Abstract Expressionist painter David Kirk was born in Sydney in 1962. He was first drawn to painting while studying art at Sydney Boys’ High School, and his first notable artworks date from the late 1970s. After leaving school he worked from a studio behind a butchers shop in Maroubra, Sydney, while working full-time as a clerk with the NSW Department of Motor Transport. Bored with clerking, he enrolled into a BA course in Visual Art at the City Art Institute, Sydney (now College of Fine Arts UNSW). He studied at the City Art Institute from 1982-1984 and Majored in painting and drawing. His teachers included Kate Briscoe, Anne Thompson, Michael Esson and Susan Archer. In 1983 he exhibited his work for the first time at a selected students group show at the Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney.
Through the late 1980s Kirk exhibited in several group exhibitions, and had his first solo show at the Julie Green Gallery, Sydney in 1991. The following year the artist’s work was singled out for praise at a group drawing show at the Julie Green Gallery by the respected art critic Elwyn Lynn. Since the early 1990s Kirk has regularly exhibited in solo and group shows in Sydney and occasionally interstate. In recent years he has exhibited at the Washhouse Gallery, Rozelle, Sydney.
Kirk works mainly with oil or acrylic on stretched canvas, although he uses other media with his work on paper. Artists Ian Fairweather, Colin McCahon and early Mark Rothko are acknowledged influences on the artist, although Kirk’s painting and drawing expresses a dynamic, highly individual style. The mid-career artist has lived for many years in the Sydney suburb of Leichhardt, where he lives with his wife Jane Palfreyman. His studio at the back of his home is a converted old millinery workshop which dates from 1908.
Devoid of any artistic pretention, David Kirk’s gentle humour can often disarm viewers who are startled by his powerful images. Coastal views, often inspired by the landscape at Merimbula on the South Coast of NSW, seem to be the overriding theme during his career. In recent times he has also produced semi-abstract images based on plant growth, the plight of nature, as well as views of the Tasmanian coast.
- Writers:
- Clifford-Smith, Silas
- Date written:
- 2008
- Last updated:
- 2011
