Current Show

A selection of some works from the 'GO FIGURE' exhibition by Melbourne artist Richard Birmingham showing at Gallery Elysium, from May 9 until June 7, 2026.

Art works for sale from previous exhibitions can be found under the 'Artworks For Sale' Link at the top of the page.

All works in this listing are for sale at the advertised price through this website.

Simply pass your cursor over the image to view details of the artworks including Media, Dimensions and Price.

Click on the "Contact Us" link below to enquire about the sale of works from our current exhibition or to find out more about Gallery Elysium.

A truly unique exhibition not to be missed.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

This body of work brings together paintings produced over the past three years. As the title suggests, the works both depict and interrogate the role of human presence in contemporary painting, and question what resonance—if any—the figure continues to hold within visual art.

The representational figure has become, for me, a largely exhausted subject. Its reconsideration here takes the form of figurative hybrids—gestural symbols articulated through a fluid, abstract painterly language. Insinuation, rather than representation, guides the work. These forms are not depictions of people, but propositions that emerge through a layered, iterative process.

The paintings explore the figure and symbol as embodied presences, employing a gestural grammar while avoiding narrative or realism. Compressed space and expressive colour are integral to this exploration. The process reflects a belief in the generative possibilities that arise during the act of painting, where initial intentions give way to more resolved and meaningful outcomes through attentiveness to chance and discovery.

The work remains open to shifts between figuration and abstraction. In the absence of realism or narrative, meaning is encountered through human reference, the dexterity of mark, and the resolution of spatial tension within the painted surface. Through processes of addition and subtraction, the figure finds its place within a visible palimpsest, where all elements contribute equally to the painting’s meaning.

The figure therefore functions not as a vehicle for narrative, identity, or emotive specificity, but as a poetic presence—fluid, provisional, and embedded within the material language of paint. A sustained spirit of enquiry underpins the work, offering the possibility for something unexpected to occur. Each painting is approached as an opportunity to arrive at something previously unknown.

R.B. 2026

About the Artist 

Richard Birmingham, a founding member of Roar Studios, has worked and exhibited in Melbourne for over 50 years. His awareness of the changing face of contemporary art over that time has seen him neither tempted nor seduced by the fashionable or the kitsch in art.  

His work is expressionist in approach and demonstrates an ongoing commitment to drawing and painting as a primary force in contemporary arts practice. 

Richard has set up a teaching and mentor program through the Melbourne Studio School where students attend workshops, have contact with professional artists and gain support in their artistic endeavours within a community atmosphere. Founded in 1998, the school grew out of a need to speak up for drawing and painting in a Post Modern era where conceptual arts practice and critical theory dominated teaching in most art colleges across Melbourne. Life drawing in particular and the learning of manual skills became a casualty during this time along with concepts like self-expression and originality. There was a need for an Atelier based school in Melbourne which continued to value painting and drawing and remained committed to teaching these fundamental skills. Richard’s students work with a variety of approaches and media in weekly classes and in school holiday workshops. Classes run during the school term and move between direct observation on the one hand and memory and imagination on the other. Students will paint and draw throughout the term exploring such varied themes as figure, still life, lyrical abstraction, masterwork transcription and "En Plein air" landscape during the warmer months. The classes pursue a gradual assimilation of skills to hold both the observed and the imagined in balance. Work can be abstract, figurative or a combination of both. All work undertaken at the school is built on an understanding of art history and its influence on painting today.