Historical information

Gareth SAMSOM (19 November 1939- )
Born Melbourne

Sansom describes a desire to constantly surprise and challenge himself as an artist. He had his first exhibition in 1959. His paintings of the 1960s were characterised by a distorted use of line, shape and colour and were influenced by abstract expressionism, Francis Bacon and Sidney Nolan. Over time, his work has also drawn on punk, dada, Basquiat, T.S. Eliot, urban graffiti, classical Greek philosophy and art theory across a variety of media ranging from drawing, printmaking and collage to photomontage and photography.

Sansom lectured in Art at the Ballarat Teachers' college, and was appointed Head of Painting at the Victorian College of the Arts from 1977-1985, and Dean School of Art at the Victorian College of the Arts from 1986-1991. He was artist-in-residence at the University of Melbourne in 1985, which was when he resumed his full-time painting practice with a series of large works on canvas.

This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 1000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.

Physical description

A large abstract painting.