Matthew Quick

Matthew Quick is an Australian artist whose works usually comprise of thematically and stylistically linked series. The series Introduced Species from 2011 inspired composer Katy Abbott’s symphonic piece of the same name, and it is being performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2014, and he has collaborated with her on three of her CD covers. His painting Remedial Measures was purchased by Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery in New South Wales for its permanent collection after winning the Sponsor’s Prize in 2013 Eutick Memorial Still Life Awards. He has painted portraits of several prominent Australians, including actresses Sigrid Thornton and Cassandra Magrath, comedians Wil Anderson and Hamish Blake,and convicted lawyer Andrew Fraser.

Born 1967 in Adelaide, Matthew has painted since his teens but for a long time was distracted by other careers – working variously as a university lecturer, photographer, cleaner, salesman, art director, copywriter & interior designer. Until returning full time to painting, he was the founder and Creative Director of his own advertising agency, Q&A.

Matthew had 12 solo exhibitions and his work has been included in more than 50 group shows. He is represented by Art Equity in Sydney and Hill Smith Gallery in Adelaide and by others in Melbourne, London, and Singapore. His work is in the collections of Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Aitken Hill Estate, and private collections throughout the world.

Matthew has been named in Business Review Weekly as one of Australia’s top 50 artists. In the last 5 years he has either won, or been selected as a finalist for, more than 50 major national art awards, including the Sulman Art Prize, the Mosman  Art Prize, the Shirley Hannan Portrait Prize, the Glover Prize, the Redland Art Award, the Paddington Art Prize, the City of Albany Art Prize, the Fisher’s Ghost Art  prize, the Blake Prize Director’s Cut, the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture, the Townsville Open Art Award, the Duke Art Prize, the John Leslie Art prize, the Churchie  and the Prometheus. He also writes fiction: his first novel was short-listed for the Vogel Literary Award.

Matthew’s paintings have been used as CD and book covers by Penguin Books & Era Publications, amongst others. Bayside City Council, Sheraton Hotels, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Mars Corporation, Marriott Hotels, Kodak, The Department of State Development, Peddle Thorpe Architect Westfield, NSW Railways, Playboy and Australia Post have purchased other works. His work has been reproduced in many magazines, books and journals including Communication Arts, Idea, Design World, Graphis & Novum. His art has received numerous awards including several MADC awards and from the prestigious “One Show” in New York.

He travels frequently, has resided variously in the UK, Portugal & Malaysia, and once lived underneath a grand piano in Greenwich. He has spent nights under stars in India, under surveillance in Burma, underground in Bolivia and under nourished in London. His scariest moment was having machine-gun shoved in his face during anti-monarchy riots in Nepal, although crashing a para-glider into a forest was also something of a highlight.

“It’s not so crazy, you know…” he says. “Elias Canetti’s mother packed him off to study in Germany during the rise of fascism so that he might have a ‘broader education. “I am already planning the next several series that will keep me busy for years – so all of this is just research!”

Matthew Quick lives and works in Melbourne, Australia.