Ep 83: Philip Wolfhagen

Driving to Philip Wolfhagen’s home outside Launceston, Tasmania, was a dreamlike experience. Unlike the dry landscape of drought-affected NSW (we recorded before the onset of the bushfire crisis), there were green farmlands rolling down to a plain with hills in the distance.

If it had been dusk I would have felt I was driving through a Wolfhagen painting because capturing the landscape surrounding his property is a large part of Philip’s practice. In particular he beautifully captures that moment of twilight, often with a hint of melancholy, through his expert use of colour and superb application of paint.

However, there is more to Philip Wolfhagen than painting. His interests span from music to gardening and building and these other pursuits feed into his work. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation where we talked about those subjects as well as many others, especially his use of colour.

He is one of Australia’s most acclaimed and respected contemporary landscape artists. He has exhibited in over 40 solo shows, has won the Wynne prize and the Lloyd Rees art prize amongst other awards, was highly commended in last year’s Hadley’s art prize and has been awarded the Centenary Medal for contribution made to the Arts.

A major survey of his work travelled the country in 2013-14 and his paintings are held in nearly every major state and national public art institution in Australia as well as many private and corporate collections both in Australia and internationally.

To listen to the podcast episode press play beneath the above feature photo.