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Joe Blundell

@joeblundellart

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Painter with studio practice on Wurundjeri land,Naarm/Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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Been busy working on a new collection of trees in front of buildings paintings and really enjoying exploring some different approaches to capturing that feeling of how nature and the man made talk to each other. I love Edward Hopper’s paintings but I’ve never really thought of him as a particular influence on me. The psychological tension he creates is compelling, but I always end up looking at his buildings and the light he uses to carve them out. My obsession I guess. My favorites of his works are usually the ones with no figures which still evoke that sense of loneliness. Maybe this painting is my silent tribute to “Early Sunday morning” a painting of a similar size which I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. My painting here is an oil on linen diptych, it’s been a slow process getting it to this stage and I’m tentatively calling it finished (until I change my mind!) by @joeblundellart

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3 days ago

On my wall waiting for its frame by @joeblundellart

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a year ago

This is my painting currently in the Calleen Art Award at Cowra Regional Art Gallery. I called it “Urban nature, a coexistence” and I wrote this about it “My work usually concerns the relationship between humanity and nature. A relationship which can be destructive, or in this case, tolerating a co existence. Plane trees are not native to Australia, but were planted in the European tradition to make beautiful the newly created streets of the 19th Century.”
I’ve always thought it ironic that we chop down our native forests without much care, yet tender and curate our non native urban trees. Bit by bit, our built urban history is also disappearing. Some may cheer, but whether we like it or not, it’s part of our story - good and bad. And having remnants of the past around you (good and bad) is grounding, in my view. I find in give context for all the nonsense we face in our lives. As always, this is an imagined scene, it’s not painted from a photo … I hope that’s obvious but I often get asked…. #calleenartaward @cowraregionalartgallery by @joeblundellart

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a month ago

I’ve finished my series of work on deforestation and have returned to work on my trees and buildings paintings. The topic is still the coexistence of man and nature (but we treasure our urban trees in a way we don’t with much of our forests and neglect our built heritage) Swipe to see the small study I did for this large piece which shows some of the choices I’ve made in making it. I painted my first building when I was a 12yr old boy sitting on the pavement in the UK ….and in one form or another it’s a subject matter I’ve been obsessed with my whole life. For these I’m not painting buildings from life because I prefer to make up my own buildings and trees (it’s not as difficult as one might imagine with enough practice) and then I get the feeling I want. I like to use photos of particular bits of architecture I like - a window, a parapet, a shutter or a moulding - then create my own facade from that. I have a collection of these paintings and studies coming to @affordableartfairau in Melbourne with my gallery Greenbridge and I’ll post some more of them in the next few days. by @joeblundellart

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2 months ago

Some more of my trees in front of buildings heading up to Sydney. This one 112 x 112 oil on linen just fitted with its new sustainable flooded gum frame and enjoying a bit of morning sun in the studio gallery before getting wrapped and shipped … busy varnishing and framing next few days. The @affordableartfairau opens Thursday next week at Carriageworks and I can’t wait to share the work I have which I’m pretty chuffed with! by @joeblundellart

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a year ago

2026 23rd Annual National Acquisitive $30,000 Paddo Painting Prize Finalist

Joe Blundell

Topography of destruction, 2026
Oil and sand on linen
155 × 155 cm

For Sale
AUD $13000

When most people think of deforestation, they usually associate it with Brazilian rainforests of the Amazon Basin, but extraordinarily, Australia is now the only developed nation designated a global hotspot for deforestation. Made using videos of deforestation in various parts of Australia and visiting deforested sites, this painting is part of a series I’ve been working on for the past 12 months. I’m seeking to illuminate what forest destruction feels like after the bulldozers have left the scene and all is quiet. It’s an eerie experience.

Artist Bio
Joe Blundell is a painter with a studio practice on Wurundjeri land, Naarm/Melbourne. His work looks at the relationship between nature and mankind, be that a relationship in harmony or dischord. A persistent series of paintings has looked at the urban co existence of trees and buildings and a more recent series has been exploring the current deforestation in Australia. Using paint in a representational way he seeks to examine the visual experience of that relationship in the small details of its form whilst deriving substantial inspiration from the medium of the paint itself.

𝙴𝚡𝚑𝚒𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐
𝚃𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝙾𝚌𝚝 15, 6-8𝚙𝚖
𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕 1, 111 𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚝
𝚆𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚑𝚛𝚊, 2025

EXHIBITION DATES
Oct 16 - Oct 25, 11am - 5pm

𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙴 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍,
𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚟𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎

#paddingtonartprize
#paddopaintingprize by @joeblundellart

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21 days ago

I’m still buzzing from an amazing weekend @hadleysartprize The Hadley’s Art Prize is an acquisitive $100k Australian Landscape Prize. Huge congratulations to Robert Fielding @robertfielding_ for his well deserved win and a very moving speech. Thank you again to the judges for including me Abdul Abdullah @abdul_abdullah Judith Ryan AM @judithanneryan and Sarah Wallace @monamuseum The team at Hadley’s Art Prize do an amazing job at making this a special and welcoming event. We also had the opportunity to talk to our work on the Saturday to a large interested crowd which was a real treat. The exhibition continues at Hadley’s Orient Hotel in Hobart until 23rd August and is a must see if you get the chance by @joeblundellart

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2 months ago

Delighted to be a Finalist in the 2026 Paddo Painting Prize with my work “topography of destruction” one of my series which aims to convey head on,
the physical impact of deforestation in Australia. As it used to be called PAP is a rather iconic landscape prize which many of my favorite painters have been through over the years - it’s my 4th time. Thank you to the Antico family and the judges and congrats to the other finalists - very much looking forward to seeing all your works.
This is a 30,000 Annual National Acquisitive Prize, now in its 23rd year for a painting inspired by the Australian Landscape.
Presented by The Paddington Art Prize
Principal Sponsor, Chris Antico
Founder/ Co-Sponsor Marlene Antico OAM

Exhibition Opening: Thursday Oct 15, 6-8pm
NJWC HALL, level 1
111 Queen St Woollahra NSW 2025
*lift access available
Exhibition Dates: Oct 15- 25
Hours: 11am - 5pm

#paddingtonartprize #paddopaintingprize #finalist #australianlandscape by @joeblundellart

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a month ago

Thrilled to be a finalist in the Calleen Art Award at @cowraregionalartgallery It’s always a boost to be accepted into a national prize and a welcome pat on the shoulder. Congratulations to the other finalists (especially one in particular, you know who you are!) … as always, we’ve been asked not to share images of our finalist work before the award winner is announced by @joeblundellart

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2 months ago

This is another large work from my deforestation series looking at butchered land by @joeblundellart

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3 months ago

I might not have walked away with $100k, but it was nice to get mentioned by arts editor Elizabeth Flux in The Age last Saturday! My work “Tormented Land” was one of two works overtly addressing deforestation alongside “Log It” by @alice_oncanvas. Alice is definitely one to watch … super talented and only 19! Can’t wait to see more from her in the future. The exhibition @hadleysartprize is on till 23rd August by @joeblundellart

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2 months ago

Very excited to be a finalist in the Hadley’s Art Prize this year! Congratulations to the other 26 finalists, what a privilege to be amongst you. Thank you judges! There’s always a twinge of hurt when you read lots of posts about getting into art prizes that you’ve been rejected for. There are way better painters than me that didn’t get in this year, I’m quite sure of that. And to put it into perspective I’ve been rejected from the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Wynne Prize and the Tattersall’s this year already! There’ll be plenty more too! And when I remember, I’ll keep posting my rejections so that we normalize it. There’s no shame in it. We all get rejected, but it feels better when we share and realize we’re in good company. #gotherejectees If you feel inclined, share your rejections in the comments here - it’ll make us all feel better!
Anyway …my finalist painting “Tormented land”is one I posted a short while ago and is from my series exploring deforestation. What keeps me coming back to this subject, beyond the obvious desire to scream out, is that it’s such a unique landscape emotion. The event of deforestation isn’t a single scene that can be taken in. It’s a sense of loss that is about a passage of time. It’s also about an immediate change - one moment majestic trees, the next, devastation. I think it’s an unusual landscape subject in that sense. I’ve tried to tackle evoking this loss a few different ways whether it’s juxtaposing trees in all their glory against devastated land, or just dwelling on the aftermath with the residue of change as is the case here. I’m still exploring this series and ways to convey the feeling of loss, of witnessing the loss and feeling that something terrible and avoidable has happened and continues happen around us. And the silence,
in all its forms.

I usually love painting, I have since I was a 7year old boy, but I didn’t enjoy painting this. I just felt drawn to it, not like a chore but a compulsion which became quite an intense experience with the painting pushing me. I wonder if that shows in the work?

@hadleysartprize @hadleysorient #hadleysartprize #hadleysorienthotel #discovertasmania by @joeblundellart

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5 months ago