Biography
Born Matt Last in Melbourne in 1984, Adnate began tagging and painting letters as a teenager in 2001 before shifting dramatically in 2011 toward large-scale hyperrealist portraiture. His technique, rooted in Caravaggio's chiaroscuro, relies on freehand spray paint and acrylics with no projection or stencil work. In 2012 he joined the AWOL Crew alongside Deams, Itch and Slicer, cementing his place in Melbourne's graffiti lineage.
A pivotal 2013 journey to Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land and the Kimberley provided the photographs that would become the foundation of his monumental portraits — works carrying an explicit message against racism and for the recognition of First Nations rights and history. In 2018, his mural on the Collingwood public housing tower, depicting four of the building's residents, became the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere.
From a sold-out debut solo exhibition in Sydney in 2015 to an Arts Centre Melbourne commission in 2020, Adnate has built a practice that bridges institutional commissions and street interventions worldwide. Each portrait is an act of visibility, honouring Indigenous communities too often erased from the urban landscape.
A pivotal 2013 journey to Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land and the Kimberley provided the photographs that would become the foundation of his monumental portraits — works carrying an explicit message against racism and for the recognition of First Nations rights and history. In 2018, his mural on the Collingwood public housing tower, depicting four of the building's residents, became the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere.
From a sold-out debut solo exhibition in Sydney in 2015 to an Arts Centre Melbourne commission in 2020, Adnate has built a practice that bridges institutional commissions and street interventions worldwide. Each portrait is an act of visibility, honouring Indigenous communities too often erased from the urban landscape.
The site contains a total of 1 artworks by Adnate in 1 countries.
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