The Presence of an Absence

Peter Tilley

Born 1946 Williamstown, Victoria. Lives Carrington NSW. I have been exhibiting for 35 years, mostly in Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, represented by Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, for 34 years until the gallery closed in 2022. My studio is located at 'The Creator Incubator', Hamilton NSW.

Certificate of Art, Newcastle School of Art and Design. MPhil (Fine Art), University of Newcastle. PhD (Fine Art) University of Newcastle. Over 90 group exhibitions and 35 solo exhibitions. SxS Bondi numerous times since 2004, SxS Cottesloe 7 times and SxS Aarhus Denmark 2009 and 2011.

Exhibitions

2022, SxS Bondi.
2022, Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Mayor's Award. 2023, Sculpture Bermagui, Major Prize.
2023, Sculptures @ Scratchley, Peers Award.

Selected Biography

• 2015-18   PhD, Newcastle University, NSW.
• 2008-10  Master of Philosophy (Fine Art), Newcastle University, NSW.
• 1978-79   Certificate of Art, Newcastle School of Art & Design, NSW.
• 1975-77    Stitched Sculpture, Private Tutor.
• 1973-75    Ceramics (p/t) - Newcastle School of Art & Design, NSW.
• 1946          Born in Wikamatown, VIC

Solo Exhibitions

• 2020        The Shadow Speaks, MAY SPACE, Sydney
• 2019         Recent Acquisitions, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney
• 2019         The Tangible and the Shadow, MAY SPACE, Sydney
• 2018          Seeing the Shadow, MAY SPACE, Sydney.
• 2018         Seeing the Shadow, The University Gallery, Newcastle, NSW
• 2016         A Dirty Business (with Andy Devine), Newcastle Art Gallery, NSW
• 2015         Second self, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney.
• 2014-16   Black Harvest (with Andy Devine), Touring exhibition, Moree Plains Gallery; Cessnock Regional Art Gallery; Glasshouse Regional Gallery, Port Macquarie; Muswellbrook Regional Art Centre; Manly Art Gallery & Museum
• 2014        Figure in the landscape, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2013        Black Harvest (with Andy Devine), Cooks Hill Galleries, NSW
• 2012         On the Nature of Things, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2011         Gallery East, WA, A Passage Through Time, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2010        Postgraduate Exhibition, The University Gallery, Newcastle NSW
• 2010        Something Other Than Itself, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2009       Midway Along the Path of Life, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Gallery East, WA
• 2009       Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2007       Place and Circumstance, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Gallery East, WA
• 2006      Journey Past and Present, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2005     Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2005     The Passage of Time, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2004     Brenda May Gallery, Sydney.
• 2003     Brenda May Gallery, Sydney.
• 2003     Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2002     Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
• 2001     Nick Mitzevich Gallery, Newcastle NSW
• 2000-1 Parallels & Crossovers: An Artistic Relationship, Peter & Lezlie Tilley
• 1991-2000, Touring Show curated by Anthony Bond, Maitland City Art Gallery, NSW; Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre, NSW; Manning Regional Art Gallery, NSW; New England Region Art Museum, NSW; Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, NSW; Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 1999    Access Contemporary Art Gallery, Sydney.
• 1997    Access Contemporary Art Gallery, Sydney.
• 1996    Access Contemporary Art Gallery, Sydney.
• 1994    Access Contemporary Art Gallery, Sydney.
• 1992    Access Contemporary Art Gallery, Sydney.
• 1990   Melbourne Contemporary Art Gallery. Access Gallery, Sydney.
• 1989   Access Gallery, Sydney.
• 1988   Gryphon Gallery, Melbourne.
• 1987   Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle.
• 1965   Gannel Gallery, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Vic.
• 1964   Butchers Ext, Sydney.

Selected Mixed Exhibitions

• 2020   (scheduled) Sculpture  by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney
• 2020   (Finalist) Sculpture in the Vineyards, Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival, NSW
• 2019    (Finalist) Georges River Art Prize, Hurstville Museum and Gallery, NSW
• 2019    Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney.
• 2019    Winter Solstice Sculpture Exhibition ‘Response’, Hunter Region Botanic Gardens, NSW
• 2019    Shelf Life, MAY SPACE, Sydney
• 2018    Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney
• 2018    Concerning Peace, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW Memoranda, University of Newcastle
• 2018    Gallery, NSW MUGGED!, MAY SPACE, Sydney
• 2017    Ceramic Revisions II, MAY SPACE, Sydney
• 2017    The Phantom Show, Newcastle Art Gallery, NSW; Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney
• 2017    MAY SPACE: FOURTEEN, MAY SPACE, Sydney
• 2016    “Yeah. Cheers. Thanks a lot”, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Highlights from the MRAG Collection,
• 2016     Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW
• 2016     Highlights from the MRAG Collection, Maitland Regional Art Gallery.
• 2016     Sculpture 2016: Bronze, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2015    30 Years | 30 Artists | 30 Works, Brenda May Gallery,
• 2015    Sydney Untitled Show, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2015    Signature, The University Gallery, The University of Newcastle
• 2015    Sculpture by the Sea Decade Club, Macquarie Group, Sydney
• 2015    Visible Storage, Artbank, Sydney
• 2015     Sculpture 2015: Sculpture Park, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2014    Elephant in the Room, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2014    Sculpture in the Vineyards, NSW
• 2014    (Finalist) Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture
• 2014    Award, Deakin University Art Gallery, VIC Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney NSW
• 2014    Hidden, Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney Sculpture, Newcastle University, NSW Landscape, Brenda
• 2014    May Gallery, Sydney Sculpture
• 2014    Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2013    Sculpture in the Vineyards, Hunter Valley, NSW
• 2013    Sculpture Inside, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney Mighty Small, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2012   Sculpture in the Vineyards, Hunter Valley, NSW
• 2012   Reflective Dialogues, The University of Newcastle Gallery In The Mirror,
• 2012   Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2012   Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, WA
• 2012   Major Artists, Major Works, Brenda
• 2012   May Gallery, Sydney Sculpture
• 2012   Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2011    Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney
• 2011   Preparation for the Final Journey, Newcastle Art Space
• 2011   Body Language, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, WA
• 2011   Kooindah Acquisitive Sculpture Prize Exhibition, NSW Rookwood Sculpture Walk, NSW
• 2011   Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2010   Green, Brenda May Gallery,
• 2010   Sydney Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney
• 2010   Sculpture in the Vineyards, Wollombi, NSW
• 2010   Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, WA
• 2010   Sculpture Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2009   Sculpture by the Sea + Sculpture Inside, Sydney
• 2009   40 x 40 x 40, Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne VIC
• 2009   Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus, Denmark Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, WA
• 2009   The Flower Show, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2008   Sculpture by the Sea + Sculpture Inside, Sydney
• 2008  Narrative, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Memento Mori,
• 2008   Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2008  Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, WA
• 2008  Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, VIC
• 2007   Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, WA Sculpture by the Sea + Sculpture Inside, Sydney
• 2006  Sculpture by the Sea + Sculpture Inside, Sydney
• 2006  Applied Arts - Form + Function, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney SMALL, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2006  Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, VIC
• 2006  The Figure In Question, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, NSW
• 2005  Sculpture by the Sea + Sculpture Inside, Sydney Sculpture
• 2005  Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Couples/Collaborators + Other Partnerships, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2004   Sculpture by the Sea + Sculpture Inside, Sydney Sculpture 2004, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
• 2004   The Frank Saxby Bequest Invitation Art Acquisitions Prize, Manning Regional Art Gallery, Taree
• 2004   Chalk and Cheese, Newcastle Art Space, NSW Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Bld, VIC
• 2003   Dangerous Toys, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Kinetica, Maitland City Art Gallery, NSW
• 2001   Well Connected: Dobell + Company, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery
• 2000   Sculpture 2000, Access Contemporary Art Gallery, Sydney Contemporary Sculpture, 2 artists,
• 2000   Penrith Regional Gallery, Sydney
• 2000   A Contemporary Perspective -An Exploration of Medium, Port Stephens Community Arts Centre;
• 2000   Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre; Maitland City Art Gallery
• 2000   NSWElements of Sculpture, 2 artists, Tamworth Region
• 2000  Gallery Melbourne Art Fair
• 2000  Royal Exhibition Building
• 1998    Steel Works - A Regeneration, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery The Rose, Lake Macquarie City Art
• 1998    Gallery, NSW Stretched, 5 artists, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, NSW
• 1997    Newcastle National Ceramic Award, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery
• 1996    Artistic Relationship, Maitland City Art Gallery
• 1994    Survey of Men Artists of the Hunter Region, Maitland City Art
• 1994   Gallery The First Eleven, Faculty of Art & Design Gallery, University of Newcastle, NSW
• 1993    New Art Eight, Access Contemporary Art Gallery, Sydney
• 1992    Access to Adelaide, 7 Sculptors - BMG Fine Art, Adelaide SA
• 1992    Stanthorpe Heritage Arts Festival, QLD
• 1992   Objective Subjects - Subjective Objects, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, NSW
• 1992   ACAF•3 Sculpture Exhibition, Royal Exhibition Building, VIC
• 1991    3 Artists, Recent Works, Maitland City Art Gallery, NSW
• 1990-8 Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Royal Exhib. Building, VIC
• 1990 The Artistic Relationship, Maitland City Art Gallery, NSW
• 1990  Shifting Ground, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
• 1990  Sydney Myer Australia Day Ceramics Award, Shepparton Gallery
• 1988  Sculpture Now, Maitland City Art Gallery, NSW
• 1986 Fletcher Jones Invitational, Warrnambool Art Gallery, VIC
• 1986  Hunter Valley Sculptors, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, NSW

Awards/Prizes/Commissions

• 2019 Winner, Major Acquisitive Prize, Sculpture on the Farm
• 2018 Winner, RUPIO Prize, Sculpture on the Farm
• 2016 Acquisitive (w/ Andy Divine), Newcastle Club Foundation Painting Prize
• 2015  Winner, Hunter Region Botanic Gardens Sculpture Prize
• 2014  Winner, Hunter Region Botanic Gardens Sculpture Prize
• 2012 Winner, Friends of the University 2012 Acquisitive Prize for the University Collection, Newcastle University
• 2011 Winner, In Situ 11 Sculpture Prize, Mosman
• 2010 Sculpture in the Vineyards, Noyce Brothers Wines Sculpture Award
• 2000 Acquisitive, Hunter Valley Ceramic Award, Muswellbrook Regional Gallery
• 1998 Newcastle AH & I Association Special Prize
• 1997 Major Public Sculpture Commission - Maitland Mercury for the City of Maitland
• 1993 Major Sculpture Commission, Gilbert & Tobin, Sydney Newcastle AH & I Association Sculpture Prize Miniature Prize, Shoal Bay Art Prize, NSW
• Hunter Valley Ceramic Award, Muswellbrook Regional Gallery 1992 Pottery Prize, Festival of Port Stephens Art Exhibition Acquisitive, Tomago Aluminium Sculpture Prize Newcastle AH & I Association Sculpture Prize Maitland Art Prize, Maitland City Art Gallery
• Acquisitive, Ceramic Prize, Stanthorpe Heritage Arts Festival Acquisitive, Costain Ceramic Award, Muswellbrook Regional Art Gallery
• 1979 Von Bertouch Galleries Prize

Published/Reproduced - Selected

• 2019 “The Sculpture on the Farm event drew 2000 visitors”, Dungog Chronicle, 29 October
• 2018 Hynes, Victoria. “Out of the Shadows”, World Sculpture News, Vol 24, No 2, Spring, p.28-31
• Stowell, Jill. “Brilliant Tilley”, Newcastle Herald, 31 Mar, p.34
• 2016  Barnes, John. “Newcastle Club Painting Prize 2016: The winner of the city’s newest major art prize”, Newcastle Herald, 18 Nov
• 2015  Stowell, Jill. “Two minds on one dusty concern”, Newcastle Herald, 24 Jan, p.34
• 2014 Cormack, Lucy. “Clock’s ticking as sculpture show returns even bigger and better”, The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 Oct, p.4-5
• 2013 “Surf, Sand and Vision”, Atelier, February, p.102 “Sculpture 2013”, SMH – Spectrum, 19-20 January, p.21 2012 Fortescue E. “Bearing fruit”, Daily Telegraph, 27 Oct, p.7
• Edwards, A. “Sculptor doubles appeal”, Newcastle Herald, 25/10, p18 Hopcroft, Helen. “Peter Tilley and the Garden of Death”, Art Monthly, October, p.17-9
• Stowell, J. “Hidden meanings”, Newcastle Herald, May19, p.18 “Sculpture by the Sea (SxS)”, Sculpture, vol.31, no.4, p.25
• 2011  Hill, Michael and John McDonald. Sculpture by the Sea, the First Fifteen Years 1997-2011, Media 21 Publishing, p.119
• “Sculpture in the Vineyards”, Hunter Valley Breathe #31, p.44
• 2010 Stowell Jill. “Choice Viewing”, Newcastle Herald, Mar 20, p.11 2009 Stowell, J. “Brilliant Darkness”, Newcastle Herald, Jun 20, p11 Lyons Melissa. “Sculptor onto a shore thing”, Newcastle Herald, March 29
• 2008 Catalogue, 50 Years of Muswellbrook Shire Collection
• 1958-2008, Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre, p107-109
• 2007 Stowell, J. “Exploring new terrain”, Newcastle Herald, 22/9, p30 NSW Scoop Traveller, #2, Jul-Dec, p.75 C+A, issue 5, March, p.10
• Wasley, Alice. “The Planner”, SMH, 3-4 Nov, p.6
• 2004 TV Feature, “Sculpture 2004”, Today show, TCN9, Jan 28
• 2003 Catalogue. Hidden Treasures, The Maitland Collection, Maitland Regional Gallery, p39
• “The Week’s Best”, Metro, SMH, Sept 12-18, p.2 Human Rights Defender, vol. 12, issue 3, p.15
• 2002 “Exhibitions, critic’s picks”, Metro, SMH, June 28-July 4. p.27
• 2001 SMH, Metro, Sept 21-27
• Stowell, Jill. “Visible feast”, Newcastle Herald, Aug 18, p.15
• 2000 Catalogue, Contemporary Sculpture by Leslie Oliver and Peter Tilley, Penrith Regional Gallery & Lewers Bequest, NSW Stowell, Jill. “Locals in the frame”, Newcastle Herald, Aug 26 Stowell Jill. “Weekend Feature”, Newcastle Herald, July 8
• Smee, Sebastian. SMH, Metro, Sept 24-30 Watson, Bronwyn. SMH, Sept 21
• Ryan, M. “Harmonious marriage”, Newcastle Herald, Nov 11, p26 1999 Sydney Morning Herald, Sept. 21 Metro, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 - 30 Sept
• 1998 Thinking Business, Uni of Newcastle Publication, Issue No.11 Page, Donna. “Exhibition views steelworks closure through artists' eyes”, Newcastle Herald, March 30, p4
• 1995 Thorpe, DW. Who's Who of Australian Visual Artists
• 1994 McCulloch, A & S. Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Allen & Unwin
• 1993 Drury, Nevill. New Art Eight, Craftsman House
• Drury, Nevill. New Sculpture, Craftsman House
• 1992 “New Art”, Interiors Magazine, Vol.6 No.1, Feb/Mar, p17
• Kidd, C. “Sculpture Features at Access”, State of the Art, Mar, p13 Hill, Peter. “Sculpture at the Third Australian Contemporary Art Fair”, Asian Art News, Nov/Dec p62
• 1990 Thompson, I. “Iconic Assemblages”, Craft Arts, #18, Mar/Jun Chesterfield-Evans, Jan. “Artemis”, Newcastle Gallery Society Magazine, Vol.20 No.3, July/Sept
• Shifting Ground, Newcastle Artists, AGNSW, Aug 15-19 Germaine, M. Artists & Galleries of Australia, Craftsman House

Represented

• Arts ACT; Artbank; Manly Art Gallery & Museum, NSW; Newcastle Art Gallery, NSW; Warrnambool Art
• Gallery,VIC; Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, NSW; Maitland City Art Gallery, NSW;
• Stanthorpe Art Gallery, QLD; Muswellbrook Regional Gallery, NSW; University of Newcastle Collection;
• Cottesloe Council, Perth, WA; Clayton Utz, Sydney; Hunter Valley Private Hospital; Hunter Urban Division of General Practitioners; Tomago Aluminium Collection, NSW; Newcastle Club, NSW; private collections, Denmark, Australia.