© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Chrissy Amphlett
'I was never submissive'
Portrait story
An interview with the iconic Australian rocker Chrissy Amphlett.
Chrissy Amphlett
Biography
Christina 'Chrissy' Amphlett (1959–2013), singer/songwriter, was best known for her energetic performances as the lead singer of rock band the Divinyls, often in her trademark school uniform and fishnet stockings.
1 portrait in the collection
Chrissy Amphlett "Temperamental", 1989
Ivan Durrant
Portrait, synthetic polymer paint on composition board
Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The Divinyls performing on Countdown
Bob King
Image
Chrissy Amphlett, Sydney, c.1988
Stuart Spence
Image
Chrissy Grishin
Biography
Chrissie Grishin (b. 1954), printmaker and painter, exhibits under the name of G W Bot, derived from an eighteenth-century French reference to the wombat as ‘le grand Wam Bot’ and adopted in tribute to the animal with which she has taken as her totem.
1 portrait in the collection
Chrissy Grishin, c. 1996 (printed 2012)
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Portrait, type C photograph on paper
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Claudia Hyles 2012
Patricia T. Thompson OAM
Biography
Patricia Thelma Thompson OAM (née Amphlett, b. 1949), better known as Little Pattie, first appeared on Australian television at age thirteen in 1962.
1 portrait in the collection
Little Pattie, 1966 (printed 2019)
Ern McQuillan OAM
Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper
Purchased 2019
Oz Rock
Gettin’ robbed, gettin’ stoned, gettin’ beat up, broken boned
General content
Two of the music industry’s highest-selling performers originated in suburban Australia. The Bee Gees started out in Brisbane, for instance, and AC/DC played their first gigs at a nightclub in inner Sydney.
Oz Elsewhere
Get me outta here
General content
While the blues-inspired hard guitar riffs of Australian pub rock were shaping tastes, a number of artists were developing music primed for success on the international stage.
Portrait of the Gallery
Magazine article by Graeme Dix, 2016
A design diary retrospective.
Nicholas Harding: 28 Portraits
Exhibition essay
General content
Sarah Engledow looks at three decades of Nicholas Harding's portraiture.