Start 10:00am Saturday, 12 April 2025
End 5:00pm Sunday, 20 July 2025
Location
National Portrait Gallery
King Edward Terrace
Parkes, ACT, 2600
Australia
The Immersive World of Thom Roberts is the first solo exhibition for multidisciplinary contemporary Australian artist Thom Roberts. Roberts’ bold portraits morph people with trains and buildings, inviting audiences to see the world through his eyes. In his work, and in his life, people and places are bestowed new identities and exist as multiple personas – Roberts himself identifies as the CountryLink Express train and the Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia.
Showcasing more than 100 works spanning his prolific, decade-long career to date, this exhibition will feature paintings, installation and animation as well as major new work. Journey through Thom’s world and discover his distinctive style made up of idiosyncratic motifs: extra sets of eyes and noses, and his signature ‘piano teeth’.
Born in 1976 and living on Darug and GuriNgai Land, Sydney, Roberts’ work has been featured in high-profile group exhibitions including The National 2019: New Australian Art and several Archibald prizes. He has undertaken important residencies at Carriageworks, Bundanon Trust, Canberra Glassworks and Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio (Cesana, Italy).
Image: Thom Roberts with Burt the Oscar Train 2017 and cushion cover. Photo: Rick Carter, Studio One Another.