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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

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Wendy Sharpe

2000
Greg Weight

gelatin silver photograph on paper (sheet: 50.4 cm x 40.4 cm, image: 45.7 cm x 35.4 cm)

Wendy Sharpe undertook art studies in Sydney between 1978 and 1984 and held her first solo exhibition in 1985. She won the Sulman Prize the following year, and was also awarded a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, and a Marten Bequest travelling scholarship from the Australia Council. In 1989 she won the Mercedes Benz Scholarship to travel to the Middle East and Italy. Between 1990 and 1999 she won the Waverley Art Prize, the Robert Le Gay Brereton Drawing Prize, the Portia Geach Memorial Award, the Kedumba Drawing Award and the Bathurst Art Prize; and in 1996 her Self portrait as Diana of Erskineville – executed in her characteristically carnivalesque style – became the first self portrait by a woman artist to win the Archibald Prize. Sharpe won the Portia Geach again in 2003 and gained another residency at the Cité in 2006. In 1998–1999, she created eight enormous murals depicting the life of pioneering swimmer and performer Annette Kellerman for the City of Sydney's Cook and Phillip Park Aquatic Centre; and she was appointed an Official War Artist attached to the Australian Army History Unit in Dili, East Timor. Renowned for her richly-coloured and variously-perspectived works, Sharpe is particularly interested in subjects such as the voluptuous forms of dancers, acrobats, drag artists and burlesque performers, and the effects of stage, street and domestic lighting. A major retrospective exhibition, Wendy Sharpe: The imagined life, was presented at the SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, in 2011.

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Gregory Weight/Copyright Agency, 2024

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

Artist and subject

Greg Weight (age 54 in 2000)

Wendy Sharpe (age 40 in 2000)

Subject professions

Visual arts and crafts

Donated by

Patrick Corrigan AM (130 portraits)

© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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ABN: 54 74 277 1196

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency