About the Artist
Paintings by artist BARRY NOVIS hang in the homes and offices of celebrity and corporate collectors all over the world. Born in Brighton UK in the 1940s, and living in ‘swinging’ London during the 1960s/70s - the heyday of modern pop culture - imprinted on him a passion for music, sport, art and individualistic expression. From the start, Novis paintings were always larger-than-life, featuring bold strokes or multiple dots in acrylic or oil on canvas. His first-ever rock legends painting, George Harrison, fetched a significant sum at a music industry auction in London, and soon after collectors of his art included Coldplay, Joanna Lumley, HMV Music and the National Trust UK. These days, although still passionate about painting the 'legends' he's best known for, he includes abstract in his repertoire with a salute to masters such as Pollock and Richter, as well as his own subliminal style inspired by dreams and meditations.
Barry Novis now lives on Australia's Sunshine Coast where in 2020 he opened the NOVIS GALLERY which provides his art to collectors worldwide. Several years ago, prior to the pandemic, he travelled the country to explore his adopted land. During that time, whilst on the road, he painted spasmodically, an experience he recalls with wry amusement and huge gratitude to the generous strangers who, with scant hesitation, loaned him their sheds, spare rooms, club houses and studios. One of Novis’s favourite quotes is borrowed from John Lennon, who he has painted many times: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” It’s a notion to which he relates in no small measure!