Out of Darkness

Philip Wolfhagen studied at the Tasmanian School of Art, Hobart from 1983 to 1984 and from 1986 to 1987 before moving to Sydney, where he studied at the Sydney College of the Arts, the University of Sydney in 1990. He returned to live and work in Tasmania in 1996. Since then he has held over 45 solo exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth WA and Washington DC. In 2003 he exhibited archipelago, a large 6 panel work at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery as part of the 10 Days on the Island festival.

In 2013 a survey exhibition covering 25 years of Wolfhagen’s work, Illumination: The art of Philip Wolfhagen was staged by Newcastle Art Gallery and Tasmanian Museum Art Gallery, which then went on to tour nationally. A major publication accompanied the exhibition with essays by writers Tim Winton, Jane Clark, Craig Judd and William Wright. In 2013 Philip Wolfhagen was included in the major survey exhibition Australia held at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the first exhibition of Australian art to be staged at the RA since 1963. Selected group exhibitions include Australian Perspecta, at the S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney (1997); Uncommon World: Aspects of Contemporary Australian Art, National Gallery of Australia, (2000); Depth of Field, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne (2003); Constable and Australia, National Gallery of Australia (2006); Wonderful World, The Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art, Adelaide (2007); Time and Place, TarraWarra Museum of Art Victoria (2008); Curious Colony, Newcastle Art Gallery (2010) and New Romantics, Gippsland Art Gallery (2011). He was awarded the winner of the Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of NSW in 2007. His work is held in several public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of South Australia, Newcastle Art Gallery, New England Regional Art Museum, Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery, Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, TarraWarra Museum of Art and Artbank.