Salon de Refusés 2022, S H Ervin Gallery Sydney - Finalist

"Paul Ryan in the Studio" 2022, oil on board 18x25cm

Paul Ryan is a Thirroul based painter who has exhibited in the Archibald 13 times. Ashley first met Paul in the early 2000’s during the group exhibition Paint the Rocks.”It was a fun project, the selected artists took positions around the Rocks to paint en plain air and then the works were exhibited in the Rocks. I met Paul along with the late Adam Cullen, who was Paul’s subject for his 2012 Archibald entry.”
Paul and Ashley both live in Thirroul and have exhibited together in group shows at the Thirroul gallery the Egg and Dart. They have worked together on various projects including a short film documentary of Paul’s work in 2010.
‘It all started as a short documentary about Paul’s portrait of Ben Quilty and it grew into a full blown documentary about his work. It was a fascinating project, I got to know Paul really well, filmed him out in the surf, in his studio and at a few of the Archibald openings.” The painting is derived from a quick sketch done during filming in Paul’s studio.

​