Anthony Lister


Anthony Lister is a contemporary Australian artist. Lister helped pioneer the street art movement in his home city as a teenager and is considered Australia's premier ‘street artist’. His scrawling, figurative style employs charcoal, acrylic, spray paint, and oil. His exhibitions include those held at the Urban Spree Gallery in Berlin, Robert Fontaine Gallery in Miami, Allouche Gallery in New York, Olsen Gallery in Sydney and Black Art Projects in Melbourne. Lister currently lives and works in Darlinghurst, New South Wales Australia.

Personal life

Lister was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1979.
Lister began painting on the streets at the age of 17, a location which has endured as a key part of his practice as a space where he can take pleasure in his 'hobby' of producing art rather than the 'craft' of studio work. Despite this rough start, he went on to study at the Queensland College of Art in Brisbane, from which he graduated in 2001. Shortly after graduating, Lister traveled to New York, where he found mentorship under Max Gimblett, one of New Zealand's most influential living artists.
Lister has since exhibited his work extensively within Australia and internationally both in the gallery and on the streets, notably with Bogan Paradise, a three-story exhibition in a disused sex shop in Sydney, Australia 2011, Los Angeles USA solo exhibition curated by Roger Gatsman 2011, Los Angeles solo show New Image Art 2011 and Unslung Heros, The Outsiders/Lazarides Gallery, London and Newcastle, UK 2012. Lister's wife and two children are featured in his "Have You Seen Them? The Listers" stickers. Photos and videos of his children are often seen in the "New" section of his official website.

Career

One of Australia's most internationally renowned contemporary artists, Lister's work presents a grimy fusion of high and lowbrow culture with influences from a number of areas and genres, including street art, expressionism, pop art, and contemporary youth culture, often drawing from television and the "misguided role models" that result. Revelling in the "spirituality" and the "heritage" of Western popular culture he takes this joint legacy and remoulds it into something equally alluring and grotesque, a perfect representation of the society he seeks to depict. These works are seen in galleries across the globe with solo exhibitions across Australia, United States, Europe and UK.
Taking influence from the dirtier and rough techniques of "Bad" Painting and merging it with the spirit and practices of graffiti art Lister has embraced an explosive, scratchy, scrawling form of figurative aesthetic using a variety of mediums from painting, drawing and installation to film, music and VR technology.
He is notable within the Lowbrow and has been featured on Juxtapoz, Vogue, WoosterCollective and Highsnobiety. Commercially, Anthony Lister has worked with various international fashion, lifestyle and technological brands such as Hermès, The Standard Hotel, Westfield, Vogue Australia, Samsung and Mercedes-Benz. He has also collaborated with many well-known artists and personalities including Blek le Rat, Space Invader, Mark "Chopper" Reid and Nick Cave.
Noted as one of the top 50 most collectable Australian artists, Lister's work is included in the collections of National Gallery of Australia, David Roberts Collection, TVS Partnership, Brand & Slater Architects, Brisbane Grammar School, BHP Collection and Art Bank Australia.
Documentary-maker Eddie Martin is releasing a film about the value of self-expression, told through the life of Anthony Lister. In 2016 Screen Australia announced that "Lister - Adventure Painter" as well as 9 other documentaries will share in more than $2.54 million of funding from the agency's Documentary Producer Program and the Documentary Broadcast program. The film is currently in post-production and to be released in August 2017.

Controversy

In March 2020, Lister was charged with multiple sexual offences against four women — three of whom were art students — and grievous bodily harm, among other offences. The trial is currently ongoing.

Exhibitions (Solo)

2018:
The Holy Wig Out, Urban Spree Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Bowery Works, Allouche Gallery, New York City, USA
The Flower Show, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
2016:
Run Away Ouiji, Blackarts Gallery, Melbourne Australia
Meanwhile, In Australia, Spacejunk Art Centers Grenoble, Lyon & Bayonne, France
2015:
Black Door Limousine, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami USA
Mad Props Street Cred, New Image Art, Los Angeles USA
2014:
Power Tripping, Jonathan LeVine Gallery, NYC USA
Hurt People Hurt, Lazarides Gallery, London UK
2013:
Never Odd Or Even, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami USA
The Beautiful Misery, Olsen Irwin Gallery, Sydney
SCOPE Art Fair special Projects Space, Miami USA
2012:
Unslung Heros, The Outsiders/Lazarides Gallery, London & Newcastle UK
New Image Art, Los Angeles USA
Things We Shouldn't Talk About, Milan, Italy
2011:
Los Angeles Solo curated by Roger Gastman, Los Angeles USA
Bogan Paradise, Gallery A.S., Sydney Australia
Street Faces, Metro Gallery, Melbourne Australia
Rainbow Tears, Pictures On Walls, London UK
The Experiment, The Project Room, Berlin Germany
2010:
Pop Up, Miami Basel, Miami USA
Memories Not Included, Chalk Horse Gallery, Sydney Australia
Installation and Sculpture Edition By Anthony Lister, The Standard, New York USA
How to Catch a Time Traveller, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York USA
The Beauty Of Failure, Show & Tell Gallery, Toronto Canada
You Call That a Back Rub, Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2009:
No Win Sitch, Porky's Strip Club, Kings Cross, Sydney Australia
The Pain of Feeling, K Gallery, Milan Italy
Magic Tricks, Fifty24 Gallery, San Francisco USA
2008:
This Won't Change Anything, Metro 5, Melbourne Australia
WK/Lister, Elms Lester, London UK
Quit Your Sobbing and Call Me in the Afternoon, New Image, Los Angeles USA
God has a plan to Kill Me, KGallery, Milan Italy
Spider Stance, Elms Lester, London UK
2007:
Super is as Super Does, Metro5 Gallery, Melbourne Australia
Cracker got Snapped by the Pops, Fifty24, San Francisco USA
Mythology for Beginners, Harrison Galleries, Sydney Australia
Rest on Nails, Lyonswier Ortt, New York USA
2006:
Saturday Morning Prime Time, Spectrum Galley, London UK
Supermarket, Metro5 Gallery, Melbourne Australia
Backdoor Confessional, Harrison Galleries, Sydney Australia
Between Crackdowns, Art Gallery Schuberts, Gold Coast Australia
Observations of Manliness, Criterion Gallery, Hobart Australia
2005:
Smells Like White-Out, Metro 5 Gallery, Melbourne Australia
Twice on Sundays, Fox Galleries, Brisbane Australia
Wrapped Meat Lyric, Lyonsweir Gallery, New York USA
My Daughter's Panic Attack, Brian Moore Gallery, Sydney Australia
2004:
Subtitled, Fox Galleries, Brisbane Australia
The Finer Points of Monkeyism, Art Galleries Schubert, Gold Coast Australia
2003:
Places & Things, Fox Galleries, Brisbane Australia
2002:
Issues & Aesthetics, Project Gallery, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane, Australia
2001:
Urbanised Influence, Fox Galleries, Brisbane Australia