David Jolly

David Jolly was born 1972 in Australia. He has presented regular solo exhibitions at many galleries in Melbourne, Sydney, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

In 2015 the Australian War Memorial commissioned Melbourne-based artist David Jolly to attend the centenary Anzac Day Dawn Service on Gallipoli and to document his visit with photographs, drawings, film, and paintings. Curator at the Australian War Memorial, Anthea Gunn, said “Mr Jolly was chosen for the artwork because of his critically acclaimed work and his stunning technique of painting on the reverse side of glass.”

On his return to Australia from Gallipoli he completed a series of seven reverse-paintings on glass depicting his experience on the peninsula. One of the paintings depict the international Navy fleet sailing past the Gallipoli peninsula at Gallipoli in the early morning of April 25.

Jolly’s oil paintings reflect on the role of the artist as witness and traveller. Jolly’s paintings directly reflect upon the places and events that he has personally experienced. His works are technically exceptional, with a luminous and serene flat finish.

David Jolly’s paintings intimately chronicle the world around him. Beginning with photographic and video documentation of places, Jolly then paints selected scenes in a precise and painstaking manner onto glass panels. The shift between the ‘snapshot’ aesthetic of the original documentation and the slowly rendered painting reveals strikingly poetic narratives.

https://www.awm.gov.au/about/our-work/projects/gallipoli-centenary-commission-david-jolly

https://ocula.com/artists/david-jolly/

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/melbourne-now-2013/projects/571.html