Gallery 9 is proud to present the first Sydney solo exhibition of New Zealand painter Julian Hooper.  Born in Auckland, 1966, of mixed Hungarian and Tongan heritage, Julian received his BFA at the University of Auckland in 1988, and continued his studies a decade later at RMIT University, Melbourne picking up his MFA in 1998.

Julian has exhibited extensively since 1990, in New Zealand, with six solo shows at the Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland from 2000 -08, as well as New York (Rare Gallery 2001) and the 3rd Auckland Triennial (his work from this show toured to Monash University Faculty Gallery, Melbourne and Whangarei Art Museum, N.Z.). All 38 pieces from ‘Liliu’, his installation for the 3rd Auckland Triennial, have now been purchased by the Queensland Art Gallery.  And more recently at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2008. 

Julian is represented in the Chartwell Collection, Auckland City Art Gallery,  New Zealand Department of Foreign Affairs Collection, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the University of Auckland Collection.

For this first show at Gallery 9, Julian presents a group of acrylic paintings on paper, board and canvas that are in part Victorian portraits and part playful abstractions using geometric shapes and organic & floral patterns.