As a title for this sumptuous new book, Wendy Sharpe: Many Lives felt just right. Wendy Sharpe (b. 1960) leads many lives: those of artist, collaborator with writers and performers, and prodigious traveller with homes in Sydney and Paris. Sharpe has touched many lives, from the East Timorese at a time of war, to refugee women or those who’ve been in jail. The title also resonates with Sharpe’s family tree, which includes a number of Ukrainian psychics.

Although an atheist, Sharpe is fascinated by the possibility of a parallel spirit world. The idea that we might all have many lives, rises to the surface on the artist’s canvases.

In this book, journalist Elizabeth Fortescue tells Sharpe’s story from her beginnings as a shy child on Sydney’s northern beaches to her current position as one of Australia’s most celebrated artists. Art critic John McDonald discusses how Sharpe’s international travels have inspired her art. Senior curator Justin Paton focuses on Sharpe’s fascination with light and dark, both metaphorical and actual. Drawing specialist Anne Ryan teases out the role of drawing in Sharpe’s overall practice. Journalist and writer Scott Bevan vividly recalls travelling with Sharpe when she was an Australian official war artist. And journalist and author Stephanie Wood brings an observant eye to Sharpe’s practical humanitarianism.

Wendy Sharpe: Many Lives boasts more than 200 images of Sharpe, her studio, her home and work. A timeline, CV and index are included, creating a framework around the ongoing story of this consummate creator.

The exhibition Wendy Sharpe: Spellbound is on 25 May–11 August 2024 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Author: Elizabeth Fortescue
Hardback
192 pages
29 x 26 cm