Adam Cullen was born in Sydney in 1965. The artist was passionate about drawing from a very young age, and as a teenager drew cartoons for a local newspaper. He first gained recognition in the art world when he chained a decomposing pig's head to his ankle for two weeks. Cullen was associated with the Grunge art movement in the early 1990’s.
In 1997, much to the surprise of his contemporaries, he entered the Archibald prize. He was hung as a finalist in 1998 and went on to win the prize in 2000 with a portrait of actor David Wenham. He continued to enter the Archibald Prize regularly after winning and was subsequently hung as a finalist nine times.He was also instrumental in changing perceptions about the conservative nature of the Archibald Prize.
The artist used a highly personal visual language to address a broad range of topics including masculinity, crime, and the relationship between animal and human behaviours. Cullen had a democratic approach to art and would happily merge references to high and low cultural influences in his works. Much of the work made post 2000 consisting of paintings executed in a bold pop style with defining features of drip marks, iridescent colours and black outlines. His works skilfully combine irreverent humour with an astute sensitivity to society.
Cullen graduated from the City Art Institute with a Diploma of Professional Art in 1987 and received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of New South Wales in 1999.
Cullen was a finalist many times over in the Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, in 2000 he won the Archibald with his composition Portrait of David Wenham 2000. This success was followed by winning the Mosman Art Prize in 2005 and the 2008 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize with Pegasus Flying over Sydney 2008.
In mid 2008 Cullen's work was the subject of a major survey exhibition, ADAM CULLEN. LET'S GET LOST, curated by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and was accompanied by a major catalogue published by the gallery.
The Cullen (Hotel) in Prahran, opened in Melbourne November 2009 and remains an ongoing tribute to the artist's work with paintings and archival pigment prints of works from his many exhibitions adorn the guest rooms and foyers.
Sadly the artist died at home in the Blue Mountains on 28 July 2012.
2023: Adam Cullen: Art is Pain Relief, Northern Beaches Regional Gallery, Manly, NSW (retrospective)
2022: Why We Live in Groups: Piermarq, Sydney
2021: Exotic Miasma: The Art of Adam Cullen, Five Fifty Art Ned Kelly, Judges, Divas and Other Things, Nanda\Hobbs, Sydney
2011: Minor Exaltation, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide (solo)
2010: Iron Mask, Black Rat Projects, London, (which was the original Ned Kelly series) Yesterday is Still Here Today, Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay, Sydney (solo)
2009: A Death Like No Other, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide (solo) They You Trust, Them You Don’t, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne (solo)
2008: Let’s Get Lost, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (survey show) International Manure / Evil / DNA/ Blood / Arse, Heiser Gallery, Brisbane (solo) Bon Scott Project, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle
2007: Stupid Heaven, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide (solo) I Am The Cheese, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney (solo)
2006: Between the Lines: Works on Paper 1995-2005, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne Penrith Regional Gallery and Lewers Bequest, Sydney (solo) CRASH (and other worldly pleasures), Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia, Perth
2005: Let Me Tell You About My Day, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide Product of Compulsion, Michael Reid Art Dealer, Redfern, NSW Maintaining the Rage, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney Identity and Desire, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (2005)
2004: Pure Sanctimony, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne On my Knees Looking Up, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney
2003: Our Place in the Pacific, touring exhibition to regional galleries in Newcastle, Cairns, Gold Coast and Toowoomba
2002: Future Dirt, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, Adelaide 25th Bienale de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil Bitter Sweet, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2002); World Fantasy, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney 2003: Far and Away, Yuill Crowley Gallery, Sydney Our Place in the Pacific, touring exhibition to regional galleries in Newcastle, Cairns, Gold Coast and Toowoomba 2002: UnAustralian, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney 2001: Night and Day, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney The Placebo Effect, Artspace, Sydney 2000: Value, ACCA, Melbourne Miss Gin Gin Showgirl (with Dale Frank), Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, NSW Interpersonal, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney Art in the World, Pont Alexandre III, Paris, France Video-Salon, Week of Art and New Media, Brussels, Belgium 1999: Blind Side, Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide; Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane Hotel/Motel, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney Genuine Imitation, First Floor, Melbourne Preambles, Australian Perspecta, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (1999) 1998: Amateur Exorcist, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand Self-Loving, Fiat Lux, Auckland, New Zealand Touch and Go, Level 2 Project, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Life Fitness, Artspace, Sydney Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart 1997: Special, Yuill Crowley Gallery, Sydney I Only think about you when I’m drunk, Test Strip, Auckland, New Zealand Rough Trade, TANKS Art Centre, Cairns Life Fitness, Artspace, Sydney 1996: The Australian Labor Party, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney Live Rock, CBD Gallery, Sydney 1995: Class, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney Peace is Cool, CBD Gallery, Sydney Fluxibel Structures, Kunsthaus Oerlikon, Zurich, Switzerland (1995) 1994: Soft Material Facts, Yuill/Crowley Gallery, Sydney Special GaloreType, 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne 1993 : Australian Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Monash University Gallery The Art Gallery of SA The Art Gallery of Western Australia Art Bank, NSW AMP Australia Kedumba Gallery Australian National Gallery, Canberra, ACT The Gold Coast City Art Gallery, QLD Griffith University, QLD Geelong Art Gallery, VIC The Art Gallery of NSW The National Gallery of Victoria
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