Derek Hambly

Born in 1945 in Melbourne, Australia, artist Derek Hambly graduated in 1967 from Caulfield College in Melbourne, currently known as Monash University. 

In 1967, Derek Hambly was the only artist invited and allowed on site to draw and paint the construction of the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia.  He was commissioned by the museum's architect, Sir Roy Grounds, to record an exciting  phase of this interesting and important building. 

Images of Derek's historic drawings and paintings are in the gallery's archival files and remain as significant documents of a key moment in Melbourne's cultural history.

In 1969 Derek mounted his first solo exhibition at Gallery 99 in Melbourne.  As a professional artist in Australia, he became known in high art circles as “One of the most powerful young abstract painters in Australia.”

In 1999, America beckoned. Derek answered with a solo exhibition at The University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.  A rapid-fire succession of shows throughout the east coast and Midwest followed.  Some of Derek’s recent exhibitions include solo shows at Steve Martin Galleries of Miami and New Orleans.  Other shows during this period include Gruen Galleries of Chicago and Caelum Gallery in New York City. 

Many publications, including Madison Magazine, have featured Derek.  Kevin Lynch of The Capital Times wrote in 2002 that “The Australian-born painter wields his talent and unabated energy as one of the most impressive abstract artists to hit the United States in years.”

Derek Hambly Studios is located in Stoughton, Wisconsin, and Derek is currently represented by Gallerie MK of Chicago, Steve Martin Galleries of Miami and New Orleans, Integrated Art Group of Evansville, Wisconsin, Pollock Gallery, Melbourne, Australia,  Linden Gallery, of Ellison Bay, Wisconsin and the Yunnan Provence in China, Artasia of Milwaukee, WI, Galerie Matisse, of Lake Geneva, WI, Gary's Art and Frame Shop of Middleton, WI, and Picture Perfect Art Gallery and Custom Framing in Milwaukee, WI.

Artist's Statement:

I am looking for the ultimate power of art through color, shape and form.

From the 1960’s to the present, the evolution of my work has gone from landscape to pure, hard-edge abstraction, to what is now a more symbolic and personal abstract expression.  It has been a major search for this ultimate power of art,  and I am always looking for the elements that will create the most powerful painting ever painted. 

I started out painting landscapes at the beginning of my art career.  My present abstractions have grown out of the symbols and forces which I discovered painting those  landscapes, over and over.

The evolution of my work from one  style to another is really quite understandable upon viewing a comprehensive retrospective.   However, to many viewers who can see only bits and pieces of these years of growth and change, the gap in styles at a glance can be a mystery. 

Still, the feedback that has become the norm for my present work reflects understanding and overwhelming appreciation for a style of art many viewers never thought they could love, because they've never seen anything like it.

I spent my university years studying, learning and loving the masters, but what I do now is derived strictly from my past work and my own development and a study of my own creative abilities.  I see my work now as having a maturity, and see myself in control of what I create.