profile
Causing controversy among
his more conservative peers, he won the prestigious Archibald Prize in 2000 for his portrait of actor David Wenham, which was painted in a style unlike those of previous winners, and consequently became an inspiration to a younger generation of artists. He also
caused a stir when he collaborated with notorious Mark 'Chopper' Read on a children's book, Hooky the Cripple. Adam was variously described
as an enfant terrible, a grunge artist and a bad boy of the art world, his brash, satirical depictions of subjects such as Ned Kelly, dead and bloodied animals and headless women inviting such descriptions. However, he was also a modest and generous man with a big heart who would go out of his way to help others.
Over the years he donated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of his artworks to charity. Through his association with
the Art Series Hotel Group, which designed a Melbourne hotel – The Cullen – based around his artistic style in 2009, Adam created a series of paintings of the endangered Tasmanian devil. The paintings were auctioned to raise funds and awareness of the plight of
the species, whose numbers are quickly depleting because of devil facial tumour disease. "Like a lot of artists, Adam
thought and thought a lot before he put a brush to canvas. He would then sit and analyse the finished work for hours and hours," says Max, adding they had painted portraits of each other and had spoken many times of working together, including possibly collaborating on a film script about modern-day shearers.
Above: Adam Cullen was honoured by the Art Series Hotel Group, which named a Melbourne hotel after him; his works adorn the walls.
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