Biography.

 

Biography.

•  Name: James Timothy Gleeson.
•  Born: November 22, 1915
•  Died: October 20, 2008
•  Period: Surrealism
•  Gleeson was born in Hornsby and he attended East Sydney Technical College. When he was young he was looked into the works of  Salvador Dalí, Giorgio de Chirico and Max Ernst.
•  In 1938 he studied at Sydney Teachers College, where he began his proffesion general primary school teacher. He had also joined the Sydney Branch of the assertively experimental Contemporary Art Society. At this time Gleeson became interested in the writings of psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, which beacame a major influence for his art.
•   During the 1950s and '60s he moved into a more symbolic perspective, exploring human perfectibility. At this time also he started a phase of psychedelic compositions made using the surrealist technique.  Many of his paintings showed undertones of his sexuality, reflecting specifically on homosexuality. 
• Since the 1970s Gleeson made large scale paintings in keeping with the surrealist genre. They  generally included rocky seascapes, also symbolising the inner workings of the human mind
• Gleeson's later works incorporate the human form. The human form was then represented in his landscapes by small hidden details, for example; an eye or an arm looping into the landscape.
•  in 2004-2005, Beyond the Screen of Sight, included 120 paintings and was shown in Melbourne and Canberra. In September 2007, the largest collection of Australian surrealism ever collected was donated to the National Gallery of Australia by Ray Wilson. The collection included many works by James Gleeson.