Bill Davis: The Darwin Years

‘The Darwin Years, 1995-2025’ will be a comprehensive survey exhibition celebrating three decades of the life and work of the artist Bill Davies. This solo will be the first major exhibition that traces the key moments of the artist’s oeuvre from his first exhibition with the NTU School of Fine Arts in 1995 to his most recent site-specific installations created for this exhibition in 2025.

Born in South Australia in 1954, Davies is one of Darwin’s most

recognisable and respected artists. He received an Associate Diploma

of Fine Arts in 1995 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2001, both from Charles Darwin University. In addition to his art practice, he is well- known as a sign writer and art installer. An honorary Life Member and frequent exhibitor and volunteer at NCCA, his accolades include the 24HR Art Emerging Artist Award in 2001 and second prize in the NCCA Members’ Show in 2022.

His creative practice encompasses loose, expressionistic charcoal drawings and hard-edge abstract paintings. A deeper, sustained analysis of Davies’ work reveals a more complex, conceptual and dynamic art practice that has evolved over time with some notable common threads. Davies’ works regularly and willingly succumb to the forces of the unexpected, the spontaneous and the unplanned. Chance and accident play a big role in the process of his image-making. Under his hard-edge abstract paintings lie commentaries on the Australian dream and its obsession with real estate. His abstract expressionist works on paper are infused in and influenced by the natural environment in which they are made. The painstakingly hand-painted reproductions of metro signs from around the world are both a nod to the artist’s experience as a sign writer and an acknowledgment ofshared global aesthetics employed in urban design.

This exhibition and accompanying publication will trace the salient moments in Davies’ life and work. Drawing on loans from private collections, local art institutions and the artist’s archive and studio, the show will bring together the Davies’ major works for the very first time reuniting and recognising a lifetime of achievement in the local arts community.

Curated by Petrit Abazi