exhibitions
Ian Grant: Still, Stillness 2015
press releases
Ian Grant
Born in Sydney in 1947, Ian Grant completed his studies at the National Art School (NAS), Sydney and later gained a Masters of Art (Visual Art) from the then Sydney College of Advanced Education. He was Head of Painting Studies at the University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts (COFA) between 1989 and 2006.
Ian Grant has been exhibiting since 1972. His work is held in major corporate, state and university collections, including Art Gallery of New South Wales, Bathurst Regional Gallery, National Gallery of Australia and the University of Western Australia. He has been the recipient of numerous prizes including the prestigious Blake Prize for Religious Art in 1987 and the Fleurieu Peninsula Art Prize in 2004. He has been included in the Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales ten times. Prior to his representation at Liverpool Street Gallery, Grant held regular exhibitions at Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney and Crawford Gallery, Sydney.
Grant’s landscape paintings have been described as ‘ambient realism at its best’. He immerses himself in the environment, taking time to appreciate his surroundings. He states: “It is my encounter there with distance, stillness and silence that I find memorable.” (Ian Grant, Artist Profile) His process involves taking extensive photography and sketches of the landscape, before composing his paintings. He alters small compositional details and manipulates colour, referring to memory. His soft brush strokes and smooth blending creates an ambient snapshot. He states: “This compositional ambience is very carefully constructed from a combination of direct observation and considered distillation of record and memory.”
Grant lives and works in Sydney, Australia.