Geoff Todd

Geoff Todd grew up on a small dairy farm in Gippsland, Victoria. The landscape had a vitality that fueled their sense of exploration and discovery, but the remnants of World War II lingered in their parents' collection of war books, which would inspire Geoff's future artwork such as in the Victoria Cross Winners series and in the blood paintings.[1][2]

Geoff Todd worked as an art teacher in several Victorian State Technical schools during the 1970s and 1980s. While teaching at Monterey Secondary College in 1980, he took a half-year residency at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne before heading to Maningrida in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia in 1984, where he served as a craft adviser.[3] Following his departure from Maningrida in 1987, Todd worked as an Art Lecturer at Batchelor Institute in Rum Jungle, Northern Territory, before becoming a part-time Sculpture Lecturer at Charles Darwin University, also in the Northern Territory.

Todd's "Book Sculptures" were first exhibited at Powell Street Gallery in Melbourne in 1978, and were also exhibited at various locations in Australia and the UK. His exhibition of "Dictionary Paintings" in Christine Abraham's Gallery in 1984 incorporates silk screen, etching, wood block prints, and collage to create reproductions of well-known magazines, children's storybooks and even an illustrated dictionary. These objects resembled everyday books, they contained no written content and were presented as sculptures.[4]

In 1994, Todd executed public commissions in the Northern Territory, including the facades of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory and the Northern Territory Parliament House.[5][6] His work in the Top End of Australia allowed for convenient travel to Indonesia, where his artwork is held in many permanent collections within museums in various cities. Throughout his career, Todd has explored the concept of books as sculptures and vice versa, creating portraits of well-known books and magazines that blur the line between representation and abstraction. His artistic style, which emphasizes texture and color, is evident in his full-scale colored drawings on canvas, some of which have been acquired by the Northern Territory Museums and Art Galleries' permanent collection.

"In 1999, Todd held an exhibition at Benteng Vredeberg (The Dutch Fort) in Yogyakarta, Java, which was opened by Prince Prabukusomo (the younger brother to the current Sultan Hamengkubuwono X of Yogyakarta ). The public response to this exhibition established him as a respected artist within Indonesia as well as Australia."[7] Mistik. 9 June 1999. published a cover story. Inilah Partai Pemenang Pemilu (This is the Electoral Winning Party). It appeared that Todd’s exhibition staged at the time of the Indonesian election had put the Sultan of Yogyakarta under some pressure to stand for election. "Opening the exhibition, Prince Prabukusumo, the brother of Java’s spiritual leader, the Sultan of Yogykarta, likened Todd’s work to Raden Saleh and Affandi, the acknowledged masters of 19th- and 20th-century Indonesian art. The paintings were a surprise for me because Geoff Todd is a foreigner and he captured the spirit of the son of my great-great-grandfather," Prabukusumo told the Bulletin.[8] "Indeed, the overwhelming public interest in Todd's exhibition is a reflection of renewed interest in the warrior hero whose uncorrupted leadership qualities are sought like never before. As the first free election in more than three decades is due to take place on 7 June, Todd's work highlights many of the characteristics voters will be searching for among the candidates. "We want someone like Diponegoro. Someone clean and daring" explains (Indonesian artist) Ardiyanto Pranata".[9] Many believed Hamengku Buwono X was the man.

Geoff Todd is an artist whose strong figurative work reveals intimate, personal and sometimes erotic connections with his subjects, while pursuing broader themes. "In a career spanning over forty years Geoff Todd's practice has consistently expressed his commitment to social justice and activism, while also reflecting his responses to wider political issues ranging from the so-called 'Bali Nine' arrests in 2005, to September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. These have also, quite often conflicted with Todd's innate modesty, and his (unwarranted) concern that they might be perceived as grandstanding or in someway manipulative."[10] Inspiration for Todd is found across a wide spectrum, but whether concerning himself with simple nude studies [11] to a portrait of Judas, Todd tends to evoke some feeling. Of his portrait of Judas, Gubar writes "Todd's image emphasizes guilt, remorse, a conviction about one's own worthlessness. Less a demon, more a monk or mendicant, a hopeless Judas atoning in desolate silence clarifies how it feels to be John's son of perdition, an anathema."[12]

Figurative art led Todd to pursue the challenge of translating three-dimensional form into two-dimensional drawing and painting. In doing this he always chooses to work from life, believing that to work from a photograph is allowing the camera to do the difficult work. While he understands the importance of the finished image produced and arriving at this result is different roads for different people, personally he enjoys the conservative idea of hand and eye coordination and experimenting with line to describe 3D illusion on 2D surfaces. He argues for honesty to oneself and suggests the landscape, a still life or even animals allow for a bit of fudging, so he spends much time working from the nude model. Todd writes "Why the Nude? To be confident in drawing (as opposed to the quaint idea of "mark making") one does need to be able to draw - that is, to make the mark go where it is wanted. And this can be learned - but of course, it must be remembered, that a lot of fine "drawers" are not necessarily fine "artists"."[13] The Darwin gallery, Framed chose to feature Todd's work for their closing exhibition after thirty years. This solo show along with the accompanying book, "Reflections" revealed thirty years of the artist's work and his thought processes. He has continued to defend the idea that while minor accidents may occur in art works to fine effect, the artist really needs to be in overall control of his/her work to be able to call it Art. "Having a need to draw sometimes causes one to look harder. "What will I draw?" is more easily answered when an artist is looking, not just thinking. After all, we are called Visual Artists."[14]

In 2019, he was recognized as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day Honours for his "significant service to the visual arts as an artist and sculptor."[15]

• Bianpoen, Carla, "Geoff Todd depicts 'Ramayana' in paintings", in The Jakarta Post [ Indonesia ], 27 January 2004, p. 19
• Burin, Margaret, 'It's a pop life: Leo Sayer launches Geoff Todd's pop art exhibition' , 12 August 2011[18] http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2011/08/12/3292512.htm
• Stranger, Lucy, 'Geoff Todd- Beautiful Beasts' Artist Profile 2 March 2016 http:[19]//www.artistprofile.com.au/geoff-todd-beautiful-beasts/
• Lorimer, Anya, " The Art of Business ", in Territory Q, Issue Three [20]April-June 2014, p.84-88
• ^[21]Walton, Inga, "Melburnin", in Trouble, Issue 107, November, 2013, p.66-69
• Walton, Inga, "War Paint: Protest & Social Activism in the works of Geoff Todd", in Art Monthly Australia" Issue 264, October, 2013, p. 25-29 http://www.artmonthly.org.au/issue-264-october-2013-1[22]
• Walton, Inga, " Melburnin", in Trouble, Issue 105, September, 2013, p.52-53[23]
• Murray, Elicia & Maddox, Gary, "Well hung painting causes a Stir" 'Stay in touch' The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 May 2008 p. 18.'[24]