David Bromley

Born in England in 1960 David Bromley moved to Australia at the age of four. Amongst the most successful and innovative painters currently working in Australia, he has managed to combine a distinctive Pop sensibility (a love of found images, photographic sources and mass media references) with an inventive relish for the effects of paint.

Bromley’s work is in two distinct but related strands: images of childhood (adapted from the world of 1950’s book illustrations) and images of the female nude. His children’s series typically draws on imagery from Boy’s Own annuals and old magazines, exploring the themes of childhood innocence, lost and found. These paintings hint at both innocence and enigma in the way they bring together elements which vacillate between nostalgia and symbolism. Beguiling the viewer with their veiled meanings, Bromley has used similar layering and texturing techniques in his explorations of the female figure in his nude series.

As a painter of some famous faces including filmmaker Scott Hicks, actor Hugo Weaving and pop-star Kylie Minogue, he is also increasingly in demand as a portraitist. Bromley has been a finalist four times in the Archibald Prize.

Displaying an extraordinary artistic energy, Bromley has experimented with a wide variety of different media – printmaking, ceramic, sculpture, film, furniture, fashion and interiors. As an artist he is self-taught with over thirty solo exhibitions across Australia, Europe, the USA and Asia. Bromley’s work is held in corporate and private collections around the world and Australian Art Collector Magazine listed him as one of the '50 Most Collectable Artists in Australia’.