James Drinkwater - You pried me open and stars fell in, 2015
Oil on canvas
180 x 122 cm
Provenance:
Art Equity, Sydney
Private Collection, Brisbane, acquired from above in 2015.
Oil on canvas
180 x 122 cm
Provenance:
Art Equity, Sydney
Private Collection, Brisbane, acquired from above in 2015.
Oil on canvas
180 x 122 cm
Provenance:
Art Equity, Sydney
Private Collection, Brisbane, acquired from above in 2015.
Provenance: Purchased in 2015 from Art Equity
Price: $26,000
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Painted in the wake of his 2014 Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship win, You pried me open and stars fell in captures James Drinkwater at a defining moment in his career. The $25,000 prize and three-month residency in Paris marked a turning point, with judges Jude Rae and Wayne Tunnicliffe praising his “distinct personal vision” and “strong lyrical sensibility.” That recognition catalysed a surge of interest in his work and positioned him as one of the most compelling voices in Australian contemporary painting.
This canvas, completed the following year, is a powerful expression of that creative momentum. At 180 x 122 cm, it carries both physical weight and emotional force. The surface is richly worked—scraped, scumbled, and smeared with pigment that feels pulled straight from memory. Loosely structured yet deeply intentional, the composition balances gesture and restraint, intimacy and abstraction.
The title reads like a line of poetry: vulnerable and expansive. There’s a quiet violence in the mark-making, but also tenderness—a painter laying himself bare. Acquired from Art Equity in 2015 and held in a private Brisbane collection since, this is the first time the work has returned to market.
An emotionally charged painting from a career-defining period, it stands as a testament to Drinkwater’s singular vision and the evolution of contemporary Australian abstraction.