Andrew Southall (b. 1947), artist and writer, met Amor in 1981, and the pair took to painting together on the Peninsula. Southall was self-taught, and the rigorously-trained Amor admired his daring and creative interpretation of whatever he was looking at, intent on his task as he juggled colour, composition and subject at speed. Although they had met at the fashionable Realities gallery in Toorak, they were both dismissive of the pretensions of the art scene, both bearded, and both keen and destructive drinkers. Southall was back and forth between Australia and England in the 1980s, exhibiting at Robin Gibson in Sydney, Realities in Melbourne and Solander Gallery in Canberra, while stumbling through the life of remarkable dissipation chronicled in his book But – A journey into addiction. He stopped drinking decades ago and has since exhibited mostly abstract works at various venues including the Charles Nodrum gallery and Langford 120 in Melbourne.
Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Rick Amor/Copyright Agency, 2024
Rick Amor (21 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Australian author David Malouf discusses the creation of his portrait by artist Rick Amor.
Artist Rick Amor and author Shane Maloney relate divergent experiences of the creation of Shane's portrait.
