Sean Edward Whelan

Tension Point – Blackartprojects, Melbourne

I’m really pleased to announce that my solo show Tension Point with Blackartprojects will be opening Thursday 1 July 2021, at Honey Bones Gallery in Collingwood, Melbourne.

For sales enquiries, please contact Blackartprojects and request a catalogue (available in the last week of June)

P.S. Must be said that there is the ever-present possibility that lockdown might impact the timing of the show, but the opportunity to present some new work, and leave Tasmania is pretty damn exciting regardless. I can’t wait to be back in Melbourne, show my latest work and catch up with you all, so watch this space for any last-minute changes and take care.

TENSION POINT – Sean Edward Whelan
Blackartprojects
July 1 – 14
Honey Bones Gallery
50 Budd St, Collingwood VIC 3101

Proudly supported by Dormilona Wines

LOCALS – Outré Gallery Melbourne

Super chuffed to be invited along to join a whole bunch of awesome Australian artists for the LOCALS show, opening on Feb 14 at Outré Gallery in Collingwood.
Big shout out to the team there – it’s great to be a part of it, and an awkward self congratulatory slap on the back for me. It’s my first show for 2020.

Here is a little preview of my piece. Hope you can make it along – check out the lineup at their site here.

The All Story

Incantation of the Banksia Men
Synthetic polymer and gouache on board
40 x 40cm
2019

It’s been great to be part of the inaugural group exhibition at the new gallery and bookstore, The All Story , Newcastle NSW this month.

From the site –  Southerns is an exhibition that draws our mythic past into our present day. Over 30 local and international artists have been invited to reimagine a fictional Australian character or story.  While some artists celebrate the cultural impact of films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and television shows such as Round The Twist, others reflect on changing social views with modern readings of the work of May Gibbs and other canonised authors.This show aims to entertain, provoke, and provide new ways of seeing your old favourites: from film and literature to urban legends.

My piece, Incantation of the Banksia Men is based on the antagonists from the May Gibbs classic mentioned above, and diverges from the descriptions and illustrations in the book. I took my inspiration from the very first of May Gibb’s books, which is considered a classic. What I found interesting about the infamous Banksia Men in the story was the way they were described as inherently evil. Framed as scheming kidnappers, their motives where never revealed, and I thought this was something that needed to be investigated in my painting.

New Work – Morrigan

Morrigan
Synthetic polymer on canvas
100 x 70cm
2018

Here is a piece I was commissioned to paint last year for a family’s first born baby girl.
I could have cracked out the watercolours and done a weird baby portrait, but that would have a been a bit shit.

Instead, I tried my hand at a shaped canvas and imagined her as the ‘phantom queen’ Morrigan – the Goddess of war, destiny, fate and death from old Irish mythology. Yes, much better.
Hope she grows up to be just as awesome.

Diemen Awards 2018

The opportunity to put a couple of my illustrations into Tasmania’s creative industry event – The Diemen Awards came up and I’m really pleased to announce that I made the finalists this year. It was great to catch up with some people I hadn’t seen in ages and mingle a bit with the greater creative community here in Hobart. So much talent out there working on big projects. Getting the recognition at this level was really cool too, and it’s lit a fire under my ass/arse/bottom to work a lot harder in 2019. See you next year Diemen!

Sleeping Easy

Sleeping Easy
Acrylic on linen
100 x 70cm
2018

Some new things are in the works and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you soon.
So heads down for a bit. In the meantime, here’s the first painting.

New Sculpture

For the last month of so I’ve been busy working away on some sculpture. This is my latest – The Trickster. I was inspired to make it after seeing Belgian sculptor Guillaume Geef’s Le génie du mal. My version mashes up a popular Tasmanian tourism icon with Geef’s Lucifer, and is modelled after the popular trickster in Japanese mythology the tanuki.

For more pics, stop by my instagram

Prosthetic Reality at UniSA

A little while back I was invited to join a group of international artists on a special little project called Prosthetic Reality. It’s an AR book that uses an app called Eyejack to bring the artworks on each page to life with animation and sound.

It’s now on display for the next few months at the University of South Australia MOD, so if you’re in the state drop in and see this and more exhibits that explore the intersection between art and science.

In the Spirit of The Age, 8 Feb 2018

Scary Monsters
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 60cm
2017

SEAN EDWARD WHELAN
IN THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE

Big thanks to all those that could make it out to the opening and saw the work over the course of the show. Big warm fuzzy feels. Special thanks to Blackartprojects for their logistical expertise, Neospace for their hospitality and Dormilona for their awesome wines, that almost stole the show.

London SketchBook Festival 2017

This year I’ll be joining the London Sketchbook Festival lineup, held at The Archivist – a beautiful space west of Hoxton – and showing some of my work on projectors over the 10 day event.

As well as the featured artists, there’ll be heaps of chances to join sketchbook workshops and meet up with designers and illustrators too, all based around drawing, architecture and moving image. For more info on this year’s event, check their site.

http://www.londonsketchbookfestival.com/

Sept 21 – 30. 2017.
The Archivist.
N1 5ET
LONDON