JOHN SHEEHY

John Sheehy’s paintings reference Sydney harbour’s enduring undercoat; the industry-based architectural forms of its foreshore and its broader (and literal) base coat.

His works are the meeting point of structural abstraction and delicate figuration, and present a new topoanalysis of the harbour as a site of material and spatial underneaths. Moving against prototypical veneer-based representations of the harbour, Sheehy’s works situate the harbour city within an ethereal, understated and imagined cultural psyche.

John Sheehy has painted and lived on Sydney Harbour since 2001. His residence, studio and persistent theme, the Wharf at Woolloomooloo, has provided a springboard to his broader interest; the mechanics of harbour architecture and activity.

His paintings portray the harbour undercoat, often literally, reversing the art-making process by concealing a frenzied top coat with the base coat. Other works employ imposing, intersecting geometric forms which frame harbourside industry between the competing forces of the vertical and horizontal.

In 2003, John was acknowledged as one of the top 10 visual arts students in New South Wales.

In 2008, he was commissioned as one of 33 young and emerging Australian artists to create a public artwork for World Youth Day ‘08.

John’s first group exhibition, Three (3) locals, was held at Studio W, Woolloomooloo, in July 2009.