Ben Quilty

From March 2019, a survey exhibition of Quilty's work curated by the Art Gallery of South Australia's Lisa Slade was held first at AGSA in Adelaide, followed by the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The exhibition included works from his time in Afghanistan, Greece, Serbia and Lebanon and celebrated his connection to artist Margaret Olley as well as including new Rorschach-based works documenting the Myall Creek massacre and an hitherto unrecorded massacre in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY lands) in South Australia, titled Irin Irinji. In October 2019, the Art Gallery of New South Wales hosted the exhibition, coinciding with the release of the documentary Quilty – Painting the Shadows, made by Catherine Hunter, on ABC Television on 19 November 2019.

Quilty's works have been exhibited at the Australian National University Drill Hall Gallery (8 November 2013–15 December 2013) (solo), the 2014 Adelaide Biennial (1 March 2014–11 May 2014) (group), the Saatchi Gallery (4 July 2014–3 August 2014) (solo), 2014 Melbourne Art Fair (13 August 2014–17 August 2014) (group), Galerie Allen, Paris (17 September 2014–11 October 2014) (solo), Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong (7 November 2014–10 January 2015) (group), and (16 January 2015–1 March 2015) (solo), Bendigo Art Gallery included works from the Saatchi exhibition (12 December 2014–1 March 2015) (solo), the Art Gallery of South Australia (11 November 2016–29 January 2017) (group), and at the National Gallery of Victoria (15 December 2017–15 April 2018) (group).

A multiple finalist, Quilty won the Archibald Prize in 2011 for his portrait of Australian artist Margaret Olley. It was his seventh entry to the prize.

From 11 October until 3 November 2011, Quilty was attached to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) observing their activities in Kabul, Kandahar and Tarin Kowt. His task was to record and interpret the experiences of Australian service personnel who are deployed as part of Operation Slipper. After his return, Quilty spent six months producing work for the Australian War Memorial's National Collection. Such work is in the tradition of war artists that began in World War I with artists Arthur Streeton, George Lambert and Frederick McCubbin. Quilty's experiences as a war artist and the work he produced as a result of it was explored in the ABC TV's Australian Story program "War Paint" screened on 3 September 2012.

In 2009, he won the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, Australia's most lucrative portrait prize, for a painting of Australian musician Jimmy Barnes. His painting Dead (Over the Hills and Far Away) won the National Artists Self Portrait prize in 2007.

Examples of Quilty's work are held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Golden Soil, Wealth for Toil (2004), acquired 2005, Fairy Bower Rorschach (2012), acquired 2012, and Self Portrait, the Executioner (2015), acquired 2015), the Art Gallery of South Australia (Self portrait (as Cook ...) (2011), and Self portrait (as Cook with sunglasses) (2011)), the Bendigo Art Gallery (Kuta Rorschach No 2 (2013), acquired 2014), the Goulburn Regional Art Gallery (Torana (2007), and Skull Rorschach (2009)) the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (Van Rorschach (2005), acquired 2007), the Parliament of Australia (Lead Shot Rorschach (2013)), and the Queensland Art Gallery (Sergeant P, after Afghanistan (2012)). In December 2018, a Christmas Tree created by Quilty and artist, Mirra Whale from refugees' discarded lifevests, was displayed in St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne.

Quilty was awarded a Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship in 2002.

Quilty grew up in Kenthurst in Sydney's north-west. Quilty lives and works in Robertson, New South Wales. He was educated at Kenthurst Public School and Oakhill College, where he exhibited his HSC artwork in ArtExpress 1991. Subsequently, Quilty was selected as the recipient of the Julian Ashton Summer School Scholarship. After high school, Quilty followed his interest in art and obtained a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Painting from Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1994.

Ben Quilty (born 1973 in Sydney) is an Australian artist and social commentator, who has won a series of painting prizes: the 2014 Prudential Eye Award, 2011 Archibald Prize and 2009 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. He has been described as one of Australia's most famous living artists.