Brian Purcell

Brian Purcell is a poet, painter and singer based in Bellingen on the mid-north coast of NSW. He has a BA in Art from COFA, Sydney, and has been exhibiting since 1988 when he contributed to a 4-person show at the legendary Kelly Street Kollectiv gallery in Ultimo.

A widely-published poet, and lead singer of the cult 80s-90s band Distant Locust, he has also created collages and visual poems, some of which illustrated his first book of lyrics and poems, ‘Lovely Infestation’. A new book of poetry, ‘The Leaving’, was published by Flying Islands in January 2022, and featured his paintings as cover art.

Brian’s paintings are concerned with the effects of light and colour on the Australian landscape, and the tensions between representation and abstraction. Although primarily working with landscape, he also paints still life and figurative paintings.

In March 2021 he had a successful one-person show of paintings, ‘The Day on Fire’, followed by another, ‘Estuary’ in February 2023, both at the Shop Gallery in Glebe NSW. He is a featured artist on the Bluethumb art site, and a finalist in their last two annual competitions. Locally, Brian took part in the Bellingen Arts Trail open studios weekend in November 2023.

For the past three years he has been able to concentrate on painting more than any other period in his life, and is looking forward to pushing his comfort zones in a continuing journey through painting.