Brief Lives: Howard Arkley

by Edwina Preston

ISBN 1 875989 89 7

$22.00

Publication date: February 2002

Howard Arkley's neon airbrush paintings of Australian suburban houses and their interiors represented this country at the 1999 Venice Biennale. Arkley's work has been compared to a visual equivalent of the monologues of Barry Humphries.

Arkley was also a wild man. This concise account describes the artistic breakthroughs, his relationship with Nick Cave and the Birthday Party, and the heroin which killed him soon after his talent was recognised around the world. It is the fascinating story of a highly gifted artist who took suburbia seriously.