Image:
Andrew BOND
Coll 2025
acrylic on canvas / MDF
103 x 64.5 cm
Courtesy of the Artist
2nd Dec 2025 – 29th Jan 2026
Benalla Visitor Information Centre
14 Mair Street, Benalla
Andrew Bond, a Ruffy-based artist, has followed a creative path shaped by both design and community. After completing a Tertiary Orientation Programme in Fine Art and Graphic Design at Bendigo College of Advanced Education in 1979, he graduated from Swinburne Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design in 1983. His career began in the design world, working with Penguin Books, McCann Erickson Advertising, Russell Bevers Design Studio, and later as a freelance designer on projects spanning corporate identity, packaging, book design, illustration, and promotional work.
When Bond relocated to Ruffy in 2010, his practice evolved. Alongside working with gardens—where design principles found a new outlet—his art also shifted. By 2020, his focus turned decisively towards portraiture, moving away from botanical and landscape themes.
Bond refined his portrait practice through workshops with noted artists, including Archibald Prize winner Peter Wegner and Janet Leith, and now shares his own knowledge through teaching. His background as both a designer and CFA training officer informs his teaching style: structured, encouraging, and accessible.
The early portraits that shaped this transition were deeply personal—depictions of his father, his father’s carer, and Bond’s own partner. These intimate works sparked a fascination with the question: what makes a good portrait? The exploration of this question culminates in A Few Good People I Know—a series that honours everyday individuals whose generosity and contributions often go unrecognised.
Bond describes the thrill of portraiture as “the buzz when likeness appears, capturing that fleeting moment; sometimes it can be a slow and detailed process, other times it all falls into place quickly.” For him, portraiture is not only about resemblance but also about revealing personality and presence.
The exhibition includes both study drawings and finished paintings, underscoring Bond’s wish to “dispel myths… to show how portraits evolve and to encourage others to give portraiture a go.” Each work is accompanied by a short text about the sitter, reflecting the relationships Bond builds in the process of painting. He notes that sitters are often as engaged in the unfolding of the work as in its resolution: “The study is where much of the work is done—exploring what makes the sitter unique and how to achieve a likeness. Often there is quite a difference between the studies and the final work.”
A Few Good People I Know is at once a celebration of community, a meditation on the art of portraiture, and an invitation for viewers to reflect on the people who enrich their own lives.
Benalla Visitor Information Centre Opening Hours:
- Mon — Fri: 9am — 4pm
- Sat: 10am — 3pm
- Sun: 10am — 2pm
