John was born in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 1942 and comes from generations of artists on both sides of his family. He arrived in Melbourne in 1956.
Although he mainly paints John also loves to sculpt and his first international success was a sculpture based on C J Dennis’ poem, “The Sentimental Bloke,” which, was sold in New York in 1994.
His large stone and steel sculptures, “Forks in Spuds,” were a featured solo exhibition for two months in six locations around Federation Square and on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne in 2008. The sculptures were part of an artistic response to the United Nations’ call for an end to world hunger. They are now permanently placed along the Princess Highway near Trafalgar, Victoria, Australia.
Opening at ArtSpace Gallery on 23rd February 2020, John will be exhibiting a series of paintings about the human right to freedom and how each person, because of their different life experiences and culture, understands the nature of freedom from their own perspective. Because freedom in the world is such a nebulous and recurrent thing, often imposed by autocracy, and even our own mindset, John calls the series, ‘The Infinite Birdcage’. In parallel there is a writers’ competition. See John’s website (link below), and ArtSpace Exhibitions menu for more information.
See more of John’s work at www.johnmutsaers.com
Click here to download Liane Arno’s featured article on John.
