsen Gallery
Fugues and Furrows Moree Plains Regional Gallery, Moree, NSW

2008
Flipside Tim Olsen Gallery
Plum Blossom Time James Makin Gallery

2007
Persimmon Season Tim Olsen Gallery
Windswept and Picked Clean James Makin Gallery

2006
When the Sun Comes Out Tim Olsen Gallery
Art Sydney06 Royal Hall of Industries, Sydney
Plucked and Gutted Port Jackson Press, Melbourne
Melbourne Art Fair Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

2005
A Painter’s Progress, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, NSW
Dogdays and Deluges Tim Olsen Gallery
Melbourne Art Fair Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
Windswept and Picked Clean Port Jackson Press, Melbourne
Art Sydney05 Royal Hall of Industries, Sydney

2003
Luke Sciberras & Tristan Lanceley Tim Olsen Gallery

2002
Monaro Country Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra

2001
Back up the Monkey Tim Olsen Gallery

2000
An Uncertain Something Tim Olsen Gallery
Meet 2×2 Tim Olsen Gallery

1999
ABC Centre Ultimo, Sydney

Group Exhibitions [selected]

2021
Storylines + Songlines Justin Art House Museum, Vic
The Wynne Prize, Art gallery New South Wales, Sydney

2020
Kenwood Road King Street Gallery on William, Sydney
The Wynne Prize AGNSW, Sydney
Collection Highlights Orange Regional Art Gallery, Orange

2019
Inside/outside King Street Gallery on William, Sydney
River on the Brink: Inside the Murray-Darling Basin National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery and Broken Hill Regional Gallery, NSW

2018
Interiors Orange Regional Art Gallery, Orange, NSW
100 Years on King Street Gallery on William
National Art: Part One National Art School, Sydney
The Art of Friendship Lane Cove, Sydney
Jamberoo Mountain Road Shoalhaven Regional Art Gallery, NSW
Salient Melbourne Australian Club, Melbourne
Salient: Contemporary artists at the Western Front New England Regional Art Museum, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre,
Bank Art Museum Moree, Tweed Regional Gallery, Anzac Memorial Gallery, Hyde Park Sydney, NSW

2017
Hadley’s Art Prize Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart, Tas
Artist Profile Australasian Painters Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, NSW
The Hill End Table Art Food Fire, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, NSW
Nine Lives – A Cat’s Tale Heiser Gallery, Brisbane

2016
Paint my Place Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, Coffs Harbour, NSW
The Wynne Prize Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Animals Gallery 81, Sydney
Phantom Exhibition Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Qld

2015
The Wynne Prize Art Gallery of New South Wales
Your Friend the Enemy (Gallipoli centenary exhibition) Drill Hall Gallery, ANU, Canberra; S.H. Ervin Gallery Sydney; Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, NSW; Bathurst Regional Art Gallery NSW
The Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize Tattersall’s Club, Brisbane
The Art of Shakespeare Sydney Opera House, Commissioned by Bell Shakespeare Company
Outback Art Prize Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW
This is the End… with Guy Maestri and Ben Quilty Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW

2014
Blow Ins Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW

2012
Australia Day Exhibition Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney

2006
Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Vic
Kedumba Drawing Award Kedumba Gallery, Blue Mountains Grammar School, NSW
Melbourne Art Fair Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Vic

2000
Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, Sydney
Kings School Art Prize The King’s School, Sydney

1999
Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, Sydney

Collections

Alberts Music
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Anzac Memorial Sydney
APRA Australia
Artbank
Bank Art Museum, Moree NSW
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, NSW
Broken Hill Regional Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW
Campbelltown Regional Art Gallery, NSW
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, Coffs Harbour, NSW
Glasshouse Regional Gallery, Port Macquarie, NSW
Manly Art Gallery and Museum
Macquarie Bank, Australia
National War Memorial, Canberra
Neil Balnaves Collection
Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, NSW
Nock Art Foundation, Hong Kong
Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, NSW
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT
Pat Corrigan Collection
Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest, Penrith, NSW
Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, Shoalhaven, NSW
The Union Club, Sydney
The Kings School, Parramatta, Sydney

From Scratch 2023

Side of the sky

Monograph – contributors

Michael Dagostino

Sarah Gurich

Elisabeth Cummings

John MCDonald

Anne Ryan

Emily Rolfe

Elspeth Pitt

Printed by Gunn & Taylor, Australia

 

 

Close to Home 2021

View exhibition catalogue

Jamberoo Mountain Road

West of the Darling, Works on Paper 2016

Luke Sciberras By Anne Ryan

Artist Profile Issue 59 - Online Publication

May 2022

Luke Sciberras: Side of the Sky

Southern Wild Co. Online Publication

4 June 2022

LUKE SCIBERRAS: SIDE OF THE SKY excerpt

Arts OutWest

31 May 2022

Luke Sciberras in the Wynne, 2021

AGNSW Online Publication

2021

Ep 64: Luke Sciberras by Maria Stoljar

Talking with Painters

2019

Kimberley beauty Luke's inspiration

Senior travellor

29 April 2019

First impressions by Jacqui Taffel

Wentworth Courier

2019

Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald

October 2019

Luke Sciberras - Kimberley

ArtsHub Australia

2019

Fields of War and Peace by M. Egan

Remembrance Day, Sydney Morning Herald

2018

Belle of Australian Art by Elizabeth Fortescue

The Daily Telegraph

12 July 2018

A reunion of the old school by Christopher Allen

The Australian Review

29 September 2018

Art of gold: Hill End, NSW by Naomi Russo

Australian Geographic - National Geographic Magazine

17 January 2017

Luke Sciberras: Out There by Luke Sciberras

Artist Profile Magazine Online

2017

Art of gold: Hill End, NSW by Naomi Russo

Australian Geographic

17 January 2017

On Country: essay by Luke Sciberras

Artist Profile Magazine Issue 37

November 2016

Luke Sciberras: The Creative Country

Country Style Magazine

2016

How Australians live: Bridle Track

Shelter Magazine pg. 6

2015