Julian Christopher Meagher Julian Meagher makes inquiries about the human body and spirit by addressing the relationship between the internal and external workings of the body. He draws on the field of medical imaging, namely anatomical studies, to explore the ways in which the body is depicted by artists. In his latest series the artist renders perfectly described body parts in isolation which bear intricate tattoos. The physical and the creative are a powerful duality in Meagher’s work and the results are unexpected and engaging. The tattooed limbs combine an ornate beauty with a great strength. What is at stake in these works is the surface of the skin as the mediator between the inside and the outside, the abject and the symbolic, the face onto the world and the bones beneath. The word 'tattoo' comes originally from the Samoan for 'open wound'; similarly the Japanese term for tattoo means insertion of ink. Both terms suggest the probing of the bodies surface, on the threshold. There is an ambiguity in the tattoo over whether it is part of the body or an extra supplement to that person. The permanence and graphic qualities of the tattoo have of course made it a symbol of community, love and religion through the ages; the way the tattoo scars the body, forever, is what gives it its powerful aura. The tattoo becomes part of the person who wears it. In terms of painting then, the tattoo is a perfect metaphor; painting too is about mediating between the surface and the body. Is painting merely a surface and mask or does it somehow represent the body and soul of the sitter? In tattooing there is a reversal too where the body becomes the canvas for another representation, so there is a doubling of meaning between the person and the image. Meagher is a classically trained contemporary Australian artist based in Sydney has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows both in Australia and overseas.

Education
Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery,
University of New South Wales, 1997-2003
Portrait Painting at Charles H Cecil Studios, Florence, Italy, 2000
Part time student at Julian Ashton Art School, 1994-1997

Solo Exhibition
2008
The best gesture of my brain, Chalk Horse Gallery, Sydney
Scrub Series, Upstairs Flinders Gallery, Melbourne
2007
Integument, Chalk Horse Gallery, Sydney
2006
Scanning, SNMI 06, Jamshedpur, India
Dissections, Depot II Gallery, Dank Street, Sydney
2003
Sketches from India, New York & Jupiter, Knot Gallery, Sydney
2002
Double Exposure Oils on X Ray, Pavillion Gallery, Bondi Sydney
2000
Artist in Residence, Sydney Grammar School, Sydney

Group Exhibitions
2008
- My Body, My Business, At The Vanishing Point Gallery, Sydney
2007
Chalk Reindeer, Chalk Horse Gallery, Sydney
Australia Council of the Arts Window Box Show, Sydney
New Artists Collective Exhibition, McCulloch Gallery, Melbourne
Cross Sections II Collector’s Choice, Rex-Livingston Gallery, Sydney
2006
Matchbox Project, People to People, Place to Place. Kudos Gallery,
Sydney
November Art Show, Francis Keevil Art Show, Queens Street, Sydney

Prizes/ Collections
Australia Council Emerging Artist New Work Development Grant, 2008 Artbank
St Vincent’s Private Hospital
2003
Salon Des Refuses Finalist, S.H Erwin Gallery, Sydney
2002
Salon Des Refuses Finalist, S.H Erwin Gallery, Sydney
Private collections Sydney, Melbourne, Paris and Hong Kong

Portrait Commisions
2008
Dr David Daintree, Rector St John’s College, Sydney University
2007
Professor Barry Marshall, AO, Nobel Laureate
2004
Dr Ivan Head, Warden of Saint Paul’s College, Sydney University
2002
John Sackar QC
2001
The Hon Justice Roderick Meagher