24 July until 3 October 2004
Brett Whiteley Studio, 2 Raper Street, Surry Hills

Brett Whiteley's Studio re-opened to the public after structural repairs with an exhibition of key Whiteley works.

The exhibition includes a selection of major works from favourite themes in Whiteley's famous career. These include images of the artist's muse as nude model in the studio and in the bath, his evocative landscapes which are both metaphoric and sublime, and of course, his iconographic panoramas of Sydney Harbour.

Over the last three months the Studio has been closed for general repairs and the twenty-year-old tin roof has been replaced. In 1993 the Raper Street Studio was purchased by the State Government along with ten major Whiteley works. It was transformed into the Brett Whiteley Studio museum, managed by the Art Gallery of NSW, opening to the public in 1995.

Brett Whiteley bought the premises in 1985 when it had been operating as a T-shirt factory and in a state of disrepair. Under his direction the building was fitted out with a white-walled gallery space downstairs and a painting studio with living quarters upstairs. He lived and worked there after he returned from overseas in 1988. After his death - at the age of 53 - in 1992, his daughter Arkie lived in the space for a while until the decision to turn it into a museum.

Very few changes have been made to the building since Whiteley was in residence. The furniture, lighting, collections of memorabilia, postcards, photographs, objects and so on are all as he arranged them. The music that is played at the Studio during opening hours is from the artist's personal collection.

Studio Education Programs
Drawing classes on Saturday and Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings. Bookings essential: call (02) 9225 1740.

For information regarding exhibition events and workshops, please visit
www.brettwhiteley.com/events.html
www.brettwhiteley.com/workshops.html

Key Works from the Studio