Renowned Illawarra artist Paul Ryan has given away a series of his works as part of a “studio purge”.
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Revealed via a series of recent Instagram posts, the Thirroul-based artist appeared to have defaced some of his own work with graffiti, and left the pieces to be nabbed for free by the public.
He dubbed the giveaways a “curb side show”, the self-sabotage of his work recalling British street artist Banksy shredding his “Girl With Balloon”.
“Studio purge. 34 pass ave Thirroul first in first served. It’s all free,” Ryan wrote.
One of his posts showcasing a graffiti-covered work was accompanied by the comment “some shit got better”.
Another post featured works being given away, with Ryan writing, “This morning’s exhibition… Selling fast. It’s all free”.
This was later followed by the artist proclaiming that “this lot all gone. Might be some more in coming months”.
When asked, “what are you doing with your old paintings?”, with reference to an image of one of his graffitied works, Ryan simply replied “having fun”.
The Mercury contacted Ryan for comment.
A regular finalist in the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes, Ryan won the $20,000 Bay of Fires Art Prize in 2013, and 2012’s Geelong art prize, worth $30,000.
