Michael Galovic

The Mystical Supper, 1995

Icarus in His Own Web, 2001

MICHAEL GALOVIC was born and schooled in Belgrade, the capital of former Yugoslavia. He graduated from the Belgrade Academy of Arts in 1974.

He began absorbing the ancient tradition of iconography in early childhood while watching his stepfather restoring frescoes and icons in Serbian churches and monasteries and commenced painting icons himself in his late teens.

Following a personal quest, Michael travelled widely and lived in the Middle East, Spain and Africa, absorbing the contrasting beauty of each new culture. In 1990, Australia became his new home and he is a naturalised Australian citizen.

Since his arrival in Australia, Michael has held a number of solo exhibitions of his icons and contemporary artwork throughout Australia in Adelaide, Brisbane, Daylesford, Gosford, Inverell, Melbourne, Newcastle and Sydney.

His one man shows overseas have been in Lima, Peru; Taos, New Mexico, USA; Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, New Zealand; at Westminster Abbey, London in 2004 and in 2005 at the Hellenic Centre, London. An exhibition of contemporary artwork has been arranged for June 2007 in Belgrade, Serbia. Several other international venues are being considered as well.

Michael's group exhibitions include the acclaimed Windows on Eternity in 1992, the Blake Prize For Religious Art in 1993 and 2004, the Mary MacKillop Art Award in 1995, and The Laughing and Loving Jesus in 2005.

Most of Michael's work, both traditional and contemporary, is commissioned and displayed in many churches and private collections throughout Australia and overseas.

His major work is the iconostasis for St Elias, Sydney Melkite Church. Other works include several icons for the Marist Brothers, Sydney; Greek Orthodox churches in Sydney, Innisfail and Cairns; Russian Orthodox churches in Sydney, Gosford and Newcastle; the Antioch churches in Sydney and Wollongong; the Patrician Brothers School in Sydney; St Patrick's College, Sydney; St Peter's Catholic Church, Sydney; De la Salle Brotherhood, Sydney; St Finbar's Catholic Church in the Blue Mountains, NSW; St John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Newcastle; Jesuit Colleges: St Ignatius Riverview and St Aloysius, Sydney; St Pius X Catholic Church, Windale NSW; and Anglican churches in Sydney, Melbourne, Cardiff and Gosford.

His icons are displayed in a number of churches in New Zealand, especially in Christchurch, which houses the biggest private collection of Michael's work, in Noah's Ark at Gethsemane Gardens.

Today, Michael Galovic engages himself in a few parallel directions: traditional icons, contemporary religious and non religious art. He is ever faithful to the theme he graduated with: The Flight of Icarus, which he keeps revisiting; as well as the theme of The Crucifixion. There is a strong interest in rocky landscapes, especially at Uluru in the Northern Territory (an exhibition on that subject is planned).

In September 2006, a quality hardcover artbook and deluxe leatherbound edition, ICONS + ART: Michael Galovic, was published by Honeysett Press, featuring the work of Michael Galovic from 1990 to 2006. For more details and order form, click here.

Michael lives on the Central Coast of NSW where he enjoys more space and peace with his own studio and gallery. After many years of both teaching and art making, Michael has ceased the former and is now fully devoted to his art practice.

Rev. Rod Pattenden, a graduate artist, is Co-ordinator of the Institute for Theology and Arts and a member of The Blake Society for Religious Art, said of Michael's work:

"Michael Galovic offers a unique contribution to contemporary Australian Art having trained both in modern art and traditional painting in Europe. Since his arrival in Australia he has developed an impressive body of work that includes commissions for churches and private collections as well as work that seeks to bring together the Australian landscape and religious and personal identity ... Michael Galovic is a careful student of tradition while exhibiting the capacity for artistic innovation and excellence. A considered craftsman and dynamic originator, his vision offers new possibilities for figuring the transcendent contemporary multicultural Australia".